Chris C. Bucalo is a third generation trial lawyer with over thirty years of experience in complex, high-profile real estate litigation cases. He is best known for work throughout Florida representing property owners and business owners in eminent domain proceedings. His energetic style of practice reflects his view that it is a privilege to protect the civil right of private ownership and that the practice of law is a high professional calling. Andrew also has experience in cases involving property valuation, division, and use. With a passion for protecting private property, he founded Brigham Property Rights Law Firm in 2012.
He is the Florida member of Owners’ Counsel of America, a nationwide network of eminent domain attorneys dedicated to defending property owners. Only one lawyer from each state and the District of Columbia is admitted to OCA and only lawyers that devote their practice primarily to representing owners in property rights and eminent domain matters.
Andrew also serves as chair of the advisory council for the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference sponsored by William & Mary Law School. The conference brings together both the academy and the practicing bar in an annual exchange of scholarship on the virtue and value of property rights. As part of the conference, Andrew has presented internationally at Tsinghua University School of Law in Beijing China and the Universiteit Leiden at the Hague in the Netherlands.
He also co-chairs the national American Bar Institute Continuing Legal Education (ALI-CLE) seminar, Condemnation 101, and the statewide CLE-International seminar, Eminent Domain. These are the preeminent continuing legal education seminars available for practitioners in the field of eminent domain. Consequently, Andrew frequently lectures on eminent domain, property rights, and trial advocacy. He is an AV® Preeminent Rated Lawyer by Martindale Hubbell in Eminent Domain and he was selected for inclusion by Thomson Reuters in the Super Lawyers Editions in business practice areas since 2007. Additionally, he is included in Best Lawyers® and The Best Lawyers in America® for years 2007-2021.
In 2008, Andrew was lead counsel in a case against the Jacksonville Port Authority, where he obtained a jury verdict of $67,410,000. That is the largest in Florida state court eminent domain proceedings to date. In 2013-2018, he was lead counsel obtaining three of the four largest jury verdicts in Florida state court eminent domain proceedings against the Florida Department of Transportation in the same five year period in the amounts of $2,800,000, $2,900,000, and $4,905,000. More recently, in 2019, he served as eminent domain co-counsel in a case resulting in the largest pre-suit settlement with the Florida Department of Transportation in the preceding five years in the amount of $23,000,000. Additionally, Andrew has represented owners in takings cases against NextEra Energy (Florida Power & Light and Gulf Power) and also Florida Gas, Gulfstream, Sabal Trail, and Peoples Gas.
Christopher C. Bucalo, Esq.