Robert H. Thomas

Robert H. Thomas is a land use and appellate lawyer, and focuses on regulatory takings, eminent domain, water rights, and voting rights cases.  He has tried cases and appeals in Hawaii, California, and the federal courts. For a list of reported cases in which he’s been involved, go here.

Robert received his LLM, with honors, from Columbia Law School where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and his JD from the University of Hawaii School of Law where he served as editor of the Law Review. Robert taught law at the University of Santa Clara School of Law, and was an exam grader and screener for the California Committee of Bar Examiners.

Robert is the inaugural Joseph T. Waldo Visiting Chair in Property Rights Law at the William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia. He teaches upper-division courses in eminent domain and property rights. He also recently completed a year as the Chair of the American Bar Association's Section on State & Local Government Law, and was the long-time Chair of the Section's Eminent Domain Law Committee. 

He is the Hawaii member of Owners’ Counsel of America, a national network of the most experienced eminent domain and property rights lawyers. Membership in OCA is by invitation only, and is limited to a single attorney from each state. He also was the Co-Planning Chair of the American Law Institute-CLE's annual three-day conference on condemnation law, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation. Robert is the Managing Attorney for the Pacific Legal Foundation Hawaii Center, a non-profit legal foundation dedicated to protecting property rights and individual liberties. He is listed in Best Lawyers in Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law, and Land Use & Zoning Law, and in Super Lawyers in Appellate Law, Land Use/Zoning, and Government/Cities/Municipalities.

He is also a frequent speaker on land use and eminent domain issues in Hawaii and nationwide. Robert regularly publishes scholarly and practical articles in his area of practice. For a partial list go to: https://www.inversecondemnation.com/inversecondemnation/publications.html  

His blog on land use, property, and takings law, inversecondemnation.com, is one of the most widely-read blogs on those subjects.

Professional and Community Affiliations

• American Bar Association 

   Past Chair, Section of State and Local Government Law (2017-2018)

   Past Chair, Eminent Domain Law Committee (Section of State & Local Government Law) (2009-2016)

   Council of Appellate Lawyers

   Litigation Section, Committee on Condemnation, Zoning and Land Use (Hawaii editor, Case Notes)

• State Bar of California

• Hawaii State Bar Association

Bar Admissions

• California

• Hawaii

• U.S. Supreme Court

• U.S. Court of Appeals (Ninth and Federal Circuits)

• U.S. District Court (Hawaii and Northern District of California)

• U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Tax Court