New Jersey Condemnation Law

ANTHONY F. DELLA PELLE is a partner in the New Jersey law firm of McKirdy and Riskin, P.A. For more than 40 years, McKirdy and Riskin has been successfully involved in precedent-setting cases in behalf of property owners in some of the most complex real estate takings and valuation litigation matters, involving commercial, industrial, special purpose and residential properties.  Mr. Della Pelle’s practice is limited to condemnation, eminent domain, redevelopment and real estate tax appeal matters.

Mr. Della Pelle is rated “AV/Preeminent” by the Martindale Hubbell Law Directory, has been selected a “New Jersey Super Lawyer” as published in the New Jersey Monthly Magazine since its inception in 2005, was selected by that magazine as one of New Jersey’s Top 10 attorneys for 2012, and one of New Jersey’s Top 100 attorneys in 2009, 2010 and again in 2011.  He was also recognized as one of New Jersey’s Top Rated Attorneys by the Star-Ledger’s Inside Jersey Magazine in 2012, and one of New Jersey’s top real estate attorneys by Real Estate New Jersey Magazine in 2009.   Mr. Della Pelle is the sole New Jersey representative for Owners Counsel of America, a national association of leading eminent domain lawyers across the country.  He is a designated member of the Counselors of Real Estate®, an international organization of real estate professionals limited to approximately 1,100 worldwide members, of which less than 50 members are practicing attorneys around the world.  Mr. Della Pelle served on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s transition team in 2009, and appears regularly as a legal consultant regarding eminent domain matters on national television.

Mr. Della Pelle is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and Seton Hall University School of Law.  A member of the New Jersey State and Federal bars since 1987, he is is board certified as a Civil Trial Attorney by the Supreme Court of New Jersey, Board on Trial Attorney Certification.

Mr. Della Pelle has been appointed on several occasions by the Superior Court of New Jersey as a receiver and legal advisor in real estate valuation matters.  He is a member of the American Bar Association and its Condemnation Committee; the Morris County Bar Association where he chairs the Condemnation Committee; the New Jersey State Bar Association;  the New Jersey State Builders Association and its Redevelopment Committee; the Community Builders Association, and the Urban Land Institute.  He is also a Trustee and Vice President of the Franklin & Marshall College Alumni Association, serves as a Trustee and Vice President of the New Jersey Hall of Fame Foundation, and is a Commissioner of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority.

Mr. Della Pelle has lectured on eminent domain, redevelopment and real estate tax appeal issues for a variety of professional organizations, including the American Law Institute-American Bar Association, the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, the Metro New Jersey Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, the Community Builders Association, the Association of Municipal Assessors of New Jersey and others.  He has also served on the faculty of the New Jersey Association of Realtors’ Graduate Realtor Institute for more than 20 years and has published several articles on real estate valuation issues in the New Jersey Law Journal, the American Bar Association — Condemnation, Land Use and Zoning Committee’s Annual Review, the American Law Institute – American Bar Association’s Practical Litigator, and other publications.

JOSEPH W. GRATHER was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1999 (Federal and State) and to the bar of the United States Supreme Court in 2003.  Joe graduated from Saint Michael’s College with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received his law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law.  Thereafter, he clerked for New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Virginia A. Long, and then proceeded to private practice concentrating in civil commercial litigation.  In addition, he was a member of the Adjunct Law Faculty at Seton Hall teaching Legal Research & Writing in 2003-2004.  He has authored several articles, including “Recent Developments in the Law of Eminent Domain:  “Economic Redevelopment” as a Public Use or Purpose?” The Morris Lawyer, April 2005.  Mr. Grather has been involved in several reported cases and, since joining the firm in 2003, his focus has been on representing property owners in eminent domain cases.  Also, in 2010, the New Jersey Supreme Court appointed him to sit on the District XA Ethics Committee.

CORY K. KESTNER is an associate at McKirdy & Riskin, PA,  focusing his practice on eminent domain matters and real estate tax appeals.  After law school Mr. Kestner served as law clerk to the Honorable Lawrence M. Lawson, A.J.S.C., where he gained extensive experience working on condemnation and land use matters.  He is the author of several articles, most notably “SCOTUS SCONJ TDRS = New Jersey Highlands Act Litigation Outcomes: Will it all Add Up to a Fair Outcome for Property Owners?”, 18 Fordham Envtl. L. Rev. 399 (2007), “Subpar Subpoena Clauses: Why States Need to Legislatively Amend Their Zoning Subpoena Laws”, 34 Seton Hall Legis. J. 29 (2009), and most recently “In Condemnation Actions, Trial Court Is Gatekeeper to Expert Valuation Testimony,” New Jersey Law Journal (Nov. 14, 2011).  Mr. Kestner has been selected in 2011 as a “New Jersey Rising Star” as published in New Jersey Monthly Magazine.  Mr. Kestner graduated from Albany Law School in 2008, where he was a member of the Albany Law Environmental Outlook Journal, and also earned Best Oral Advocate honors in the moot court program.