Rutter & Roy recently secured an appellate victory on behalf of its client in connection with the State of New Jersey’s Manasquan Inlet to Barnegat Inlet Hurricane and Storm Damage Reduction Project (the “Project”).  Following the Superior Court’s issuance of final judgments authorizing the State, by the Department of Environmental Protection, to take easements by way of eminent domain in connection with the Project, multiple commercial landowners (the “Defendants”) appealed from those judgments.  In so doing, the Defendants raised several arguments challenging the State’s right to secure the easements.  In two of the underlying cases, the Superior Court inserted language in the final judgments that clouded the rights secured pursuant to those judgments, prompting the State to file cross-appeals in those matters seeking to have that language removed.  Rutter & Roy’s Brian W. Keatts argued the case on behalf of the State, who prevailed on all counts at the Appellate Division.  The Appellate Division’s decision affirmed the judgments in favor of the State and directed the Superior Court to delete the language it inserted in the two orders subject to the cross-appeal.  Rutter & Roy’s Brian W. Keatts and Heather N. Oehlmann prepared the successful appellate briefs.   State v. 10.041 Acres of Land in the Borough of Point Pleasant Beach (Appellate Docket Nos: A2278-17T4, A2279-17T4 and A2279-17T4, 2020)