Jensen Baird attorney Mark Bower successfully defended an appeal before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, in the matter of Bayberry Cove Children’s Land Trust v. Town of Steuben. The plaintiff had challenged an eminent domain taking by the law firm’s client, the Town of Steuben, which had taken a small section of the plaintiff’s land in order to confirm the boundaries of a 130-year-old town way. In the Rule 80B appeal, the Superior Court held that the taking was justified, finding both that there was a public exigency for the taking and that the road was taken for a public use. The Law Court agreed on appeal and affirmed in a unanimous opinion. This case is the latest in a number of successful appeals handled by the law firm in the area of eminent domain. Jensen Baird attorney Deborah Mann and Natalie Burns previously defended a taking by the City of Portland (The Portland Co. v. City of Portland) and Mann also represented the Town of Cumberland in defending a taking by the Maine Department of Transportation (Blanchard v. Department of Transportation).
