State, Department of Transportation v. Lakepointe Associates

This is an appeal from a final order setting the amount of an attorney’s fee in an eminent domain case. We conclude that the trial court erred in computing the fee based on the difference between the amount of the jury verdict and the value the Department placed on the landowner’s property in its trial testimony. Because the Department had previously submitted a valid offer to purchase the property, the fee should have been based on the difference between the verdict and the amount of the offer. Accordingly, we reverse with instructions to recalculate the fee.

The controversy in this case…