Dentons partners Nathan Garroway and Jeff Zachman, led a team of that included senior managing associate Sarah Hannah Phillips and others in assisting the City of Atlanta in securing a decisive win involving the very popular Atlanta BeltLine, a former railroad corridor that has been converted into a multi-use public trail and parks.

A putative class had claimed ownership of the former railroad property that now underlies the BeltLine and sought tens of millions of dollars in damages for alleged inverse condemnation and trespass on the property, which could have significantly impacted the trail’s ongoing development. After the Georgia Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the trial court’s denial of class certification and the Georgia Supreme Court subsequently denied the plaintiffs’ petition for certiorari, the Dentons team stepped in and defeated the plaintiffs’ pre-discovery motions for summary judgment and succeeded on our client’s motion. The trial court dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims entirely, ruling that the deed by which the city took possession of the disputed property transferred to it all right, title and interest. In November 2024, the Court of Appeals affirmed that decision.

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