Welcome

Property surrounds us. Literally. The buildings we occupy, the electronic screens we read from, the ground we stand on, the things of our daily lives are all the subject matter of the law of ownership. Of the classic subjects of the first year of law school, property law is perhaps the one that every person relies on and interacts with on a constant basis.

Yet, as it is classically taught, the subject matter of the first-year property course could not feel more foreign. With arcane terms like “fee simple absolute” and “easement by prescription,” rules of law seemingly more suited for a medieval lord than a modern city-dweller, and cases about fox hunting that cite imperial edicts of Justinian I, property law often seems disconnected from modern society, the sort of material that one memorizes for the bar exam and then files away as antiquated trivia. What do ancient doctrines about riparian rights on rivers have to do with how we live today?

The content of this blog is meant to bridge this gap. Each post explores a current or recent event, from the news or from the author’s personal experience. It then ties that contemporary happening to the doctrines of a property law case from the Open Source Property textbook. Obviously, in many situations, the case law may not apply directly, because of jurisdictional differences or other applicable statutes or laws. Nevertheless, even the fanciful application of these cases to modern facts will often reveal unexpected insights that help to understand major policy debates from a new angle.

Hopefully the content of this blog sparks new connections, ideas, and inspiration to further bring property law into the modern era. If you are interested in contributing to this blog, please contact the editor.

Image credit: Kannan Shanmugam, Coir Mat (2011).