Attorney Referrals

Need to refer an eminent domain case? We have the experience and resources to help you.

Attorney Referrals and Co-Counsel

Attorney Stan Abrams hosting a seminar about DOT takings.

You have a client who is facing an eminent domain taking of some kind. Maybe they’re set to lose land, or maybe the NCDOT or a utility is taking an easement. You want a beneficial referral partnership and you want what’s best for your clients. If you’re looking for someone to help you help them, you’ve come to the right place.

There are three reasons you should choose us to represent your client.

Our Promise.

Our Experience.

Our No-Fee Guarantee.

If you want to know more about who we are and what we can do for your client (and you), read on or call us at 1-877-393-4990.

Map of all NC Eminent Domain Law Firm office locations.

Here’s what we can assist your eminent domain referral clients with

If it involves eminent domain, whether the government wants your client’s entire property or “just an easement,” we can try to help. As you know, almost anything the government takes can come with an unintended consequence they’re not telling your client about.

We’re well equipped to protect your client’s rights and help them seek maximum compensation. We can help with things like:

  • Commercial, business, and residential takings
  • Temporary and permanent easements
  • Eminent domain abuse
  • Highway and road takings, and dealing with the NCDOT
  • Public use projects like schools, hospitals, and parks
  • Pipeline and utility easements and takings
  • Inverse condemnation
  • Land condemnation
  • Eminent domain litigation
  • And more

Call us right away at 1-877-393-4990 and let’s talk about your and your client’s needs.

Our promise to referring attorneys and their eminent domain clients

Over the years, dozens of referral attorneys have sent their clients to us to have their eminent domain cases handled by our team. Since we’ve been in business, we’ve increased our clients’ recoveries by an average of more than 3x the government’s initial offer.1

If you refer us a client, we promise three things:

Ease & Communication – We’ll keep you informed and we pride ourselves on being easy to work with.

Flexible Involvement – You can take part in the case as much or as little as you like.

A Check If We Win – If you remain involved in the case, we will share our fee with you. Plus, we front all the costs of fighting the case, and will eat them if we’re unsuccessful.

The attorneys who work at our eminent domain practice.

“I’ve litigated condemnation cases for more than 35 years. When a significant DOT project was announced in my county, I associated with the experienced attorneys at NC Eminent Domain, who have exceptional expertise and deep resources to assist with multiple clients on a large DOT project.

This professional association permits me to continue to run other areas of my law practice, while also providing me with the scalable resources necessary to represent a multitude of clients in complicated and expensive cases against DOT.” — J.K. Coward, ESQ.

 

“Outstanding professional service from all legal and administrative staff. Highly recommended. They deliver.” — S.B., property owner

 

Our experience – Why referring attorneys entrust their clients to us

We’ve worked hard to build a firm that helps clients with all varieties of eminent domain cases. Since we’ve been in business, we’ve increased the offer for our clients by 3x the original amount on average.1 Here are more key advantages of doing business with us.

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Unique experience

Our firm is led by four attorneys who worked for the NCDOT handling some of their largest and most important cases. Our entire team has more than 90 years of combined experience in eminent domain.

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Exclusive focus

All our time and energy is dedicated to working on eminent domain cases — day in and day out.

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Vast resources

We invest in every case we take, and have everything we need to seek maximum value for clients. Plus, we front all costs, and if we cannot get more for clients, they owe us nothing — including our invested funds.

“They are professional, honest, transparent, and very thorough. The process was very easy and they kept me informed the whole time. I had no doubts they had my best interests from day one.” –D.R., property owner

Headlines reading "NCDOT pays mobile home park owner $2.8M for Map Act taking;" "DOT pays $960K for dead end on service road;" & "DOT pays restaurant owner $1.6M in land taking settlement."

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Established network

Our time handling some of the NCDOT’s biggest cases and years doing business in North Carolina means we have relationships with people who get things done. From contacts at the NCDOT to land planners, engineers, environmental consultants, traffic consultants, commercial realtors, economists, appraisers and more.

They’re all in our network of experienced professionals who have designed regional malls, rezoned thousands of acres for all types of uses, and who work both in North Carolina and regionally.

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Active litigators

Our firm has a powerful and active litigation practice, which gives us leverage when negotiating with the DOT.

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Recognized expertise

You may recognize our leading attorneys. Some have taught continuing legal education classes about how to handle eminent domain cases. Plus, some have been featured on public radio, local TV channels, newspapers, and websites.

Media logos for ABC news, Reuters, NPR, and the Wall Street Journal.

All of these factors combined have helped us obtain an average of more than 3x the initial offer on our clients’ properties – 197% more.1 If you read NC Lawyers Weekly, some of our results may look familiar.

Call 1-877-393-4990, and let’s discuss your client’s situation.

North Hills shopping center under construction near I-440 in Raleigh, NC.

Our experience helped us create an effective, proven process to build case value

Eminent domain attorneys who formerly worked with the NCDOT and entered private practice on behalf of property owners are rare. We have four of them. That experience has helped us shape a process we use to analyze, build, and fight for maximum compensation with every single case we take.

To give you an idea of what we do, here’s an abbreviated list of steps we can take to try to maximize potential compensation for your client.

  • Contact the condemning agency to obtain a copy of the plans as they relate to your client’s property, and possibly nearby properties.
  • Document every contact with the condemning agency, including names, dates, times, what was said,
  • Work with the condemning agency to schedule an inspection and appraisal of your client’s property (without revealing any information about the property that could be potentially harmful to the case).
  • Review the condemning agency’s appraisal (often 50 to 100 pages) for potential inconsistencies and
  • Determine whether a second opinion in the form of an independent appraiser is necessary or helpful to the
  • Determine whether a local appraiser has the qualifications to perform an appraisal for an eminent domain case, and whether that appraiser would do well in front of a jury, if needed.
  • Investigate the highest and best use of your client’s property (the use that would result in the highest sales price).
  • Ensure that the experts and appraiser are sharing information and that their opinions do not contradict each
  • Hire experts as needed who can help strengthen our case for highest and best
  • Carefully review any settlement documents to ensure your client is not selling more than what the condemning agency is claiming. (Permanent easements, in particular, can be more onerous than they appear.)
  • File an answer to the condemnation lawsuit within the statutory period for responding, or face being legally capped at the condemning agency’s original offer.
  • Research any outstanding liens, mortgages, or other financial encumbrances that may need to be paid out of the deposit or final settlement.
  • Negotiate with any lien or mortgage holders so that the deposited funds can be
  • File a motion requesting that the court disburse the condemning agency’s deposit.
  • Conduct discovery to request plans, potentially hidden appraisals, and cross-
  • Send interrogatories to the condemning agency to obtain official answers to any questions as to how the project will affect the property.
  • Participate in mediation by selecting a mediator and scheduling a date.
  • Prepare any exhibits that may be needed for trial.
  • Research case law to ensure that all the damages to your client’s property are ones the law allows them to be paid for. North Carolina law is not written in favor of property owners, and there are many ways a property may be damaged that the condemning agency is not required to pay for.
  • Select a jury as needed, trying to avoid potential jurors that could torpedo arguments for more
  • Try the case to verdict, if necessary.

 

“I will recommend NC Eminent Domain Law Firm to any property owner without reservation.” –G.D., property”

 

With our no-fee guarantee, you and your client risk nothing

When your client receives the initial offer on their property, the condemner’s wheels are already moving. The only question that remains is, can your client get more? That should be their only concern, and our no-fee guarantee tries to ensure just that.

We will:

  • Pay all costs related to our investigation and the building of your client’s case.
  • Seek no reimbursement of those costs if we are unable to increase the initial offer.
  • Take no fee if we are not able to increase the initial offer.
  • If we are able to increase the initial offer, our fee only comes from the increase – the initial offer is never touched and is always your client’s to keep. Guaranteed.
  • If you remain involved in the case and if your client’s case successfully resolves, we share our fee with you.

We assume the risk of fighting the case so your client need not settle for an unfair offer for fear of legal costs. There’s nothing for you or your clients to lose by working with our firm, and we’re confident we can help. Give us a call at 1-877-393-4990 today and a member of our team will get in touch with you promptly.

Get a free case
evaluation today.

There are only a handful of attorneys in NC who practice eminent domain exclusively, and even fewer with NCDOT experience. We have several. That’s why its worth getting in touch with us for a free case evaluation.

Here’s how it works:

1) Tell us about your situation.

2) We research your property as needed, using DOT maps, our own technology, and experience to see the exact effects.

3) We let you know what we think a fair offer would be. This evaluation is free, and there’s no
pressure or obligation to hire us after.

But please don’t wait to act. Waiting can hurt your case, and the cost is the same: free.

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