1. PROPERTY A SLIDES
Hot Buttered Rum Day

2. Please Take a Seat in the First Six Rows
PROPERTY A (FAJER) Music to Accompany Jacque (1997): Shania Twain, Come On Over (1997)
Please Take a Seat
in the
First Six Rows

3. PROPERTY A (FAJER) INTRO TO THE SUBJECT MATTER QUICK LOGISTICS
APPROACHING SECOND SEMESTER
JACQUE & THE RIGHT TO EXCLUDE

4. Property: Course is About Americans

5. Property: Course is About Americans
Strong Libertarian Streak in U.S.:
“You Can Do Anything You Want With Your Own Property”

6. Property: Course is About Americans
Strong Libertarian Streak:
“You Can Do Anything You Want With Your Property” v.
Moralist/Busybody Streak
E.g., AZ Homeowners’ Assn. Searching for Porn

7. Property: Course is About Americans
Logically, there must be some limits on what you can do on your own land.

8. Property: Course is About Americans
Logically, there must be some limits on what you can do on your own land. E.g., not a defense to murder

9. Property: Course is About Americans
Logically, there must be some limits on what you can do on your own land.

10. Property: Course is About Americans
Logically, there must be some limits on what you can do on your own land. In practice, in U.S. today, LOTS of limits!

11. Property A: Subject Matter
Selected Topics re Real Property:
Land & Attached Buildings
Not covering Personal Property (movable objects, money, intangible property)

12. Property A: Subject Matter
Selected Topics re Real Property
We’ll explore nature of, and restrictions on, land ownership in American legal system.
We’ll try to develop ideas re what kinds of limits/ restrictions are appropriate.

13. Property Disputes v. Torts & Contracts
Shania Twain:
Crossover Fusion of Country & Pop

14. Property Disputes v. Torts & Contracts
Types of Relationships Involved
Torts: Mostly accidental one-time interactions between strangers.
Contracts: Mostly voluntary single-purpose relationships
Property: Disputes often between people who are semi- stuck with each other (e.g., family or neighbors)

15. Property Disputes v. Torts & Contracts
Types of Relationships Involved
Property: Often People Who Are Semi-Stuck with Each Other (Family or Neighbors)
Often separate (non-legal) issues real motivation for nasty litigation
Sometimes cases/problems can touch student nerves in unexpected ways (E.g., death in Chapters 3-4)

16. Property Disputes v. Torts & Contracts
Which Comes First?
Property Rights Necessarily Precede…
Tort Judgments
Contract Rights

17. Property Course v. Torts & Contracts
Property Professors are
Considerably Shorter

18. Property Course v. Torts & Contracts
Challenges: Vocabulary
Torts: Ordinary words turn out to have technical non-obvious legal meanings: e.g., duty; cause; reasonable
Property: In addition, need to learn & memorize a lot of non-ordinary (i.e., obscure) vocabulary

19. Property Course v. Torts & Contracts
Challenges: Expectations v. Reality
Contracts:
You expect “Is there a contract?” to be a legal question, but it’s usually factual.
Course mostly not about “How to Create Contracts.”
Like a course called Marriage taught entirely out of divorce records.
Prof. Gudridge on Promises in Contracts Courses

20. Property Course v. Torts & Contracts
Challenges: Expectations v. Reality
Property:
You expect “Whose property is it?” to be a factual question, but it’s usually legal.
Rules re what you can do with your own stuff much more complex than most people expect.
Lots of relevant interests beside those of the “owner.”
Like a course called Marriage that significantly incorporates the stories of family and friends.

21. Property Course v. Torts & Contracts
Challenges: Big Picture?
Torts: Lots of time on a few causes of action, so you have to pay attention to small factual distinctions.
Contracts: Subjects covered very interrelated, so often hard to make sense of individual topics until you get close to completing the whole course.
Property: Survey course; each chapter has a different legal structure that doesn’t relate much to the others.

22. Property: The Metaphor of the Bundle of Sticks
Land Ownership Includes Many Possible Rights
Normal package today in U.S. Includes:
right to use as you wish in the present
right to use as you wish in the future
right to transfer: sell or lease or devise (pass by will)
right to extract minerals
right to exclude
etc., etc., etc.

23. Property: The Metaphor of the Bundle of Sticks
Land Ownership Includes Many Possible Rights
Normal Package in U.S. Includes Long List
Common to Have Some Rights and Not Others.
Temporal Divisions: E.g., Landlord & Tenant
Physical Divisions: E.g., Mineral Rights & Surface Rights
Shared Use: E.g., Utility Easements

24. Property: The Metaphor of the Bundle of Sticks
Land Ownership Includes Many Possible Rights
Normal Package in U.S. Includes Long List
Common to Have Some Rights; Not Others.
Yields “Bundle of Sticks” Metaphor

25. PROPERTY A (FAJER) LOGISTICS INTRO TO THE SUBJECT MATTER
APPROACHING SECOND SEMESTER
JACQUE & THE RIGHT TO EXCLUDE

26. Apology for Slowness Getting Intro Materials Posted
LOGISTICS
Apology for Slowness Getting Intro Materials Posted
By This Afternoon on Course Page:
1st Supplement & Syllabus
Assignments for Thursday/Monday

27. LOGISTICS Dean’s Fellow: Daniel Gross
By This Afternoon on Course Page:
Info Memo w Basic Logistics Info (I’ll Go Over Somwe on Thursday; Send Qs by )
Dean’s Fellow: Daniel Gross
Details on Sessions Next Weeek

28. PROPERTY A (FAJER) APPROACHING SECOND SEMESTER
INTRO TO THE SUBJECT MATTER
LOGISTICS
APPROACHING SECOND SEMESTER
JACQUE & THE RIGHT TO EXCLUDE

29. Approaching Second Semester
Where You Are at End of First Semester
Special Difficulties of Second Semester
What To Do Now

30. Approaching Second Semester
Where You Are at End of First Semester
“I Guess You’re Right.” (!)

31. Approaching Second Semester
Where You Are at End of First Semester
Special Difficulties of Second Semester
Schedule
What To Do Now

32. Approaching Second Semester
Where You Are at End of First Semester
Special Difficulties of Second Semester
Schedule
L. Comm. Heavy in April
Need to Get More Exam Prep Done Earlier
What To Do Now

33. Approaching Second Semester
Where You Are at End of First Semester
Special Difficulties of Second Semester
Schedule
Coping with Grades
What To Do Now

34. Coping with Grades
Motivation Issues

35. Coping with Grades Motivation Issues Meaning of Grades
Not Good Measure of You as a Person

36. Which of The Following is the Most Annoying?
Flo in Progressive ads B. Guys in Sonic ads
C. Dick Vitale

37. Which of The Following is the Most Annoying?
Flo in Progressive ads
Guys in Sonic ads
Dick Vitale
D. Classmates Who Let Everyone Know About Their High Grades

38. Coping with Grades Motivation Issues Meaning of Grades
Not Good Measure of You as a Person
Not Good Measure of Your Potential as a Lawyer

39. Approaching Second Semester
Where You Are at End of First Semester
Special Difficulties of Second Semester
What To Do Now (Life Lessons from the Eensy Weensy Spider)

40. Approaching Second Semester
Where You Are at End of First Semester
Special Difficulties of Second Semester
What To Do Now?
Own Your Grades/Work on Exam Technique

41. Approaching Second Semester
Where You Are at End of First Semester
Special Difficulties of Second Semester
What To Do Now?
Own Your Grades/Work on Exam Technique
Work on Lawyering Skills

42. FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS Choose Three of Four
XQ1: LAWYERING
XQ2: SHORT ANSWERS (Choose Three of Four)
XQ3: OPINION/DISSENT
XQ4: TRADITIONAL ISSUE-SPOTTER

43. Approaching Second Semester
Where You Are at End of First Semester
Special Difficulties of Second Semester
What To Do Now?
Own Your Grades/Work on Exam Technique
Work on Lawyering Skills
Theme for Course: Hard Qs/Easy Qs

44. Approaching Second Semester
Final Point

45. PROPERTY D (FAJER) JACQUE & THE RIGHT TO EXCLUDE
INTRO TO THE SUBJECT MATTER
LOGISTICS
APPROACHING SECOND SEMESTER
JACQUE & THE RIGHT TO EXCLUDE

46. Jacque & the Right to Exclude
DQ1.01: Jacque quotes the U.S. S.Ct. as saying that the right to exclude is one of the “most essential” rights of a landowner.
Why is it so important?
Need for specifics because we’ll need to balance against other interests

47. Jacque & the Right to Exclude
DQ1.01: Why is right to exclude so important?
Reasons include that, without it …
Os lack sense of control/security/privacy.
Can’t enjoy land fully if others wandering on and off.
Residential
3d Parties interfere with activities around residence
Forced associations w 3d Parties
Hard to achieve security/privacy even inside residence
Agricultural/Business Uses
3d parties interfere with operation of business
Liability issues re 3d party interaction with facilities
Possibility of actual damage to land/bldgs/plants

48. Jacque & the Right to Exclude
DQ1.01: Why is right to exclude so important?
Reasons include that, without it …
Os less likely to invest in development (see #2/#3 above)
Os might overinvest in deterrence (walls, security guards, guns etc.) (cf. rich people now)
3d parties might develop interests in O’s land that can interfere w ownership (Adv. Poss. /Prescr. Easements)

49. Jacque & the Right to Exclude
[DQ1.02] The court says an intentional trespass causes “actual harm” to the property owner even if the harm is non-monetizable. Aside from the risk of adverse possession, what kind(s) of harm do you think the court has in mind? (Some overlap with DQ1.01)

50. Jacque & the Right to Exclude
DQ1.02: Non-monetizable harms that can result from intentional trespass include …
Psychic Harms (re Enjoyment/Control/Security/Privacy)
Forced Associations
Loss of Respect for Legal System/Tendency to Self-Help
Underinvestment in Development
Overinvestment in Deterrence/Security

51. Location: Schleswig , Wisconsin
Jacque: Background
Location: Schleswig , Wisconsin
Name suggests founded by German immigrants
Manitowoc County (Lake Michigan coast)

52. Green Bay
Sheboygan

53. Jacque: Background Facts: D had to deliver mobile home
Easiest way across Ps’ land
Ps repeatedly denied permission to cross land
D crosses anyway
D pays small fine to county for criminal trespass

54. Jacque: Background Procedure: P brings tort suit: Intentional Trespass
Note “Trespass” can be both tort & crime
Here Ds paid fine for criminal action brought by govt.
Still can be liable for civil damages in tort.

55. Jacque: Background Procedure: WHY NO ACTUAL HARM HERE?
P brings tort suit: Intentional Trespass
Jury awards damages:
Compensatory = Nominal (= finding of none)
Punitives = $100K
WHY NO ACTUAL HARM HERE?

56. WHY GOOD CASE FOR PUNITIVES?
Jacque: Background
Procedure:
Jury awards damages:
Compensatory = Nominal
Ps retired so no operating business to be harmed
Wisc. winter so no harm to frozen ground
Punitives = $100K
WHY GOOD CASE FOR PUNITIVES?

57. Jacque: Background Procedure: Jury awards damages:
Compensatory = Nominal
Punitives = $100K: Good Case
Ds told “No” multiple times but didn’t care
Tried to hide
Laughed afterward