In Episode 38 of the Eminent Domain Podcast, Pete Havel joins us to discuss how to deal with difficult people and his book, The Arsonist in the Office.  

Please share your thoughts on the show or this episode with me.  I’m on Twitter @J_Clint.  If you have thoughts about future show guests or ideas for episodes, please let me know.

In Episode 37 of the Eminent Domain Podcast, I share reflections from a day at the court house after being summoned for jury duty.  Some takeaways:

 Build rapport with the venire panel by being the guide.

Build rapport by acknowledging the situation of the venire panel

Have positive energy

Get the jury talking

Begin to personalize your client

Put a high priority on the voir dire - what you need to find out and how you want to get the information

Robert Thomas and Robert "Bob" Grace join to discuss short term rentals.  Robert Thomas discusses the legal implications of short term rentals and the potential for takings when they are regulated.  Robert Grace discusses whether a short term rental could be a highest and best use. Robert Thomas also shares a movie recommendation and tells the story about how his mother was an eyewitness to history.

In Episode 35 of the Eminent Domain Podcast, Sam Schwartz aka Gridlock Sam joins to discuss self-driving cars and their impact on future infrastructure.  

Mr. Schwartz's books include No One at the Wheel:  Driverless Cars and the Road of the Future and Street Smart - The Rise of Cities and the Fall of Cars.

In Episode 34 of the Eminent Domain Podcast, I discuss the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Knick v. Township of Scott.  I hope you enjoy the discussion.  For a copy of the opinion, look here:  https://casetext.com/case/knick-v-township-of-scott

For more information about the case, including a listing (with links!) of articles about the case, Robert Thomas has you set:  https://www.inversecondemnation.com/inversecondemnation/2019/06/knick-round-up.html

Clint Harbour from the Texas Attorney General's Office joins us in Episode 33 of the Eminent Domain Podcast.  He discusses eminent domain from the point of view of the government lawyer in Texas.  Clint has great recommendations for trying cases on the condemnor side of the docket.  He also shares why he sometimes will wear basketball shorts under his suit at hearings.

JJ Rolling of von Briesen & Roper (Madison, Wisconsin) joins in Episode 32 of the Eminent Domain Podcast.  He discusses the eminent domain process in Wisconsin.  JJ is also an affiliate member of the Appraisal Institute.  He thinks highest and best use is an important and under-considered part of the appraisal process and talks about why.  Finally, JJ talks about condemnation clauses in leases and a recent case involving K-Mart out of Utah.  We also have the first use of the word "gnarly" on the podca

We discuss the Texas High Speed Rail with Patrick McShan, Special Counsel to Texans Against High Speed Rail.  There have been some court hearings regarding whether the High Speed Rail developer has the right to come on to private property to do survey work and whether the developer is even a railroad under  Texas law.  Patrick brings us up to speed on those cases.  We also discuss the proposed project's financial feasibility, administrative history, and potential future moves in the Texas Legislature.

In this episode, I discuss a cross-examination that I wish I could do over.  I let my emotions get the best of me and was disrespectful to a witness during a trial.  It resulting in me apologizing to him and a lesson learned to not do that again.  I also discuss some recent experiences that have reminded me about the importance and impact of storytelling and themes at trial.