This memorandum offers some tips for preparing for the first
week of class and gives you a sense of how well learn the material
in class generally. Our class will combine collaborative,
problem-based learning with Socratic dialogue and lecture. Your
participation will be crucial to the success of the course, and I
want us to build a classroom in which everyone feels comfortable
participating.
To that end, we shall begin our first class (on August 19th)
with a group exercise in which we discuss a hypothetical property
problem using some doctrinal principles and argument bits that I
shall give you at the beginning of class. These doctrinal
principles and argument bits are based upon the first days reading,
principally the reading on Tensions Within the Property System,
Recurring Themes, and Policy Arguments and Counter-Arguments. Based
upon these readings and what I provide, we shall divide into three
groups and discuss a hypothetical case, with one group preparing
arguments for the plaintiff, another for the defendant, and a third
acting as judges. I shall facilitate discussion among the groups,
tying the arguments and doctrine back into the courses themes. The
point of the exercise is not only to introduce you to these themes
and to the typical arguments that lawyers make in property
disputes, but also to begin to create a comfortable environment for
dialogue.
From there I will build out a road map of the course for you,
focusing upon the themes well consider concerning owners,
neighbors, and regulators. My aim will be to highlight the
questions well explore throughout the course and to suggest some
ways we can think about
them. That will help you know what to focus upon as you do the
readings. The final third of our first class will be focused upon
the two cases weve read. Well begin with Jacque v. Steenberg Homes
and the owners right to exclude and conclude with State v. Shack,
asking how to reconcile the cases (if it is possible to do so) and
how to frame the rule from Shack (which isnt easy). Thus, our first
class will combine all three learning methods well use throughout
the course.
Our second class will begin by focusing upon a problem based
upon Problem 1 (Buzzers) on pages 47-48. Well learn the doctrine
concerning public accommodations by dividing into two groups. One
will represent a hypothetical plaintiff who is denied entry to a
store that has a buzzer and who alleges the store did so based upon
her race (see pgs. 27-28). The other group will represent the
storeowner. The plaintiff has brought claims under Title II, the
Civil Rights Act of 1866, N.Y. Exec. L. art. 15, and the common law
rule in Uston. Considering those materials, along with Jacque and
Shack, we will identify the elements of each claim (thus learning
the black letter law) and explore the typical arguments and open
questions under each claim. In preparing for this exercise, please
try to parse the elements of a claim under each source of law and
consider how youd argue either side. After this exercise well use
the remainder of class 2 to explore the law of licenses by
discussing Rase v. Castle Mountain Ranch, Inc. Here you should
focus upon when and how property law protects expectations about
property use and whether the court in Rase went too far (or not far
enough) in protecting the cabin owners.
Your participation will be crucial to the success of our opening
week. I look forward to it. Of course, if you have concerns about
speaking in class then I hope you will talk with me about them.
Whatever your eventual career path in the law, you will do well to
hone your skills at presenting legal analysis orally to others, and
I am happy to help you develop those skills.
