Product Overview

Fundamentals of Property Law is designed with four guidelines in mind, allowing the student not only to obtain a firm grasp of the fundamentals of real and personal property through the use of this book, but also to enjoy the experience:

First, the selection of cases emphasizes rules that are widely accepted in practice. Minority view opinions appear only when they state the majority position clearly, so that students will not be misled about the current state of the law. For example, materials on common law estates is presented through cases, allowing the teacher to integrate them with the rest of the course and pointing out the extent to which the estate system meets the needs of attorneys in practice.

Second, shorter cases are preferred over longer ones and short expositions of the rules are preferred over treatise-like opinions. While some treatise and law review literature is needed beyond case law to provide a sufficient guide to the law, this casebook provides an introductory view. Thus the land conveyancing materials emphasize the transfer of titles, the text presents servitudes and easements' leading concepts, the takings cases deal with land use controls, and the controls emphasized involve the basics of zoning.

Third, the authors address questions of statutory interpretation with regularity in the cases and notes. While real property law may be affected less than some other areas of the first year curriculum, it is of vital importance to understand the role statutes play in our legal system.

Fourth, this book uses intellectual property to provide perspective, but is written overall with a broad approach to the law, reflecting the many disciplines that illuminate the law of property.