RULES OF DISCOVERY AND DISCLOSURE IN HIGHWAY CONDEMNATION PROCEEDINGS

The Federal and State cases on this subject are discussed in this paper as well as the statutes and rules adopted in various jurisdictions to resolve the uncertainties attending the discovery of expert opinion. Federal cases prior to July 1, 1970 are discussed, and Federal law since adoption of the 1970 amendments of the discovery rules is reviewed. Court decisions in California and New York are cited and analyzed. These states have the greatest exposure to eminent domain discovery and have adopted statutes regulating such discovery. State appellate decisions relating to the subject of pretrial discovery of appraisal information in other states are also discussed. The cases show that the resolution of the problems of pretrial discovery in eminent domain has been in favor of requiring greater disclosure of appraisal information, either through judicial opinions giving broad import to the regular civil discovery rules, or where the discovery rules are too restrictive in language or interpretation, by the adoption of statute or court rule requiring such increased disclosure. The opinion is also expressed that the trial of a condemnation case benefits greatly from the effective cross-examination which results from advance knowledge of the methods, theories, and opinions of the appraisal and engineering expert witness called by the opposing party, whether he be the condemnor or the condemnee. An appendix presents further information relating to statutes and court rules relating to eminent domain discovery.

Language

  • English

Media Info

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00148911
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Aug 28 1998 12:00AM