Tree Law

Our tree law practice includes representation of parties involved in tree related disputes, including trespass causing damage to trees, negligent tree care, property line trees, and hazardous trees on neighboring properties.  Our firm also represents municipalities in tree related matters, including enforcement of hazardous tree prohibitions, intervention in disputes between neighbors, and the regulation of public utilities’ tree work in public rights-of-way.  Attorney Kenneth Sigman has worked closely with professional arborists on many tree cases.  Mr. Sigman drafted a tree law for the City of Takoma Park, Maryland, which promotes the City’s urban forest by requiring tree replacement and tree-friendly construction practices.  Mr. Sigman also serves as the Executive Director of the City of Takoma Park Tree Commission.

The following examples of our past tree law clients are illustrative of our practice:

• A homeowner whose tree was removed by a neighbor to improve the view of the neighbor’s house from the street.
• A homeowner whose neighbor entered her property and pruned back to the trunk all of the branches of her trees that extended toward his property.
• Homeowners whose neighbor secretly used a hose to direct stormwater onto their property for several years, killing three mature oaks.
• Homeowners whose neighbor cleared and regraded twenty-four hundred square feet of natural forest on their property.
• A homeowner that had to remove a row of mature white pines from his property after a utility subcontractor dug a trench along the base of the trees, severing half of the trees’ roots.
• A homeowner that hired a tree expert to thin the crown of a maple tree and then discovered that the contractor’s employee had removed all the lower branches, eliminating the privacy provided by the tree.
• Property owners whose neighbor sought to prevent the construction of a new home by opposing the removal of a boundary line tree
• Homeowners whose neighbor built a retaining wall that encroached on their property and killed a large tulip poplar.

We have obtained favorable results in many tree cases both in and out of court, including monetary damages and landscape restoration.  The most significant benefit for many of our tree law clients is putting a stop to bullying, trespass, and harassment from a problem neighbor.