The recent catastrophic fires in southern California have, again, raised concern about growth in the wildland-urban fringe.
The astute words above are not from September 2020, as wildfires currently ravage across the western United States, but from 2008. Such remarks reflect the crucial role land use lawyers should have been playing to address what is suitably described as “a
Legal advisors to both environmental organizations and land developers must never lose sight of the principle that when dealing with administrative agencies, their client’s run the risk of the regulatory agency’s decision not being the final say. The risk often arises from the differing ways the application of statutory construction can occur. Statutory construction is the process of determining what
On July 30, 2020, I attended the State Bar of Montana’s one-day Montana Law Seminar. One of the Montana-specific presentations covered water rights – and the opening slide below aptly captured the topic:
One of Montana’s most prominent water challenges arises from many of its basins being “over-appropriated,” whereby claims filed exceed the available water. Much has thus been written
Unlike a Rose By Any Other Name, Conservation Development Does Not Always Smell Sweet.
One of conservation development advocates’ core claims is that utilization of the land development technique results in a more environmentally-friendly finished product when compared to conventional land development techniques. Such a claim is typically true. It is true because conventional development land use laws do not
Since this blog’s focus is on land development principles and practices labeled “conservation development,” it is important for readers to know what conservation development is not. Generally speaking, true conservation development connects land development to land conservation — in a manner that assures meaningful natural resource protection.
The Label “Conservation Development” Is Often Misused
Not every development project labeled a
The recent case of Williamson County, Tennessee, provides useful insight into how even well-meaning conservation development laws run the risk of unintended consequences if the land use planning focus is too myopic. Focusing on the size of the pieces and creating artificial development boundaries in contrast to planning across the entire landscape– increases the likelihood of a distorted development footprint,
Jessica Nall and Josh Malone discuss legal pitfalls, compliance issues, and the digital minefield that arises when employees use ephemeral messaging apps to conduct business in an article published by Bloomberg Law.
Employees are using communication modes other than company e-mail to communicate for business—including texts and ephemeral messaging apps like WhatsApp or Telegram— which creates challenges for companies
The Ninth Circuit recently heard an appeal that challenges a common tool of law enforcement: “f” letters.
Under section 2703(f) of the Stored Communications Act, law enforcement may compel providers of “electronic communications services” (think Google) to preserve “records and other evidence” (think email) for a period of time. These preservation demands do not require any degree of suspicion, let
In the ongoing legal battle over the alleged theft of American trade secrets by Chinese telecom giant Huawei, one curious aspect is the lack of charges filed against any individual Huawei employees. On February 28, Huawei pled not guilty to charges of trade secret theft in federal court in Washington. This has been one of the most publicized trade secret
Two United States congressmen introduced legislation in late December that would exclude certain digital currencies from being defined as securities – a bill that, if enacted, may finally provide the cryptocurrency industry with regulatory clarity regarding when the offer and sale of digital tokens must comply with federal securities laws.
The Token Taxonomy Act of 2018 – introduced on December
