Mr. Thomas, along with his colleagues in Damon Key’s Land Use Group, is one of the preeminent land use lawyers in Hawaii.

He focuses on issues involving appeals, regulatory takings, eminent domain, water rights, land use (zoning and planning), shoreline issues, navigational servitudes, and voting rights.

He has tried cases and appeals in all levels of Hawaii courts and administrative agencies including county planning commissions, county zoning boards of appeals, and the State Board of Land and Natural Resources.  He has also tried cases and appeals in California and the federal courts, including the Court of Federal Claims.

Mr. Thomas received his LLM, with honors, from Columbia Law School where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and his JD from the University of Hawaii School of Law where served as editor of the Law Review.

Robert has been selected by his peers to be included in Best Lawyers in America in eminent domain and condemnation law, and is a frequent speaker on land use and eminent domain issues nationwide.  He has published articles in the Journal of Legal Education, the University of Hawaii Law Review, and other scholarly journals.  His latest publications are Arrow of Time: Vested Rights, Zoning Estoppel, and Development Agreements in Hawaii, 27 U. Haw. L. Rev. 17 (Feb. 2006), and the Hawaii chapter in Law and Procedure of Eminent Domain in the 50 States.

Robert is the Managing Attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation Hawaii Center, a non-profit legal foundation dedicated to protecting property rights and individual liberties.

Robert also authors a legal blog, inversecondemnation.com, where he posts articles and commentary on land use and property rights issues.

Representative cases:

Constitutional law, election law, and voting rights

Representing homeowners in appeal of Kauai government's challenge to citizen-enacted real property tax relief charter amendment.  County of Kauai ex rel. Nakazawa v. Baptiste, 115 Haw. 15, 165 P.3d 916 (2007). More about the case from the Wall Street Journal here.

Represented property owner in appeal that resulted in the rejection of "zoning by initiative" in Hawaii.  Kaiser Hawaii Kai Dev. Co. v. City & County of Honolulu, 777 P.2d 244 (Haw. 1989).  Prepared amicus brief on the same issue in Lum Yip Kee, Ltd. v. City & County of Honolulu, 767 P.2d 244 (Haw. 1989). 

Regulatory takings, navigable waters

Secured the right to compensation for regulatory taking of private waterway adjacent to San Francisco Bay; one of the few cases recognizing the government's obligation to pay for a taking of navigable waters.  Alameda Gateway, Ltd. v. United States, 45 Fed. Cl. 757 (1999); United States v. Alameda Gateway, Ltd., 213 F.3d 1161 (9th Cir. 2000) petition for cert. withdrawn (Aug. 2000). 

Protected the privacy of a navigable lagoon against encroachment by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the public in multi-jurisdictional litigation.  Boone v. United States, 944 F.2d 1489 (9th Cir. 1991), aff'g 725 F. Supp. 1509 (D. Haw. 1989) and 743 F. Supp. 1367 (D. Haw. 1989).

Appellate law

Successfully represented party on appeal affirming rejection of a claim for attorney's fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988.  Maui Tomorrow v. State of Hawaii, 110 Haw. 234, 131 P.3d 517 (2006).

Coastal Zone and Special Management Area permits

Represented property owner defending a Special Management Area (shoreline) use permit from from due process and equal protection challenges.  Sandy Beach Defense Fund v. City & County of Honolulu, 773 P.2d 250 (Haw. 1989).

Prepared amicus brief supporting Big Island property owner who subdivided land outside the Special Management Area but who was required to obtain a SMA use permit.  Leslie v. County of Hawaii, 109 Haw. 384, 126 P.3d 1071 (2006).

Eminent domain and condemnation

Kelo v. City of New London, 125 S. Ct. 2655 (2005) (amicus brief supporting a property owner seeking to establish a standard of review for eminent domain abuse). 

Representing Big Island property owner defending multiple eminent domain actions.

Regulatory takings, inverse condemnation

Secured summary judgment in attempted regulatory taking of vested Shoreline Management Act and development permits.  Maunalua Associates v. City & County of Honolulu (Haw., First Cir. 2002).

Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 544 U.S. 528 (2005) (prepared amicus brief defining the legal standard for regulatory takings).  More about the case from the Honolulu Advertiser.

Asserted developer's standing to contest a regulatory taking. Kaiser Dev. Co. v. City & County of Honolulu, 898 F.2d 112 (9th Cir. 1990) cert. denied, 499 U.S. 954 (1991)

Water rights

Defending the rights of Maui farmers to continue to receive agricultural water from the east Maui ditch in administrative proceedings before the State of Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources.

Land use and vested rights

Protected vested development permit from arbitrary revocation before the Maui Planning Commission.

Professional & Community Affiliations

American Bar Association (State & Local Gov't, Litigation sections; Council of Appellate Lawers)
State Bar of California
Hawaii State Bar Association
Managing Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation Hawaii Center

Publications

Articles and books

Condemnation - eminent domain:  Law and Procedure of Eminent Domain in the 50 States (Hawaii chapter), ABA Section on Litigation, Committee on Condemnation, Zoning and Land Use (2006, 2007) - available on-line for Section members

Vested rights and development agreements: Arrow of Time: Vested Rights, Zoning Estoppel, and Development Agreements in Hawaii, 27 U. Haw. L. Rev. 17 (2004)

Legal education: “Hey, Did You Get My E-Mail?” Reflections of a Retro-Grouch in the Computer Age of Legal Education, 44 J. Legal Educ. 233 (1994) (predicting impact of e-mail and the internet on law teaching and practice)

Appellate jurisdiction:  A Unified Principle of Appellate Jurisdiction in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Bureau of National Affairs (1987) (proposing a standard of appellate review in the Federal Circuit for mixed Little Tucker Act and Federal Tort Claims Act cases)

Civil rights - administrative law: Gaining Access to a Federal Forum: The Preclusive Effect of Unreviewed Administrative Determinations in Section 1983 Actions, 9 U. Haw. L. Rev. 648 (1987) (administrative decisions should not be given preclusive effect in subsequent § 1983 cases)

Evidence:  The Admissibility of Hypnosis Enhanced Testimony in Hawaii, 8 U. Haw. L. Rev. 655 (1986) (survey of decisions and commentary regarding memories recovered through hypnosis)

Other publications and op-eds

Property rights: Little-noticed decision erodes property rights (Honolulu Advertiser, July 5, 2007)

Eminent domain: Kelo Exposes Deeper Problems With Eminent Domain (Pacific Business News, Feb. 17, 2006)

Property taxes and voting rights: Whose County is it, anyway? (Honolulu Advertiser, Jan. 22, 2006)

Agriculture law and land use: Examining the Impact of Act 5 (Agriculture Hawaii, July - Sept 2006); Protecting Your Right to Farm (Agriculture Hawaii, April - June 2006)

Eminent domain: The Offer You Can't Refuse -- Land, Home Ownership, is Worth Protecting and Fighting For (Honolulu Advertiser, July 3, 2005) 

Tort reform, premises liability:  Common Sense and Common Law - Who Does The Balancing of Social Utility? (with Kenneth R. Kupchak)  (presented and published at the 2004 Joint Annual Meeting of the American and Canadian Colleges of Construction Lawyers about the question of social utility in determining tort standards for premises liability)

Regulatory takings: “Public Use,” Regulatory Takings, and the Limits of the Legislature (2004)

Zoning & voting rights: Searching for Euclid: Direct Democracy and Land Use (1995) (survey of initiative and referendum in land use decisions, proposing new analysis)

Seminars and speaking engagements

List of upcoming seminars here.