Course Section | Columbia Law School

Section Description Provided by Instructor

Evalution will be based on a proctored written examination with some consideration given to class participation.

Property is the third leg of the common law stool, the other two being contract and torts. Contract deals with the exchange of property, and torts (in significant part) with the protection of property against harms. Property deals with the things that are subject to exchange or protection. Questions considered include: How are property rights originally established? What sorts of things are subject to ownership as property? What are the basic rights of ownership and the limits on these rights? How can ownership be divided over time and among multiple persons? How can management authority be separated from other incidents of ownership? How are chains of title established and recorded? What sorts of mechanisms exist for coordinating the interests of neigboring property owners? How far should government forebear from frustrating expectations about property rights, specifically, when should government compensate for "taking" property? The focus will be on traditional rights to land and movables, but some consideration will also be given to intellectual property rights insofar as they raise analogous issues.

The course materials are Merrill & Smith, Property: Principles and Policies (Foundation Press 2007).