Footnote 197

Federal condemnation cases are generally styled (named) as United States v. [#] Acres of Land, rather than United States v. [Landowner], because a condemnation proceeding is an action in rem, that is, a taking of a thing itself—the real property. In contrast, a legal proceeding against a person is an action in personam, taking the rights of persons in the thing. See Dunnington, 146 U.S. at 352-53; In Personam and In Rem, BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY (10th ed. 2014); see alsoFed. R. ciV. P. 71.1(c)(1) (requiring case caption to name “the property— designated generally by kind, quantity, and location—and at least one owner of some part of or interest in the property”).