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Gregor I. McGregor to present his "Legacy of 100 years of the Regulatory Taking Doctrine" at Pace Law School Annual Environmental Law Conference Featured

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The Takings Clause of the United States Constitution and court cases since Pennsylvania Coal v. Mahon (1922) are a check on governmental power which the Due Process and Contracts Clauses used to serve.

That Supreme Court decision has transcended its original relevance (on compensation for the government taking of private property) to become in modern times a touchstone of the individual's relation with the government and the limits on governmental power viz private property (real estate, land interests, and money).

The Takings Doctrine over 100 years has become a singular constitutional limit on governmental authority enforceable in court by lawsuits for invalidation or money damages or both.

Mr. McGregor will present his survey of those 100 years at the Pace Law School 22nd Annual Land Use & Sustainable Development Conference, in White Plains, NY, on December 7-8, 2023. The Regulatory Takings panel session will survey the evolution of the case law and assess its impact on federal, state and local government authority.

The presentations will include not only the limits of that power over private property, but also how the law as created by Pennsylvania Coal balances the individual's private rights against the government's exercise of regulatory authority in the public interest, especially the federal Commerce Clause power and state police power (aka public health, safety, welfare and the environment).

Mr. McGregor's presentation can be viewed on this website at Slide Shows >>

Read 580 times Last modified on Tuesday, 07 November 2023 12:16
Gregor I. McGregor, Esq.

GREGOR I. McGREGOR, Esq. is the founder of New England’s oldest environmental law firm McGregor & Associates, PC in Boston, formed in 1975 and now McGregor Legere & Stevens,PC (formerly McGregor & Legere PC). The firm handles all aspects of environmental law, land use, real estate, and related litigation. The firm is a founding member of the Environmental Law Network (ELN), an alliance of specialty law firms, in the United States and abroad, sharing their legal expertise and practical experience for the benefit of their clients. Mr. McGregor enjoys Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating for attorneys (AV).

In 45 years of environmental practice, Mr. McGregor's cases in court broke new ground in the law of Environmental Impact Statements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), wetland and floodplain protection under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, hazardous waste cleanup liability and cost-recovery under the Massachusetts Superfund, reduced taxes and tax exemptions for qualified land conservation transactions, constitutional protections for open space and parkland, Home Rule environmental ordinances and bylaws of cities and towns, law enforcement and contempt remedies, and the constitutional doctrine of Regulatory Takings.

Before 1975, Mr. McGregor was an Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts and the first chief of the Attorney General’s Division of Environmental Protection. In that capacity he advised and represented the Commonwealth during the formative years of Massachusetts environmental statutes, agencies, regulations, enforcement and cases in court.

Mr. McGregor is editor of the two-volume treatise on Massachusetts Environmental Law, published by Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc.(MCLE). He is co-chair of MCLE’s annual Environmental, Land Use, and Energy Law Conference and MCLE’s Real Estate and Environmental Law Curriculum Advisory Committee. He received from MCLE in 2013 its Scholar-Mentor Award recognizing his dedication to legal scholarship and leadership.

Mr. McGregor chairs the Environmental Committee of the Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts (REBA) and serves as a member of the REBA Board of Directors. He is an active member of the Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association (MMLA), which honored him for his career contributions to legal education and effective advocacy on the Home Rule Doctrine. At the National CLE Conference in Vail, CO, Mr. McGregor co-chairs an annual seminar on Environmental Law, Land Use, Energy & Litigation for attorneys from across the United States.

Mr. McGregor is a long time member of the board of directors of the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC) having served as Board President twice. He has handled several cases for MACC as amicus and is a regular presenter at their annual meeting.

Mr. McGregor is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School.

View Attorney McGregor's Case List >>

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