Newsroom - February 2010
Ron Coleman successfully represented Crystal Farms, a Georgia-based commercial egg producer, to obtain a reversal on appeal of a trial court ruling rejecting the client's claims that certain easements over its property held by Road Atlanta had reverted to Crystal Farms based on Road Atlanta's failure to develop the property as contemplated in the easement grants. Ron was hired as appellate counsel for Crystal Farms after it suffered the adverse trial ruling, and he developed and executed the appeal strategy and arguments with the assistance of associate Melissa Burton. The court of appeals held that the trial court applied the wrong legal standard to determine whether the easements reverted. This case involved the conflict between common law easement reversion standards and principles of contract interpretation. Our attorneys successfully persuaded the court of appeals that the express reversionary terms of the easement agreement control rather than the common law reversion standard applied by the trial court. This ruling gives the client the opportunity to obtain clear title to its commercial property free of any restrictive easement rights.