Christian F. Torgrimson

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Ms. Torgrimson is a partner with Pursley Lowery Meeks LLP, specializing in eminent domain proceedings as well as private property disputes and other real estate related litigation.  She represents a wide spectrum of property owners and interests, including individual homeowners, large and small businesses, developers, corporations, and tenant/operators. She has substantial experience representing clients in all aspects of eminent domain proceedings brought by state, county and local governments across the State of Georgia, including jury trials, mediations, acquisitions and closings and special master hearings.  Ms. Torgrimson is the Georgia editor for the eminent domain compendium, Law and Procedure of Eminent Domain in the Fifty States, published by the American Bar Association Section of Litigation's Committee on Condemnation, Zoning & Land Use Litigation.  She has written about and spoken on several topics in eminent domain law as well as other litigation topics in Georgia.  She is admitted to practice before the Georgia Appellate Courts, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ms. Torgrimson was born in Huntsville, Alabama, and attended the University of South Carolina where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in 1992.  She obtained her J.D. degree from Emory University School of Law in 1997, where she was a member of the Emory Moot Court Society.  Ms. Torgrimson is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers, the American Bar Association, the Atlanta Bar Association, and the Lawyers Club of Atlanta. Ms. Torgrimson currently serves as an officer of the Eminent Domain Section of the State Bar, and on the BASICS Committee of the State Bar, which serves to end recidivism in Georgia's correctional systems. She served as President of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL) in 2008-2009, and has served on GAWL's Executive Board since 1999.  She also served as President of the GAWL Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, from 2003-2005.  In January 2005, she was a recipient of the 2004 Justice Robert Benham Community Service Award, an award given annually by Georgia Supreme Court Justice Robert Benham for outstanding service and dedication to the community.  Ms. Torgrimson has been selected as a Georgia Rising Star by Georgia Super Lawyers and Atlanta Magazine for several years, and as one of Georgia Trend Magazine's Legal Elite in 2008, 2009 and 2010.  In September 2008, Ms. Torgrimson was selected as a Leader in Law by Atlanta Woman Magazine.  Ms. Torgrimson has been featured as one of Fulton County Daily Report's On the Rise, an annual selection of "12 lawyers to watch" in Georgia.

Areas of Practice: 
        
        - Eminent Domain
        - Real Estate-Related Matters and Litigation

Admitted:  
        
        Georgia, 1997

        U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia, 1997

Education:  
        
        Emory University School of Law, Atlanta, Georgia, 1997
        J.D.

        University of South Carolina, 1992 
        B.A. 
        Honors: Cum Laude  
        

Representative Cases:

• RCI Realty, LLC v. Department of Transp. , __ S.E.2d __, 2010 WL 5394743, (GA.App., 2010) 
• Department of Transp. v. Jordan, 300 Ga.App. 104,684 S.E.2d 141 (2009) 
• Garden Hills v. MARTA, 273 Ga. 280, 539 S.E.2d 811 (2000)

Presentations and Publications:

• Secured a $19.5 million settlement of a condemnation case brought by the Georgia Department of Transportation involving mixed use development property, along with a new driveway cut on a previously limited access street.
• Obtained a $5.9 million jury verdict in favor of client for appraised property and business value against the Georgia Department of Transportation.
• Secured jury verdict as first chair in favor of client for fully appraised property value, and successfully represented client in subsequent appeals before the Georgia Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.
• Successfully represented MARTA in case challenging a transit oriented development project involving public use and private enterprise features before the Georgia Supreme Court.
• Successfully arbitrated as first chair a lawsuit involving the breakup of a limited liability partnership before the American Arbitration Association.
• Speaker, Condemnation Laws and Practice Across the Fifty States, State Bar of Georgia Eminent Domain Section's Annual Seminar, March 2011, Atlanta, GA.
• Speaker, Condemnation 101: Making the Complex Simple in Eminent Domain - Strategic Discovery and How The Case Was Won panels, 6th Annual ALI-ABA Course of Study, February 2011, Coral Gables, FL.
• Seminar Paper, "Problems with Proofs and Juries in Condemnation Cases" for 6th Annual ALI-ABA Course of Study, Condemnation 101: Making the Complex Simple in Eminent Domain, February 2011, Coral Gables, FL.
• Article, "The Case for Recovery of Business Loss in the Taking of Real Property," American Bar Association Section of Litigation's Condemnation, Zoning and Land Use Litigation Committee, Winter 2011.
• Seminar Paper, "Thoughts on Trying Real Property Claims in Nuisance, Trespass, Inverse Condemnation and Condemnation," co-authored with Jeffrey Pollock, for ABA Section of Litigation's Mid-Year Meeting, April 2009.
• Article, "What is the Highest and Best Use of Wetlands?  Think Mitigation,"  State Bar of Georgia Eminent Domain Section newsletter, January 2008.