Mr. Burling is Pacific Legal Foundation’s Vice President of Litigation and principal attorney in PLF’s Property Rights practice group.
Mr. Burling has been with PLF since 1983 and his cases involve regulatory takings, environmental and land use regulations, eminent domain, and Indian law. In 2001 he successfully argued a leading property rights case, Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, before the United States Supreme Court. He is a frequent lecturer at continuing legal education courses on topics such as the regulation of wetlands, eminent domain, and the "taking" of private property. Mr. Burling is also the Chairman Emeritus of the Federalist Society’s Environmental Law and Property Rights Practice Group and a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers.
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Supreme Court Review
Silicon Valley Lawyers Chapter
Ristorante Don Giovanni235 Castro Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
The Housing Crisis in California
McGeorge Student Chapter
McGeorge School of Law, Classroom C3200 5th Ave
Sacramento, CA 95817
The Erosion of Property Rights and the Housing Crisis
UC College of Law, San Francisco Student Chapter
UC Law SF200 McAllister
San Francisco, CA 94102
On Oysters, Property, John Locke, and the Court of Federal Claims: Campo v. United States
Oyster farming is hard work. The often-muddy estuary bottoms must be prepared with rocks to...
Courthouse Steps Decision: Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania
Since the 1985 Williamson County v. Hamilton Bank decision, property owners have been able to file claims...
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania
The Supreme Court will hear reargument in Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania on January...
Government Sanctioned Trespass Rights
Confirming that no good deed goes unpunished, a Brooklyn federal court just awarded $6.7 million...
Murr v. Wisconsin - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
SCOTUScast 7-20-17 featuring James S. Burling
On June 23, 2017, the Supreme Court decided Murr v. Wisconsin. In the 1960s the...