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Pacific Legal Foundation

Pacific Legal Foundation
930 G Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
Tel: (916) 419-7111 | Fax (916) 419-7747
jsb@pacificlegal.org | www.pacificlegal.org

James Burling is the Vice President for Legal Affairs at Pacific Legal Foundation. Mr. Burling has worked with Pacific Legal Foundation since 1983, litigating cases from Alaska to Florida. He is a member of the Federalist Society’s Environmental Law and Property Rights Practice Group’s Executive Committee, a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, and an honorary member of Owners Counsel of America. The Owners Counsel awarded James its Crystal Eagle award in 2013.

In 2001, he successfully argued a major property rights case, Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, before the United States Supreme Court, a case which affirmed that rights in regulated property do not disappear when land is bought and sold. He has written extensively on all aspects of property rights and environmental law and frequently speaks on these subjects throughout the nation.

Speaking Engagements

  • American Law Institute: America’s Housing Crisis and Property Rights (2020)
  • American Law Institute: Regulatory Exactions (2019)
  • American Law Institute: Is the Doctrine of Regulatory Takings Constitutional? (2018)
  • American Law Institutte: Property Rights for the Politically Powerful (2017)
  • American Law Institute: Ten Years of the Roberts Court on Private Property Rights (2016)
  • American Law Institute: Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “Novel Takings Theories: Testing the Boundaries of Property Rights,” February 7, 2015, San Francisco, CA.
  • American Law Institute: Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “The Law of Development Exactions,” January 25, 2014, New Orleans, LA.
  • Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, “Implications of the Court’s Recent Takings Cases,” October 18, 2013.
  • American Law Institute: Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “Vested Rights and Black Holes: The Birth and Many Deaths of Vested Rights,” January 26, 2013, Miami Beach, FL.
  • American Law Institute: Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “The Use and Abuse of Property Rights in Preserving the Environment,” January 28, 2012, San Diego, CA.
  • Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, “Property Rights and the Environment,” November 2011, Beijing, China.

Most Recent Published Articles and Papers

  • Is the Doctrine of Regulatory Takings Constitutional? 9 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Journal (In Press, 2020).
  • The Constitutionality of Legislatively Imposed Exactions, 8 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Journal, 211 (2019)
  • Private Property for the Politically Powerful, 6 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Journal, 719 (2017)
  • Ten Years of the Roberts Court on Private Property Rights, ALI-CLE Continuing Legal Education: Eminent Domain & Land Value Litigation SX015 ALI-CLE 1511 (January 28-30, 2016)
  • Novel Takings Theories: Testing the Boundaries of Property Rights Claims, 4 Brigham Kanner Property Rights Conference Journal 39 (2015)
  • 2013 Takings Triplets: From Exactions to Flooding to Raisin Seizures Implications for Litigators, 3 Brigham Kanner Property Rights Conference Journal, 163, (2014)
  • Protecting Rights in Property from Government Usurpations, SU027 ALI CLE 813, (January 24 26, 2013).

Professional Affiliations

  • American College of Real Estate Lawyers
  • Federalist Society, Environmental Law and Property Rights Practice Group, Chairman Emeritus

Education

  • University of Arizona College of Law, J.D., Articles Editor of the Law Review
  • Brown University, M.S., Geological Sciences
  • Hamilton College, B.A., Geology and English

James Burling is the Vice President for Legal Affairs at Pacific Legal Foundation. Mr. Burling has worked with Pacific Legal Foundation since 1983, litigating cases from Alaska to Florida. He is a member of the Federalist Society’s Environmental Law and Property Rights Practice Group’s Executive Committee, a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, and an honorary member of Owners Counsel of America. The Owners Counsel awarded James its Crystal Eagle award in 2013.

In 2001, he successfully argued a major property rights case, Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, before the United States Supreme Court, a case which affirmed that rights in regulated property do not disappear when land is bought and sold. He has written extensively on all aspects of property rights and environmental law and frequently speaks on these subjects throughout the nation.

Speaking Engagements

  • American Law Institute: America’s Housing Crisis and Property Rights (2020)
  • American Law Institute: Regulatory Exactions (2019)
  • American Law Institute: Is the Doctrine of Regulatory Takings Constitutional? (2018)
  • American Law Institutte: Property Rights for the Politically Powerful (2017)
  • American Law Institute: Ten Years of the Roberts Court on Private Property Rights (2016)
  • American Law Institute: Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “Novel Takings Theories: Testing the Boundaries of Property Rights,” February 7, 2015, San Francisco, CA.
  • American Law Institute: Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “The Law of Development Exactions,” January 25, 2014, New Orleans, LA.
  • Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, “Implications of the Court’s Recent Takings Cases,” October 18, 2013.
  • American Law Institute: Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “Vested Rights and Black Holes: The Birth and Many Deaths of Vested Rights,” January 26, 2013, Miami Beach, FL.
  • American Law Institute: Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, “The Use and Abuse of Property Rights in Preserving the Environment,” January 28, 2012, San Diego, CA.
  • Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, “Property Rights and the Environment,” November 2011, Beijing, China.

Most Recent Published Articles and Papers

  • Is the Doctrine of Regulatory Takings Constitutional? 9 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Journal (In Press, 2020).
  • The Constitutionality of Legislatively Imposed Exactions, 8 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Journal, 211 (2019)
  • Private Property for the Politically Powerful, 6 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Journal, 719 (2017)
  • Ten Years of the Roberts Court on Private Property Rights, ALI-CLE Continuing Legal Education: Eminent Domain & Land Value Litigation SX015 ALI-CLE 1511 (January 28-30, 2016)
  • Novel Takings Theories: Testing the Boundaries of Property Rights Claims, 4 Brigham Kanner Property Rights Conference Journal 39 (2015)
  • 2013 Takings Triplets: From Exactions to Flooding to Raisin Seizures Implications for Litigators, 3 Brigham Kanner Property Rights Conference Journal, 163, (2014)
  • Protecting Rights in Property from Government Usurpations, SU027 ALI CLE 813, (January 24 26, 2013).

Professional Affiliations

  • American College of Real Estate Lawyers
  • Federalist Society, Environmental Law and Property Rights Practice Group, Chairman Emeritus

Owners’ Counsel of America is proud to have James Burling, Vice President of Litigation for the Pacific Legal Foundation, as an Honorary Member.   Pacific Legal Foundation is a nonprofit legal organization that defends Americans’ liberties when threatened by government overreach and abuse. Each year, PLF represents hundreds of Americans, free of charge, who seek to improve their lives but are stymied by government. PLF makes sure they have their day in court to vindicate their rights and set a lasting precedent to protect everyone else. With respect to property rights, PLF brings cases to enforce constitutional limits on government takings, to  combat abusive fines, fees, and forfeitures, to resist attempts to redefine private property, to challenge regulations that limit productive development of property, and to protect property from being held for ransom in the permitting process. Most recently, PLF represented Rosemary Knick before the U. S. Supreme Court. In this landmark case, entitled Knick v. Township of Scott, the court overruled 30 year old legal precedent that barred takings plaintiffs from federal court until they had exhausted certain state remedies. This important ruling placed property rights on the same constitutional footing as other federal constitutional rights.

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