In the area of eminent domain law, Leslie A. Fields has been active on virtually all sides of the land acquisition and valuation process. Representing both private and governmental entities, her clients include individual and corporate landowners, developers, energy providers, pipeline and transmission line companies, public service corporations, counties, municipalities and special districts. She has counseled and represented her clients through every stage of a condemnation case, from preliminary negotiations for the acquisition of property, to the institution of condemnation proceedings, to the ultimate determination of just compensation through litigation and the appellate process.
During her extensive career, Leslie has been involved in every major governmental project within the state of Colorado, including the Denver International Airport, the Colorado Convention Center, Highways C-470 and E-470, the I-25 Transportation Expansion Project (T-REX) and the FasTracks Lightrail project.
Leslie has argued numerous precedent-setting cases before the Colorado Court of Appeals and the Colorado Supreme Court, resulting in published decisions which include:
- Representing a private landowner in one of the few reported decisions overturning the right to take property. The case involved a special district seeking to condemn property for primarily private, not public purposes.
- Representing an office complex to successfully defeat the taking of lake property by an urban renewal authority based on an improper finding of blight.
- Representing a waste transfer facility owner to obtain significant compensation for the taking of a permitted transfer site based on a valuation methodology that recognized the special purpose attributes of the property and the permit.
- Representing a mountain resort community in the successful acquisition of a large tract of vacant land for open space and preservation purposes, resulting in a landmark decision upholding home rule eminent domain powers.
Leslie has testified as an expert witness in her area of expertise and has also presented before Colorado judges at their annual Colorado Judicial Conference. She has written extensively on eminent domain law and procedures. In 2007, Leslie authored the Colorado textbook Colorado Eminent Domain Practice published by Bradford Publishing.
Leslie is currently co-chairman of one of ALI-ABA's longest-running national conferences, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation. This annual conference, attended by lawyers, judges, appraisers and right-of-way agents from around the country, has become the go-to forum for the most current updates on the law of eminent domain and the exchange and development of new ideas.
Leslie's experience extends into numerous subareas of the eminent domain and land valuation field, including condemning for private ways of necessity, acquisition of access rights, project enhancement and highest and best use issues, visibility and loss of view damages, parking lot impacts, land use noncompliance impacts, value of special use properties, corridor and utility acquisitions, open space acquisitions, relocation expenses, and appraisal standards and guidelines.
Firm Leadership
Leslie is a member of the firm's management committee and serves as the firm's diversity partner. In this role, she helps direct initiatives focused on promoting and maintaining a culture of diversity within the firm and in the extended legal community.