Pennsylvania Eminent Domain, Rights-of-Way, and Easements Seminar
DISCLAIMER
Before purchasing, review the rules of your licensing or certifying entity. It is your responsibility to confirm this course meets your CE requirements. See the credit tab on the course page for details.
What’s Included: Full webinar recording, written course materials, expert instruction, a mandatory quiz, and a certificate upon completion.
Deliverability Timeline: All courses are generally available within 1-2 weeks after the live presentation.
CE Credits: AIA and/or LA/CES accreditation is available by request for courses recorded prior to March 11, 2026. All courses after that date include those accreditations by default, if applicable. With these accreditations, our courses qualify for credit in nearly all states for engineers, surveyors, architects, and landscape architects.
Learn more about the on-demand format in our FAQ or contact us at (715) 835-5900 or customerservice@halfmoonseminars.org
Agenda
Registration: 8:00 – 8:30 am
Morning Session: 8:30 am – 12:15 pm
Lunch (On your own): 12:15 – 1:15 pm
Afternoon Session: 1:15 – 4:30 pm
Eminent Domain
W. Bresnahan, W. Bresnahan II
Procedures to condemn
Procedures for determining general damages
Just compensation and the measure of damages
Property Rights Protection Act
Special damages for displacement
Calculating Just Compensation –
The Three Approaches to Value
D. Cestra
Sales comparison approach to value
Income approach to value
Cost approach to value
Identifying, Classifying and Locating Easements
F. Kosir
What is and is not an easement
Creating easements: written easements, easements by necessity,
easements by implication, prescriptive easements
Identifying critical distinctions between easements in gross,
easements appurtenant and prescriptive easements
Maintaining easements
Limitations on easement rights
Knowing when and how to terminate easements
Obstructing use of easements and determining remedies for obstruction
Understanding Utility Easements and Rights of Way
R. Bowman
Current laws and regulations on utility rights of way
Types of utilities affected: electric, water, sanitary sewer, storm sewer,
natural gas, telecommunications
Basis for and definition of the easement
Risks for junior owners in encroachments and interferences
Maintenance
Environmental issues
Do any utilities have eminent domain rights?
Credits
Attorneys
6.5-S Pennsylvania CLE Hours
6.5 Ohio CLE Hours
Pennsylvania Title Insurance
Producers
6.5 General CE Hours
Land Surveyors & Engineers
6.5 PDHs
Continuing Education Credit Information
This seminar is open to the public. The Pennsylvania CLE Board has approved this seminar for 6.5 substantive CLE hours for attorneys, and the Ohio Commission on CLE has approved it for 6.5 CLE hours.
The Pennsylvania Insurance Department has approved this course for 6.5 general continuing education hours (for title insurance producers).
This event offers 6.5 PDHs to Pennsylvania land surveyors and engineers. Educators and courses are not subject to preapproval in Pennsylvania.
Engineers and land surveyors seeking continuing education credit in other states will be able to apply the hours earned at this seminar, in most cases. Refer to specific state rules to determine eligibility.
Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the seminar for most individuals who complete the entire event. Attendance certificates not available at the seminar will be mailed to participants within fifteen business days.
Speakers
Rebecca A. Bowman, P.E., D.F.E.
Law Office of Rebecca Bowman, PrincipalMs. Bowman is a sole proprietor, practicing in dispute resolution, estate planning, civil engineering, real estate, legal services, strategic development, and training. She is experienced in dispute resolution, estate planning and administration, engineering design and forensic analysis, construction/project management, real estate, small business start-up, employment law, and nonprofit support. She is a registered professional engineer and a certified arbitrator and mediator. Mrs. Bowman writes a column for the PE Reporter, “Risky Business,” and she lectures for the Community College of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania State University, the Washington County Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers, and others. She earned her B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of North Dakota, her M.B.A. degree from Oklahoma University, and her J.D. degree from Duquesne University. She recently joined the National Society of Professional Engineers as their Senior Director of Ethics and Professional Practice.
William Bresnahan
Ryan Law GroupWilliam P. Bresnahan II is a partner with Ryan Law Group. He received his bachelor of arts degree from John Carroll University and his juris doctor degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Mr. Bresnahan is a member of the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and American bar associations and the Institute of Property Taxation. His practice is focused exclusively on eminent domain and real estate tax assessment litigation matters.
William Bresnahan
Bresnahan, Nixon & Finnegan, P.C.William P. Bresnahan is an attorney and the managing partner of Bresnahan, Nixon & Finnegan, P.C. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Wheeling Jesuit University and his juris doctor degree from the Duquesne University School of Law. Mr. Bresnahan is a member of the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and American bar associations; the Academy of Trial lawyers of Allegheny County: the Institute of Property Taxation; the Best Lawyers in America; the American Association for Justice; and Pennsylvania Super Lawyers. Mr. Bresnahan is a lecturer and contributing writer for the Allegheny County Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
Dennis Cestra
Howard Hanna Appraisal ServicesDennis A. Cestra, Sr., is senior vice president of Howard Hanna Appraisal Services. He began his career in real estate sales and management in 1972 alongside the founder of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, Howard W. Hanna, Jr., and Howard W. “Hoddy” Hanna, III. That same year, Mr. Cestra was joined at the firm by his wife, Annie Hanna Cestra. By 1975, he had earned his associate broker’s license and began appraising properties along with Mr. Hanna, Jr. During the 1980s, he assumed the management of the Appraisal Division and started to further grow the business. Mr. Cestra has earned numerous appraisal designations, including SRA, IFA and CRP. He is the past president of the Metropolitan Pittsburgh Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, the Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers, and the Pennsylvania Council of Real Estate Appraisers. Mr. Cestra oversees a staff of state-certified appraisers completing commercial, residential and industrial assignments. He specializes in eminent domain and aviation-related appraisal services.
Frank Kosir Jr.
Frank Kosir, Jr. is an attorney with Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP. Mr. Kosir has significant civil litigation and general practice experience in all areas of real property law including real estate tax assessment appeals, real estate sales, purchase, and leasing, oil and gas lease negotiations, real estate title defense and claims, landlord-tenant actions, quiet title actions, eminent domain actions, zoning and land use actions, boundary line disputes and Covid-19 related real estate issues. Prior to entering the practice of law, he acquired extensive experience in all facets of real estate development, sales, construction, and leasing with his family’s home construction company, which has operated for more than sixty years. Mr. Kosir’s knowledge of the construction, planning, and business aspects of real estate provide him with a unique understanding that he utilizes in assisting clients. He writes quarterly real estate update columns in The Legal Intelligencer and frequently lectures at continuing legal education programs.