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Justin Hodge |
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Justin Hodge’s principal area of practice is civil litigation, with an emphasis on condemnation and real-estate litigation. His real-estate practice is focused on the representation of property owners against takings by local and state authorities. Justin has successfully represented clients against condemning authorities at the local, county, state, and national levels. Justin has handled cases involving the taking of property improved with office buildings, shopping centers, restaurants, motels, banks, churches, subdivisions, ranches, and vacant land. As a Realtor, Justin is a licensed broker and instructor by the Texas Real Estate Commission and a member of the Houston Association of Realtors. Justin is also actively involved in his church and local bar organizations, including the Christian Legal Society. |
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Justin attended Texas Tech University and received his Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture and applied economics in 1999. He received his law degree in 2002 from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was a member of the Texas Review of Law and Politics. During law school, he served as a law clerk in the General Counsel’s Office of then-Governor George W. Bush.
Justin was recognized as a “Rising Star” in eminent domain in both 2008 and 2009 by Law and Politics Magazine published in Texas Monthly. He is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the Christian Legal Society (vice president, Houston Chapter), the International Council for Shopping Centers, Young Lawyer’s Steering Committee (chair of U.S. Supreme Court Subcommittee in 2007–2008), the Defense Research Institute, the American Bar Association; Texas Young Lawyers Association, the Houston Bar Association and Houston Young Lawyers Association, the Texas Farm Bureau, and the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.
Justin is admitted to practice in Texas (2002), the U.S. Supreme Court, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas. |
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- In a jury trial in Bell County, Texas, represented a property owner against a taking by the State of Texas. The taking was to widen IH-35 and build a large rest stop, which impacted not only the surface but also the landowner’s water wells.
- Represented a landowner in a jury trial in Conroe, Texas against a taking by a local governmental authority. The taking involved issues related to the impact of a high-pressure gas pipeline on property and detention requirements by condemning authority, and Justin’s responsibilities included giving the opening statement and cross-examining a key fact witness.
- In a jury trial in Houston, represented a hedge fund against a taking of a country club in Clear Lake, Texas by a local governmental authority, resulting in a finding that the condemning authority’s action in deciding to take the property was arbitrary, capricious, and fraudulent. The case is currently on appeal.
- Represented landowners against the State of Texas’s widening of IH-35.
- Represented property owner in Tarrant County, Texas against the City of Fort Worth's, the State of Texas', and North Texas Toll Authority's Southwest parkway project.
- Served on several trial teams representing property owners against the State of Texas’s widening of IH-10 in Harris County, Texas.
- Represented landowners against the State of Texas’s widening of 635 in Dallas County, Texas.
- Represented property owners against the Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority’s expansion of METRO rail lines.
- Worked on trial teams in the Harris County Courts at Law to represent landowners against the State of Texas’s widening of IH-10.
- Served as first chair in a variety of special commissioners’ hearings and took dozens of fact-witness and expert-witness depositions.
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- “Conservation or Preservation Easements: Answering Highest and Best Use and Valuation Issues When Dealing With Encumbered Property” (coauthor), ALI-ABA, January 2008
- “Can Communications Between an Accountant and Client Be Privileged? How to Make Use of This Narrow Evidentiary Rule,” Defense Research Institute, Young Lawyers Compendium (2008)
- “The Law of Eminent Domain—State of Texas” (coauthor), ABA Section of Litigation—Condemnation Zoning and Land Use Litigation, 2007
- Recent Developments in Products, General Liability, and Consumer Law (coauthor), Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J., Winter 2007
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Glenn Sodd
Justin Hodge