Recently the 3^rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago issued a ruling refusing to allow a national settlement on fiber optic cases.  We were somewhat skeptical of the settlement and we believe that this ruling to overturn the lower court's approval of the settlement may be good for all fiber optic cases.

Some of the attorneys in the “Chicago” case have requested that the appellate court reconsider its decision and therefore no final decision is likely to occur for the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime, we are working with a group of attorneys, at the national level, to determine if an alternative settlement can be reached with the fiber optic companies and railroads.

ACTION:

The Federal Government gave “land grant” right-of-ways to Railroad Companies in order to establish the railroad. These original right-of-ways were limited to use of the land for railroad purposes. The legal owner of the land subject to the railroad right-of-way is the owner of the property adjacent to the railroad.

Companies involved in the development of high speed communications, such as Sprint and AT&T, needed a way to quickly extend their fiber-optic cables across the country so they could sell the use of its information transferring capabilities for a profit. Sprint and other communications companies entered into agreements with railroads, including the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company, to pay the railroads a fee for burying their communications cable under the railroad right-of-ways. The railroads knew that their right-of-way privileges to conduct a railroad did not include the right to bury cable in the land owned by adjacent property owners.

The agreements between the communications companies and the railroads allowed the communications companies to make a profit selling their services and the railroad to collect a use fee from the communications companies for land they did not own without any payments being made to the legal owner of the land.

Solberg, Stewart, Miller & Tjon represents hundreds of uncompensated landowners who own property adjacent to the Burlington Northern main line from Fargo through Dickinson to the Montana border.

CONTACT US:

For more information contact Solberg, Stewart, Miller & Tjon at 701-237-3166 or toll free at 877-237-3166 and ask to speak with our legal assistant Angela Cameron. Or you may contact Ms. Cameron by e-mail at acameron@solberglaw.com.

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