Property Litigation
Property & Eminent Domain Litigation
When the government threatens your property, Texas law gives you rights worth fighting for. Cobb & Gervasi protects those rights — whether your land is tied up in a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, caught in an improper annexation, or threatened by condemnation.
Texas municipal law is full of procedural traps that can stall or kill a real estate project. ETJ release petitions and disannexation petitions are two of the most consequential — and most overlooked — tools available to landowners. When a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction stands in the way of a project, or when annexation no longer serves the landowner's interests, Texas law provides mechanisms to fight back. We litigate and negotiate these disputes with cities and counties across the state, alongside the broader landscape of property rights and regulatory takings claims that affect Texas businesses.
- ETJ release petitions under Chapter 42, Texas Local Government Code
- Disannexation petitions & challenges to improper annexation
- Challenging municipal annexation authority
- Development agreements & ETJ negotiation
- Land use & zoning disputes with cities and counties
- Municipal consent & development approval disputes
- Eminent domain & condemnation defense
- Just compensation valuation disputes
- Regulatory takings & inverse condemnation
- Pipeline & utility right-of-way disputes
- Property rights constitutional litigation
- State & federal appellate advocacy
"A city can tie up your property for years without ever condemning it. Know your rights before you sign — or surrender them."
A Win for the East End: Court Rules Against Illegal Port Expansion
A landmark appellate victory rejected Port Freeport’s take-now-plan-later condemnation approach.
The Unsexiest Part of the Takings Clause (Part 2)
Why is “just compensation” the least sexy phrase? As explained in Part 1 of this post, just compensation isn’t a legal phrase that makes headlines. Nobody, except a few eminent dom…
Texas Supreme Court Tells Cities: Stop Ignoring State Law on Extraterritorial Jurisdictions (ETJs)
The Texas Supreme Court sent a clear signal that cities cannot ignore SB 2038.
The Unsexiest Part of the Takings Clause (Part 1)
A practical look at the property and compensation issues that decide real takings cases.
No Water, No Sewer, No Justice…until now: Our Win Against the City of Taylor’s Empty Promises
A Williamson County court ordered disannexation after Taylor failed to provide promised services.
Winning for Landowners in Court—and at the Capitol
A legislative win expanding disannexation rights for Texas landowners.
- Miles of Pipelines, Inches of Regulation
- The Dark Side of Austin’s Light-Rail Project
- Cobb & Johns Secures Complete Defense Victory in High-Stakes Property-Fraud Arbitration
- Cobb & Johns Secures Major Summary Judgment Victory for Property Owners in City of Taylor ETJ Dispute
- Navigating the Disannexation Maze: How Texas Landowners Can Reclaim Their Independence
- My Property Is Being Taken by Eminent Domain. Should I Attend the Special Commissioners’ Hearing? (Part 2)
- My Property Is Being Taken by Eminent Domain. Should I Attend the Special Commissioners’ Hearing? (Part 1)
- Texas port erases Black neighborhood—with no plan for using the land
- Getting ourselves in a TIRZ-Y: Texas, Taxes, and TIRZ
- The Empire Strikes Back: Cities Sue to Reclaim Undemocratic Power Over ETJs
- Lies, Power, and Austin City Limits: How City Council Rewrote History to Steal Control Over Shoreline Properties
- Do I Live In My City’s Extraterritorial Jurisdiction?
- Come and Take It (If You Dare): Fighting for Your Rights in a Condemnation Lawsuit
- My ETJ: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
- Stop! Your land is under arrest. You have the right to accept payment—but don’t! (What to do when your land is being condemned, or “taken,” by eminent domain)
- Federal Court ruling means more Airbnb in ATX
- Texas Legislature Gives Landowners a “Get Out of Jail Free” Card From Cities’ ETJ
- How can I find out if I live in a city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction?
- Seceding from your City: Disannexation Procedures
- “Micromobility” companies can’t scoot by much longer without more laws and regulation
- Municipal Noise Ordinances: One Man’s Noise is Another Man’s Nuisance
- Let It Go, Let It Go: Releasing Extraterritorial Jurisdiction
- Your Call Cannot be Completed: When can a city deny a cell tower permit?
- Austin’s ban on digital billboards survives U.S. Supreme Court review
- Can a city ban or restrict short-term rentals like Airbnbs?
- Getting Your Message Across: Municipal Regulation of Signs
- Regulation without Representation: Living in a city’s “extraterritorial jurisdiction”
- Don’t Mess with Texas Signs: Highway Beautification Does Not Mean Content Regulation
- Supreme Court Quashes Town’s Sign Ordinance