Casey Pipes

Member of the Firm

Professional Experience

An experienced attorney in the fields of eminent domain, condemnation, land use law, and zoning law, Casey has been with the Helmsing Leach since being admitted to practice law in Alabama in 1996. He is currently serving as the president and manager of the firm.

EDUCATION

Washington & Lee University, B.A. 1993 (Lexington, Virginia)
University of Alabama School of Law, J.D. cum laude 1996 (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)

Practice Areas

Eminent Domain & Condemnation
Land Use and Development
Real Estate Litigation
Land Use and Zoning
Municipal Law

Team Leader, Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) Consulting Corps Assignment in Thomasville, Georgia – 2016The Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) Consulting Corps provides real estate analysis and action plans for municipalities, not-for-profit organizations, government entities, educational institutions, and other nonprofit owners of real property. Casey led the volunteer Consulting Corps team, which was comprised of 5 CREs from various real estate professional disciplines around the country. The team spent a week in Thomasville, Georgia assisting the local municipality and leaders in defining a vision for the decommissioned Southwestern State Hospital, a former institutional mental health care facility. The team conducted interviews of local business and industry representatives, conducted property inspections, performed research, analyzed the market for the property, delivered an oral presentation to the client, and drafted a written report to the client. The report included a strategic plan with actionable steps that were focused on identifying the highest and best use for the property, creating a vision for the property compatible with the city’s other initiatives, recommending marketing strategies to promote the property, and addressing strategies to control, buy and/or finance the carrying costs of the property until the final re-development or adaptive re-use of the property is accomplished. Casey served as the team leader for this project. In addition to the six days and five nights spent in Thomasville working exclusively on this project, Casey spent approximately another 25 hours preparing, drafting, and editing the report. For more information on this project and its challenges, see: https://www.cre.org/cre-consulting-corps-making-difference-thomasvillegeorgia/
Volunteer lawyer for the South Alabama Volunteer Lawyer Program (SAVLP) providing pro bono legal services in the community.

Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell
Ranked in Band 1 by Chambers & Partners
Named “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers for Mobile, Alabama in:
- Municipal Law (2023)
- Land Use and Zoning Law (2022)
- Litigation – Real Estate (2021)
- Land Use and Zoning Law (2020)
- Land Use and Zoning Law (2018)
- Municipal Law (2017)
- Litigation – Real Estate (2016)
Recognized in The Best Lawyers publications for his work in:
- Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
- Land Use and Zoning Law
- Litigation – Land Use and Zoning
- Litigation – Real Estate
- Municipal Law
- Real Estate Law

Fellow, American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) (served as a Session Coordinator for its Spring 2022 Conference at Amelia Island, Florida)
Member, Owner’s Counsel of America (OCA) (previously served on its Board of Directors)
Member, Counselors of Real Estate (CRE) (previously served on its Board of Directors and Executive Committee in addition to other leadership roles)
Fellow, American Bar Foundation
Member, Council of the Alabama Law Institute
Member, International Right of Way Association (IRWA)
American Bar Association (ABA) Real Property, Trust & Estate (RPTE) Section (served as this Section’s Chair of its Condemnation Committee from 2013-2015)
American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Litigation (served as this Section’s Chair of its Condemnation, Zoning, and Land Use Committee from 2010-2013)
Affiliate Member of National Association of Realtors (NAR)

Co-Author, Social Media Development = Real Estate Development, Real Estate Issues, Global Cities in an Era of Change, Counselors of Real Estate, 2017 Link
Co-Author, Alabama Enacts Major Revisions of Alabama Code 8-1-1, Alabama Lawyer, Alabama Bar Association, November 2015
Author, Alabama Chapter to Landowner’s Guide to Pipelines, Pipeline Safety Trust, 2014 Link
Alabama Chapter to Fifty-State Survey: The Law of Eminent Domain, ABA Book Publishing, 2012 Link
Co-Author, How to Depose an Opposing Appraiser (With Deposition Questions), The Practical Real Estate Lawyer, January 2007
Co-Author, Damages to the Remainder – Loss of Parking Spaces in Condemnation Actions, Probate and Property Magazine, May/June 2003

The Eminent Domain Podcast
ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, January 27-29, 2022, Scottsdale, Arizona – Fighting for Just Compensation by Fighting for Prejudgment Interest and The Emerging Challenge to the Constitutionality of a Taking Without Just Compensation: Rural Broadband
American College of Real Estate Lawyers National Conference, March 19-21, 2020, Charleston, South Carolina – Top 10 Issues Affecting Real Estate Decisions in 2019-2020
ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, January 24-26, 2019, Palm Springs, California – Making the Case for Compensation for Unusual Properties: Lessons Learned on Jury Pitches
CLE International, Annual National Conference, Eminent Domain, All Points of View on Hot Topics Around the Country, December 11-12, 2017, Las Vegas, Nevada – Practice Pitfalls for Eminent Domain Practitioners
Paul W. Brock American Inn of Court, monthly meeting, April 13, 2017, Mobile, Alabama – Hot Topics in Eminent Domain
International Right of Way Association (IRWA) Annual Right of Way Conference, March 1-3, 2017, Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Defending the Appraisal in Condemnation
American Law Institute (ALI-CLE), Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, January 26-28, 2017, San Diego, California – Exhibits in Eminent Domain: How to Make a Persuasive Case
Appraisal Institute, Alabama Chapter Annual Meeting, December 4, 2016, Birmingham, Alabama – Appraisals in Eminent Domain
Baldwin County Alabama Bar Association, Annual CLE Seminar, October 28, 2016, Summerdale, Alabama – Land Use Law
CLE Alabama and Alabama State Bar Real Property, Probate & Trust Section, Real Estate Law Seminar, October 14, 2016, Birmingham, Alabama – Recent Developments in Eminent Domain Law
National Business Institute (NBI) Land Use Law Seminar, September 13, 2016, Mobile, Alabama – Challenging or Appealing an Administrative Zoning Decision
American Law Institute (ALI-CLE) Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation seminar, January 28-30, 2016, Austin, Texas – Highest and Best Use in Convenience Store Takings
Mobile County, Alabama Probate Court Eminent Domain Commissioner’s Training Session, November 18, 2015, Mobile, Alabama – Commissioner’s Hearings from the Landowner’s Perspective
Corporate Live Wire Virtual Round Table, Eminent Domain & Condemnation, 2014
CLE-Alabama and Real Property, Probate & Trust Section of the Alabama State Bar, Real Estate Law seminar, October 17, 2014, Birmingham, Alabama – Pre-Condemnation Considerations for Property Owners
National Business Institute (NBI) Land Use Law Seminar, October 2, 2014, Mobile, Alabama – Legal and Practical Considerations Relating to Annexations by Municipalities
American Law Institute (ALI-CLE) Condemnation 101: How to Prepare and Present an Eminent Domain Case, January 23-25, 2014, New Orleans, Louisiana – Right to Take Hearings — Condemnor and Condemnee Perspectives
American Bar Association, Real Property, Trust and Estate (RPTE) Section’s Fall Leadership Meeting, November 11, 2013, New Orleans, Louisiana – Real Property Hot Topics – Regulatory Takings Update in Alabama
CLE Alabama and Alabama State Bar Real Property, Probate & Trust Section Real Estate Law seminar, October 18, 2013, Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Inverse Condemnation and Regulatory Takings Claims in Alabama: How Recent Court Opinions Helped Property Owners by Not Recognizing Property Rights
Alabama Law Institute Probate Judge’s Conference, January 31, 2013, Point Clear, Alabama – Eminent Domain Law
American Bar Association, Section on Litigation, Condemnation, Zoning and Land Use Committee, Teleconference Roundtable, January 11, 2013 – Thinking Out Loud: Property Rights After Natural Disasters.
American Bar Association (ABA) Annual Meeting, August 13, 2012, Chicago, Illinois – The Uniform Relocation and Real Property Acquisition Act and how it can impact local condemnation actions
ALI-ABA Condemnation 101: Winning the High Ground with Fundamentals of Eminent Domain Valuation and Trial Practice, January 26-28, 2012, San Diego, California – Strategic Depositions: Deposing Valuation Experts
Petroleum and Convenience Marketers of Alabama (PCMA) Annual Meeting, December 7, 2011, Birmingham, Alabama – Eminent Domain Laws of Interest to C-Store Site Owners and Operators
Strafford Webinar, Eminent Domain: Redevelopment Challenges for Local Government, December 1, 2011 – Compliance with Federal real property acquisition rules as a condition of receiving Federal Aid
ABA Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law – Condemnation Committee Conference Call, June 28, 2011 – Inverse Condemnation Claims Based On Right of Way Changes Without a Physical Taking
ALI-ABA Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, February 17-19, 2011, Coral Gables, Florida – Right of Way Changes without a Physical Taking – Is there an Inverse Condemnation Claim?
ALI-ABA Condemnation 101: Making the Complex Simple in Eminent Domain, February 17-19, 2011, Coral Gables, Florida – Working With Valuation Experts: Who, What, When, Where, How?
CLE International, Eminent Domain in Alabama, April 22-23, 2010, Birmingham, Alabama – Recent Updates
ALI-ABA – Condemnation 101: How to Prepare and Present an Eminent Domain Case, Miami, Florida, January 9, 2009 – Basic Exhibits that Help Win Condemnation Cases
ABA Section of Litigation Condemnation, Zoning and Land Use Litigation Committee and Environmental Litigation joint CLE Teleconference, February 12, 2008 – Environmental Regulations – Compensable Takings or Permissible Legislation?
ALI-ABA – Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, January 4, 2008, San Francisco, California – Working with Appraisers
CLE International, Land Use Law Seminar, October 28-29, 2007, Birmingham, Alabama; Co-Planning Chairman
CLE International, Land Use Law Seminar, October 28-29, 2007, Birmingham, Alabama – Annexation and Zoning Law in Alabama
ABA Annual Meeting, Section of Litigation, Condemnation, Zoning and Land Use Committee and Environmental Litigation, August 11, 2007, San Francisco, California – The Line Between Compensable and Non-Compensable Environmental Regulations
International Right of Way Association, Chapter 24 Summer Conference, July 27, 2007, Gulf Shores, Alabama – Eminent Domain in Alabama
Lorman Education Services, July 17, 2007, Birmingham, Alabama – Creation of Easements
National Business Institute, October 17, 2006, Birmingham, Alabama – Eminent Domain: Legal Update
Alabama State Bar, What Every Real Estate Lawyer Needs to Know, October 13, 2006, Birmingham, Alabama – Drafting the Condemnation Provision in a Lease
ALI-ABA Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, January 5-7, 2006, San Diego, California – How Compensation is Determined When the Highest and Best Use or Per Unit Values Are Not Uniform Throughout the Property
Lorman Education Services, Law of Easements: Legal Issues and Practical Considerations in Alabama, April 27, 2005, Mobile, Alabama
National Business Institute, Road and Access Law In Alabama: How to Research and Resolve Access Disputes, March 15, 2005, Mobile, Alabama

Litigation

Corporate