Overview

The Oxford Introductions to U.S. Law: Property provides both a bird's eye overview of property law and an introduction to how property law affects larger concerns with individual autonomy, personhood, and economic organization. Written by two authorities on property law, this book gives students of property a coherent account of how property law works, with an emphasis on describing the central issues and policy debates. It is designed for law students who want a short and theoretically integrated treatment of the subject, as well as for lawyers who are interested in the conceptual foundations of the law of property.

Full Product Details

Author:   Thomas W. Merrill (Professor of Law, Professor of Law, Columbia Law School) ,  Henry E. Smith (Fessenden Professor of Law, Fessenden Professor of Law, Harvard Law School)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 13.70cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 20.60cm
Weight:   0.318kg
ISBN:  

9780195314762

ISBN 10:   019531476
Pages:   284
Publication Date:   29 July 2010
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 The Institution of Property 3 Exclusion and the Bundle of Rights 6 The Thing's the Thing 11 General Justifications, General Concerns 14 Further Reading 20 CHAPTER 2 Original Acquisition and the Scope of Property Claims 21 First Possession 22 Discovery and Creation 28 Accession 35 Adverse Possession 39 Sequential Possession, Finders, and the Relativity of Title 45 The Mosaic of Acquisition Principles 46 Further Reading 47 CHAPTER 3 The Domain of Property 49 The Demsetz Theory 49 Personhood Constraints 57 Inherently Public Property 62 Hybrid Resources 66 Further Reading 71 CHAPTER 4 Owners as Gatekeepers 73 Laws for Owner Protection 74 Self-Help 79 Exceptions to the Right to Exclude 83 Owner Powers 93 Further Reading 103 CHAPTER 5 Dividing Property Rights 105 Estates and Future Interests 105 How the System Works 116 Co-Ownership 126 Marital Interests 131 Further Reading 135 CHAPTER 6 Managing Property 137 Why Separate Management Authority from Other Incidents of Ownership? 139 Leasing 144 Common Interest Communities 160 Trusts 167 Further Reading 171 CHAPTER 7 Land Transactions and Title Records 173 Land Sale Contracts 173 Title Records 181 Mortgages 192 Further Reading 198 CHAPTER 8 Neighbors and Neighborhood Effects 199 The Coase Theorem 201 Tort Liability: Nuisance 208 Modification of Property Rights: Easements 217 Contract: Covenants Running with the Land 225 Further Reading 240 CHAPTER 9 Government Forbearance 243 The General Form of the Problem 244 Sources of Forbearance 249 The Rule of Law. 253 Explicit Takings 262 Regulatory Takings 272 Further Reading 280

Reviews

Merrill and Smith, both renowned scholars of property law, apply an accessible theoretical framework to illuminate principles that govern the resolution of disputes over resources. This sunlight brings ancient-and, in some instances, superficially musty-doctrines to life. --Robert Ellickson Walter E. Meyer Professor of Property and Urban Law, Yale Law School Merrill and Smith's book is nothing short of a marvel. It gives shape and direction to a field often considered to be diffuse and unmanageable. This volume is full of ideas that enliven all aspects of property law, showing the reader why these topics are interesting and topical. --Carol M. Rose Lohse Chair in Water and Natural Resources, The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law

<br> Merrill and Smith, both renowned scholars of property law, apply an accessible theoretical framework to illuminate principles that govern the resolution of disputes over resources. This sunlight brings ancient-and, in some instances, superficially musty-doctrines to life. <br>--Robert Ellickson <br>Walter E. Meyer Professor of Property and Urban Law, Yale Law School <br><br> Merrill and Smith's book is nothing short of a marvel. It gives shape and direction to a field often considered to be diffuse and unmanageable. This volume is full of ideas that enliven all aspects of property law, showing the reader why these topics are interesting and topical. <br>--Carol M. Rose <br>Lohse Chair in Water and Natural Resources, The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law <br><br>

Author Information

Thomas W. Merrill is a professor of law at Columbia Law School, where he teaches in the areas of property, environmental law, natural resources, administrative law, and legislation. After graduating from Grinnell College and Oxford University, he received his J.D. from the University of Chicago, and then clerked for the Hon. David Bazelon, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and the Hon. Harry Blackmun, U.S. Supreme Court. From 1987-1990 he served as Deputy Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice. He began his academic career at the Northwestern University School of Law and has also taught at the Yale Law School. His publications include Property: Principles and Policies (with Henry E. Smith, Foundation 2007), and Property: Takings (with David Dana, Foundation 2002). He is, in addition, the author of more than 75 academic articles on property, environmental law, administrative law, constitutional law, and the Supreme Court. Henry E. Smith is Fessenden Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he directs the Project on the Foundations of Private Law and teaches in the areas of property, intellectual property, natural resources, remedies, and taxation. After receiving an A.B. from Harvard, a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Stanford, and a J.D. from Yale, he clerked for the Hon. Ralph K. Winter, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, taught at the Northwestern University School of Law, and was the Fred A. Johnston Professor of Property and Environmental Law at Yale Law School. He has written primarily on the law and economics of property and intellectual property. His publications include Property: Principles and Policies (with Thomas W. Merrill, Foundation 2007), The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination: Its Origins and Development (with R.H. Helmholz et al., Chicago 1997); Restrictiveness in Case Theory (Cambridge studies in linguistics no. 78, 1996). He is the co-editor of the Research Handbook on the Economics of Property Law (with Kenneth Ayotte, forthcoming 2009).

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