Michael Henry Leifer

Mr. Leifer has successfully tried numerous condemnation cases. His first condemnation trial, along with one of his partners, resulted in the first reported appellate court opinion concerning contaminated property in the Eminent Domain context. His work has involved numerous types of public projects, ranging from takings related to freeway and highway projects, to water and power facilities, and sports arenas.

He has successfully represented a number of property owners making compensation claims in both the direct and inverse condemnation context. A 1998 verdict is believed to be the highest pre-condemnation damage verdict in California. In late 1999, Mr. Leifer represented a business achieving the largest award for loss of business goodwill to date. Despite the size of the award, the business was not displaced from its location.

In a recent inverse condemnation matter submitted to arbitration, Mr. Leifer obtained an award against Caltrans for more than $3.2 million. Caltrans' position was initially to deny liability and compensable damages.

Mr. Leifer also represented the landowner in a land lease adjustment arbitration against the owners of 150 condominium units. A significant arbitration award was issued against the unit owners. Post-arbitration, the unit owners attempted to challenge the arbitration award. Successfully defeated the challenge to the arbitration award in the Superior Court.

Mr. Leifer was instrumental in securing favorable appellate decisions on behalf of his clients including:  Kunec v. Brea Redevelopment Agency (1997) 55 51 and Abers v. Rohrs (2013) 217 1199