PropertyProf Blog

TAMU Journal of Property Law Symposium: Property Rights and Social Justice (by R. Walsh)

This just in from Vanessa Casado Perez (Texas A&M):

This year the Property Journal at Texas A&M is hosting a symposium around Rachael Walsh’s (Trinity College Dublin) new book Property Rights and Social Justice: Progressive Property in Action. (CUP).

When: November 11, 2022, ​9 am - ​​2 pm CST
Where: Online via Zoom

Here is the webpage for information and registration: https://law.tamu.edu/current-students/academics/law-journals/journal-of-property-law/fall-2022-symposium.

Panelists:

• Gregory Alexander, Cornell Law School
• Rashmi Dyal-Chand, Northeastern University School of Law
• Lorna Fox O'Mahony, University of Essex School of Law
• J. Peter Byrne, Georgetown School of Law
• Larissa Katz, University of Toronto School of Law
• Christopher Serkin, Vanderbilt Law School

CFP: Conference on Indigenous Private Law

Conference on Indigenous Private Law
Call for Papers
Montréal, Québec
May 8, 2020

Conference Co-Chairs: 
Professor Andrew Hutchison, University of Cape Town
Professor Frankie Young, Western University

In our legally plural world the discourse on Indigenous legal norms is currently expanding rapidly.  In some Commonwealth countries, such as those in Africa, Indigenous (or Customary) laws have long been recognised as authoritative in certain types of dispute.  The South African Constitution (for example) recognises African Customary law as a binding source of law where applicable, and equal to the Common law.  This has been less true for Indigenous groups in other Commonwealth countries, such as those living in Canada or Australia.  Times are changing, however, and Indigenous norms are increasingly being viewed as binding even in these latter countries. 

Past choice of law rules enforced by the legal systems of Commonwealth countries have tended to shape Indigenous law into certain accepted fields of inquiry.  In some countries, this problem is more acute than others.  Legal pluralism theory, however, recognises that community norms, arising from the ground up, may be binding in that community and may exist as a de facto alternative to State law.  This argument underlies, for example, the distinction between Aboriginal and Indigenous law in Canada.  In South Africa, by contrast, the distinction is between the ‘living’ and ‘official’ versions of African Customary law: current, lived norms of communities have been recognised as binding by the Constitutional Court and as taking preference over the potentially ossified written law captured in the legislation, case precedents, and textbooks of the former era.  If the ‘law in action’ is to be the recognised Indigenous law in other Commonwealth countries, then we need to broaden the fields of inquiry beyond those traditionally recognised as falling within the jurisdiction of Indigenous legal norms.

The Journal of Commonwealth Law, in cooperation with the Faculties of Law at the Université de Montréal and the University of Cape Town, will host a symposium devoted to exploring the issues inherent in Indigenous private law.  We call for papers specifically on Indigenous Private law issues.  What norms govern matters relating to Property, Persons and Family, or Succession for example?  Beyond that, is there an Indigenous law of Contracts or Torts, or a law relating to (commercial) associations?  We invite perspectives from around the Commonwealth and are open to different theoretical frames of reference or methodologies of inquiry.  We are also open to papers which discuss how State laws relate to Indigenous private law issues, or the regulation of the Indigenous economy.

The conference will be held at the Université de Montréal on May 8, 2020, and the papers will be published in the Journal of Commonwealth Law, a peer-reviewed journal devoted to exploring legal issues from a multi-jurisdictional perspective.  We seek contributions from both established and new scholars from around the Commonwealth, Ireland and the United States. 

We welcome papers in both English and French.

Participants will be responsible costs of travel and accommodation.
Please submit an abstract of 250 words and a short CV prior to February 28, 2020 to:

Editor:

Journal of Commonwealth Law

[email protected]

Those interested in obtaining more information about the conference are invited to contact

Profess Andrew Hutchison
Conference Chair
Faculty of Law
University of Cape Town
[email protected]

or

Matthew P Harrington
Professor of Law
Faculté de droit
Université de Montréal
[email protected]

CFP: ALPS 2020 @Tulane Law

Friends one and all! It's the time of year we've all been waiting for: the ALPS 2020 Call for Papers has been released! Aanndd...best of all...it's in my hometown! You can be sure that our hostess with the mostest Sally Brown Richardson and her team at Tulane Law will put on quite a spectacular conference! Get registered and submit today!

CALL for Papers
11^th Annual Conference on Law, Property, and Society

ALPS will hold its 11^th annual meeting at Tulane University Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 21­–23, 2020. The dates include optional pre-conference field trips during the day and an evening reception on Thursday, May 21. The academic portion of the conference will be on Friday, May 22, and Saturday, May 23, with concurrent panels and plenary sessions running all day on both days. 

Paper submissions on any subject related to property law and the practices that shape property norms and institutions are welcome. ALPS has a strong commitment to international and interdisciplinary diversity, and paper topics reflecting that commitment are encouraged. ALPS accepts both individual paper submissions and proposals for fully formed panels (usually 3 to 4 presenters, sometimes including films or multimedia outputs).  

While papers on any topic of property law are welcome, some possible organizing themes might include property in relation to land use planning, zoning, water law, environmental law, energy law, mortgages and financing, land titles, housing issues, real estate development, historic preservation, property of Indigenous people, comparative perspectives on property law, race and gender issues in property, intellectual property rights, property theory, and takings law. ALPS welcomes presentations of projects at all stages of development, from recently published to early-stage ideas.

Submissions should include an abstract of no more than 250 words. In addition, submissions must include: (1) the name of the submitting scholar, (2) the scholar’s institution, (3) an email for contact, and (4) where appropriate, parallel information for any coauthors. If submitting a panel, please ensure that an abstract for each paper accompanies the submission and that each abstract also includes the name of the panel. Email submissions to [email protected].  Authors and panel proposers will be notified of the acceptance of their individual submissions or proposed panel on a rolling basis starting after November 11, 2019. The deadline for submitting papers and panels is January 31, 2020. All individuals will be notified of the acceptance of their submission by February 14, 2020. 

In general, each presenter will be limited to one research paper presentation per conference, although some exceptions may be made for special discussion groups or other unique thematic panels. After reviewing and accepting submissions, ALPS will thematically group accepted papers and panels. Concurrent panels will be held on both days of the conference with each panel session lasting approximately 90 minutes and including both individual presentations and time for questions from the audience.

Conference registration will open November 11, 2019 and will close on April 1, 2020.  The cost of registration is as follows:

                                                       Regular           Full-time LL.M. or PhD students

Until February 21, 2020                     $175                $75

Beginning February 22, 2020             $250                $125

All attendees must register for the conference, and presenters must register before April 1, 2020, to ensure a place on the final conference program. To register for the conference, please visit  http://www.cvent.com/d/qhqj0t after November 11, 2019. Information about accommodations and travel planning will be provided on the registration site. An opportunity to identify special needs will be included in the registration form and organizers will make best efforts to facilitate accommodations. The host venue is a fully accessible facility.

Please direct all inquiries to Sally Richardson (conference host) ([email protected]) or Jess Shoemaker (program committee chair) ([email protected]). 

CFP: ALPS 2019 @Syracuse Law

The Association for Law, Property & Society (ALPS) is an organization for those engaged in scholarship on all aspects of property law and society. Its annual meeting brings together scholars from different disciplines and from around the world to discuss their work and to foster dialogue among those working in property law, policy, planning, social scientific field studies, modeling, and theory. Most annual meetings include participants attending from six continents, representing numerous counties, and working in common law, civil law, Indigenous law, and mixed legal traditions. ALPS will hold its 10th Annual meeting at Syracuse University, in Syracuse New York, May 16-18. The dates include a pre-conference reception on the evening of May 16; full day meetings on May 17-18, each with continental breakfast, lunch, and light reception; and an optional field trip during the day on May 16. Field trip detail will be available prior to registration and tentatively include a visit to the Oneida Indian Nation of New York. The Oneida Indian Nation is one of the original members of the Haudenosaunee people (also known as the Six Nation of the Iroquois).

Paper submissions on any subject related to property law and the practices that shape property norms and institutions are welcome. ALPS has a strong commitment to international and interdisciplinary diversity, and paper topics reflecting that commitment are encouraged. ALPS accepts both individual paper submissions and proposals for fully formed panels (usually 3 to 4 presenters, sometimes including films or multimedia outputs). Individually organized sessions of full panels may have as few as 3 presenters; all sessions with individually submitted papers will typically have at least 4 presenters. Submissions may be of full paper drafts and completed projects, or early works-in-progress.

While papers on any topic of property law are welcome, some possible organizing themes might

include property in relation to...

• Disability law, the Built Environment, and Accessibility

• Indigenous People

• Energy Law

• Water Law

• Climate Change

• Land Use Planning, Land Regulation, and Zoning

• Historic Preservation

• Property and Real Estate Development

• Environment

• Housing

• Human Rights

• Natural Law

• Tax

• Mortgages and Financing

• Land Titles / Land Registries

• Tenure

• Estates

• Conveyancing

• Intellectual Property, Patents, Trademark, Copyright

• Property Theory

• Theoretical Approaches to Property: e.g. Feminist; Economic; Empirical; Behavioral;

  Semiotic

• Historical Perspectives on Property

• Takings, Confiscation, and Compensation

Submissions should include an abstract of no more than 250 words. In addition, submissions must include: (1) the name of the submitting scholar, (2) the scholar’s institution, and (3) an email contact for the author or authors. If submitting a panel, please insure that an abstract for each paper accompanies the submission and that each abstract includes the name of the panel. Abstracts may be submitted beginning October 10, 2018. Submissions may be made via the concerned webpages. Authors and panel proposers will be notified of the acceptance of their individual submissions or proposed panel on a rolling basis starting after December 1, 2018. In general, each presenter will be limited to one research paper presentation per conference, although some exceptions may be made for special discussion groups or other unique thematic panels. The deadline for submitting papers and panels is February 20, 2019.

Conference registration will open December 1, 2018. The cost of registration is as follows:

Until January 31, 2019: 
$195 (Regular)
$75 (Full-time LL.M. or PhD students)

Beginning February 1, 2019:
$280 (Regular)
$125 (Full-time LL.M. or PhD students)

Registering for the conference authorizes ALPS to include your name, institutional affiliation, and e-mail in the official program for attendees.

After reviewing and accepting submissions, ALPS will thematically group accepted papers and panels. Concurrent panels will be held on both days of the conference with each panel session lasting approximately 90 minutes and including both individual presentations and time for questions from the audience.

Information about accommodation and travel planning will be provided on the registration site. An opportunity to identify special needs will be included in the registration form and organizers will make reasonable accommodations for all attendees requesting such accommodations. The host venue is a fully accessible facility and accedes requirements of the American with Disabilities Act.

We welcome scholarly participation from anywhere in the world and seek to include a broad range of diverse ideas and experiences in our conference discussions. For scholars interested in presenting a paper at the conference who are unable to travel to the conference venue as a direct result of recent travel restrictions put in place by the United States Government, ALPS will make video-conferencing opportunities available. ALPS also plans to make available live stream coverage of plenary sessions. Video conference participation is limited to those with unique circumstances. By way of reference, the travel restrictions enacted in 2018 impact travel from Libya, Iran, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen (with some restrictions applied to North Korea and Venezuela). If you will be seeking a visa to travel to the conference and are prevented from doing so by these restrictions, please contact ALPS at [email protected] and we will discuss the possibility of distance participation via live video connection. Note: ALPS is unable to provide advice or assistance with respect to visa matters.

Please direct all inquiries to: [email protected]

CFP: Law and Communities Conference @Bar Ilan University Law

We are delighted to announce that, on Sunday 3 and Monday 4 June 2018, the Bar Ilan University law school and the Center for Jewish and Democratic law will be hosting an international conference titled “Communities & the Law”. The conference will bring together scholars from all branches of law, including private law, constitutional law, local government law and technology to discuss the role of communities in the legal, economic and political spheres.   

A series of panels on both conference’s days will include the role of communities in private law (focusing on property law and contracts law); local governments as the law of communities, communities in a multicultural world; Technology, Communities & Cooperation, and feminist approaches to communities. 

Confirmed speakers and panelists include; Prof Yochai Benkler (Harvard Law School); Prof Gregory Alexander (Cornell University Law School); Prof Hanoch Dagan (Tel Aviv University Law School); Prof. Richard Briffault (Columbia Law School); Prof. Bernadette Atuahene (Chicago-Kent College of law); Prof. Yishai Blank (Tel Aviv University), Prof. Chandran Kukatas (LSE), Prof. Aditi Bagchi (Fordham University); Prof. Amnon Lehavi (IDC Herzliya); Prof. Nadav Shoked (Northwestern University); Prof. Menachem Mautner (Tel Aviv University), Prof. Yuli Tamir (Shenkar College), Prof. Shahar Lifshitz (Bar-Ilan University), Prof. Ruth Halperin Kaddari (Bar Ilan University), Prof. Jay R. Berkovitz (University of Massachusetts); Dr. Shai Stern (Bar Ilan University), Prof. Amihai Radzyner (Bar-Ilan University);  Dr. Shelly Kreiczer Levy (College of Law & Business); Dr. Rivka Brot (Bar-Ilan University); Dr. Yotam Kaplan (Bar-Ilan University); Prof. Haim Shapira (Bar-Ilan University).

The full program of the conference is available here.

Please direct all further enquiries to the conference organizer, Dr. Shai Stern, Bar Ilan University.

CFP: Detroit Mercy Symposium on the Future of HUD

From our friends at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law:

HUD: Past, Present, and Future

The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law seeks proposals from scholars, practitioners, and housing advocates interested in participating in its fall interdisciplinary symposium, entitled HUD’s Past, Present and Future (“Symposium”), which will take place over a two day period (with a third day being dedicated to educational outreach for the public) as follows: . . . 

II. TWO-DAY ACADEMIC SYMPOSIUM: SCHEDULED ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2017 AND TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017 

PURPOSE OF THE SYMPOSIUM 

Since its inception in 1965, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been an integral part of affordable housing development and primary responsibility for developing sustainable communities across the country. While HUD’s role is clear, this seminal Symposium's purposes are to: 1) evaluate its impact and propose expansions or alternatives, if any, that will make it more effective in the future; and 2) for a time such as this, commit to use collective or interdisciplinary knowledge to enhance our nation. (“Goals”). 

Ultimately, to comprehensively address this multi-dimensional topic, law professors and/or lawyers, sociologists, economists, elected officials, people from HUD, MSHDA, certified counseling agencies, the ecclesiastical community, financial institutions and diverse bar associations, among others from across the country, are invited to attend or participate. Specifically, participants will complete Power Point slides to make presentations at the Symposium, followed by article(s) which will be due on the date reflected below.2 As indicated in the attached Schedule B, the final panel discussion on the second day will focus exclusively on Michigan and how HUD's programs have impacted the region, generally, and Detroit, in particular. 

IMPORTANT DATES, DEADLINES AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION: 

 Abstract and CV (collectively “Proposals”): August 15, 2017 

Proposals should reflect the following: 1) Name of the Panel; 2) Topic and Abstract;3 and, 2) Scheduled Time. 

 Notification of Accepted Proposal September 1, 2017 

IF PROPOSAL IS ACCEPTED, PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING SUBMISSION DEADLINES: 

 Power Point slides: October 15, 2017 

 Final Article: January 15, 2018 

 Submissions and Information: [email protected] (Visiting Prof. Florise R. Neville-Ewell | 313.596.0230)

Conference Info: Wealth Transfer Law in Comparative & International Perspective

For our trust and estate law folks, check out this interesting symposium co-hosted by the Iowa Law Review and the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) Foundation (announcement courtesy of Tom Gallanis @Iowa):

Wealth Transfer Law in Comparative & International Perspective

Iowa Law Review & ACTEC Foundation 

Friday, September 8, 2017
University of Iowa College of Law
Iowa City, Iowa

Registration

Attendees must pre-register by Friday, September 1, 2017; day-of registration is not allowed. Attendance is free.  

Click here to complete the registration form.

Symposium Schedule

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Continental Breakfast (8:00AM)

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Welcome (8:45AM)
Thomas P. Gallanis, University of Iowa

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Panel 1: Comparative & International Perspectives on Succession (9:00AM) 
Chair: Sheldon F. Kurtz, University of Iowa

Naomi R. Cahn, George Washington University, Revisiting Revocation on Divorce? 
David Horton, University of California, Davis, The Harmless Error Rule in the United States & Abroad.
Jeffrey A. Schoenblum, Vanderbilt University, U.S. Conflict of Laws Involving International Estates: The Lessons of Estate of Charania v. Shulman.
E. Gary Spitko, Santa Clara University, Intestate Inheritance Rights for Unmarried Committed Partners: A Comparative and International Perspective.
Mariusz Zalucki, Krakow University, Attempts to Harmonize the Inheritance Law in Europe. 

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Panel 2: Comparative & International Perspectives on Trusts & Other Will Substitutes (10:45AM)
Chair: John H. Langbein, Yale University

Adam S. Hofri-Winogradow, Hebrew University of Jerusalem & Richard L. Kaplan, University of Illinois, Property Transfers to Caregivers: A Comparative Analysis.
Paul B. Miller, McGill University, Trust Protectors as a Trust Reinforcement Device: Comparative Perspectives.
S.I. Strong, University of Missouri, The Role of Succession Law in the Arbitration of Internal Trust Disputes.
Jamie Glister, University of Sydney, Lifetime Wealth Transfers and the Equitable Presumptions of Resulting Trust and Gift.
Jaume Tarabal, University of Barcelona, Modes of Transferring Wealth Upon Death Outside the Laws of Wills and Intestacy in the U.S. and Spain. 

---

Lunch (12:15PM)
Remarks by Henry Christensen III, McDermott Will & Emery, New York

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Panel 3: Comparative & International Perspectives from Asia (1:45PM)
Chair: Thomas P. Gallanis, University of Iowa

Yun-chien Chang, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, A Comparative and Empircal Study of Wealth Transfer Doctrines in 150 Countries.
James C. Fisher, University of Tokyo, The Trust as Trojan Horse: A Quiet Revolution in the Japanese Law of Property and Succession.
Rebecca Lee, University of Hong Kong, Trends, Prospects, and Challenges in Financial Planning for High Net Worth Individuals in Hong Kong.
Masayuki Tamaruya, Rikkyo University, Japanese Law Within the Global Process of Trust Law Diffusion.
Hang Wu Tang, Singapore Management University, From Waqf and Ancestor Worship to Modern Wealth Management: A History of the Use of the Trust as a Vehicle for Wealth Transfer in Singapore.

---

College of Law endowed Tamisiea Lecture in Wealth Transfer Law (3:30PM)
Lionel D. Smith, McGill University

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Reception (4:30PM)

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CLE Credit

Attendance has been approved for 5.5 hours of Iowa CLE credit. Federal credit is pending.

Accommodations in Iowa City

Information about accommodations in the Iowa City area can be found here.

 

CFP: Australasian Property Law Teachers Conference

The 14th Australasian Property Law Teachers Conference will be held from 26-29 September 2017 at the Curtin Law School in Perth, Western Australia. The theme for this year's conference is "Beyond Sole Ownership."

In addition to the main conference there will also be a multi-disciplinary workshop on “sharing property" that will be held on 29th September. 

Details of both are available by clicking here. The call for papers page is here.

(HT: Robin Paul Malloy @Syracuse)

#PropertySchmooze Panel 4: Exploring Rural Property Law and Ownership

For the last panel of the day we have a discussion of rural property and ownership.

First up is Stephen Clowney (Arkansas and former blogger here at the #PropertyLawProfBlog) who discussed his project titled Should Law Care About Rural Places? In his talk, he explored the decline of the rural areas of America, juxtaposing it with the economic factors that increase the prosperity of cities. These factors include labor pooling, the easy and cheaper transport of goods, and the flow of ideas. Steve then asks whether it would be possible to build a list of factors that might similarly justify a greater emphasis on the rural. He notes that three main points that have emerged in the literature for preservation of the rural include culturalism, national security, and economic growth. The first point is the notion that there is a cultural aspect to rural areas that justifies special preservation. However, Steve challenges this by noting that poor education levels and weak health indicators pervade the lives of those who live in rural areas. A second argument in favor of the rural is national security, under the theory that a country should be able to produce its own food during periods of war. Steve responds to this by stating that food independence might be similarly achieved through automation and could be done in more urban areas. Last is the argument that rural areas produce significant economic benefits for the country. However, Steve notes that people have higher debt loads in rural areas and most of the poorest counties in America are rural. After rejecting these prevailing arguments, he asserts that a better justification for the rural is that economic growth in rural areas has a more significant impact on those living in poverty than economic growth in urban areas. In order to help realize these benefits, he argues that there is a need to break up the size of the many megafarms that populate the rural landscape so that they can be broken up in smaller farms that would generate a larger middle class in rural areas. To do this he asserts that Congress should return to a more aggressive estate tax system that prevents such large transfers of wealth and subsequent consolidation.

Closing out the panel was Thomas Mitchell (Texas A&M) who spoke about his book chapter project on the different strategies that have been used over time to exploit African Americans in their aspirations to become homeowners or maintain homeownership. He specifically explores installment land contracts where black would-be homeowners, who were unable to obtain conventional financing, would enter into agreements with unscrupulous home sellers who would “lease to own” the property at an outrageous price and then, upon a missed payment, evict the individual and keep the profit. Another strategy was through the over-assessments of property taxes for African American homeowners, all in an effort to break up these communities and drive out black owners. Lastly, he spoke about the steering of black borrowers toward expensive financial products, including adjustable rate mortgages and loans with numerous fees. Thomas looks to use this work to explore the deeper phenomenon behind these practices in hopes of discerning an overarching way to work through these systemic issues on a larger scale.

Great panels and a very lively discussion. Time for dinner! See you tomorrow!

#PropertySchmooze Panel 2: Domestic Human Rights & Fair Housing Rights

Taking the baton from my co-blogger, Sally Richardson (Tulane), it’s time for panel #2 here at the Property Schmooze featuring a discussion of access and fairness in housing policy.

First up is none other than the hostess of the Schmooze herself, Lisa Alexander (Texas A&M), talking about her paper, Bringing Home the Right to Housing. First, Lisa used her review of Matthew Desmond’s book, Evicted, as a springboard by explaining how his work provides a basis for highlighting how important the right to housing is in today’s post-crisis American economy. Using this observation, her paper asserts that our conception of basic human rights/needs and our conception of housing needs are greatly out of balance in the political discourse. Relatedly, Lisa noted the mismatch between the supply and demand of housing, pointing out that homeownership is at its lowest rate due to the high cost of housing and that affordable rental units chronically elude most Americans. Moreover, relative to the need for housing, subsidies to these individuals (vouchers, public housing, federal grants) are quite small and inadequate. Because of the diminished role that the federal government has been playing (and will likely continue in this fashion) in meeting the housing need, much of the responsibility will fall to cities and local governments. To that end, she asserts in this project that the right to housing, although not a legal right in the US, can serve as a useful normative framework for localities to use in devising plans for new housing arrangements that more effectively balance the rights of owners and non-owners. Moreover, Lisa explained that when local governments use their powers to legitimate arrangements that mimic the right to housing, they are realizing the benefits of the right to housing, even in the absence of it being an actual right. Lastly, she hopes that once local governments engage in this democratic experimentalism, that federal decision-makers will see the benefits and seek to advance a right to housing (and its benefits) more broadly.  To more fully explore how local governments can do this she looks to legal devices such as declarations, resolutions, ordinances, conditional use permits, planned unit developments, building code amendments, impact assessments, and state laws exempting certain localities from building code requirements.

Next up is Mark Roark (Savannah Law School) whose paper Under-Propertied Persons builds on his prior work and explores the concept of property as creating insider-outsider relationships that have significant impacts on homelessness and poverty. He focuses on the two poll stars of the property discourse: waste and nuisance. Mark notes that when we talk about waste we think about autonomy and the ability to self-determine and build value. Nuisance, on the other hand, is spoken of in terms of expanding the boundaries of property and maintaining its value. He then explores these concepts through the lens of the environment and the architecture of public housing, looking to a number of specific locations including St. Louis and Chicago. Mark draws together the literature on how we speak about homelessness and poverty and gives it life through specific examples of how public housing is physically constructed and maintained. This includes a discussion of the stigma that becomes attached to those who live in public housing, which in turn prevents the residents from being more fully engaging in community building.

Last but certainly not least is Lynn Blais (Texas). Her paper, Disparate Impact as Evidence, looks to unpack the disparate impact theory of housing discrimination claims under the Fair Housing Act, particularly after Texas v. Inclusive Communities. She explains that although equal protection claims can generally overlap/intersect with disparate impact claims, the theory of disparate impact (from an historical perspective) is meant to be more expansive than a mere equal protection claim. Lynn does this by looking at how the disparate impact plays out in various different federal legal regimes aside from housing. She notes the difficulty in making out a disparate impact claim because of the struggle to obtain the necessary statistics. This usually results in these cases being dismissed as courts focus on the statistical aspect of the claim and less on the actual evidence of discrimination. Her goal in this piece is to push outward the idea of due process and fair housing. In doing so she hopes to push the Court toward better developing a more robust framework for making out an intentional discrimination case.

See you after lunch when we'll be back for panel #3!

CFP: Fordham International & Comparative Urban Law Conference

From Nestor Davidson and the good folks over at the Fordham Urban Law Center:

4th Annual International & Comparative Urban Law Conference

Law and the New Urban Agenda

Cape Town, South Africa - July 17^th & 18^th, 2017

Call for Conference Participants

The Fordham Urban Law Center, in partnership with the University of Cape Town (UCT) and UN Habitat, is pleased to announce a call for participation in the 4^th Annual International and Comparative Urban Law Conference.  The Conference will be held on Monday July 17^th and Tuesday July 18^th, 2017 at UCT in Cape Town, South Africa.   

The Conference will provide a dynamic forum for legal and other scholars to engage diverse international, comparative, and interdisciplinary perspectives in urban law.  The Conference is open to urban law topics across a broad spectrum, such as:

• Structure and workings of local authority and autonomy
• Urban and metropolitan governance and finance
• Economic and community development
• Housing and the built environment
• Unique challenges facing cities in developing nations and the Global South
• Urban public health
• Migration and citizenship
• Urban equity and inclusion
• Sustainability and resilience

While the Conference will foster a broad scholarly dialogue about cities and legal systems in comparative and international perspective, we specifically invite submissions focusing on the role of law in the New Urban Agenda adopted this past October by the United Nations at the Habitat III Conference in Quito, Ecuador.  In particular, the Conference seeks to investigate legal tools to advance the New Urban Agenda in a manner that is democratic, sustainable and equitable.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION:  Please submit a proposal (maximum 500 words) to Gilberto Vargas, Associate Director, Fordham Urban Law Center, at [email protected].  Please put "[name of proposed paper]" in the subject line of your email. If you have a draft paper, please include it with your proposal. Participants do not need to have prepared a formal paper in order to join the program.  The Center is also pleased to be able to award partial travel grants for this Conference, although funds are limited.  Please indicate the extent of your funding needs.  Deadline for proposal submissions:  March 6, 2017.

PUBLICATION:  The Urban Law Center has developed a book series compiling cross-cutting global perspectives on law and urbanism, with a core focus on comparative enquiry.  If you are interested in potential publication, please indicate this interest at the time of your proposal submission.

ABOUT THE URBAN LAW CENTER:  The Urban Law Center at Fordham Law School in New York City is committed to investigating the role of the law and legal systems in contemporary urbanism through scholarship, pedagogy, programming, and applied research partnerships. Please visit http://urbanlaw.org for more details about the Center.

ABOUT UCT:  Founded in 1829, The University of Cape Town is the oldest university in South Africa. UCT aspires to be the premier academic meeting point between South Africa, the rest of Africa and the world. Please visit https://www.uct.ac.za/ for more details about UCT.

Call for Presentation and Panel Proposals for Arizona State University's Third Annual Sustainability Conference of American Legal Educators

Arizona State University has issued a call for presentations and panels for its Third Annual Sustainability Conference of American Legal Educators on May 12, 2017. Carol Rose will be this year's keynote speaker. ASU will pay up to $500 lodging/transportation reimbursement for all presenters. Proposal details here.

In addition, associated with the conference is the Morrison Prize Contest, which awards $10,000 for "the most impactful sustainability-related legal academic paper published in North America during the previous year." NOTE: the deadline for the Morrison Contest is Dec. 15, but you need only submit five offprints of your previously published work.

Thanks to Troy Rule for sharing information about the conference.

 

University of Florida Law School Celebrates 100 Years of Zoning: Schedule of Events

This just in from Michael Allan Wolf (Florida) on UF's semester-long series of lectures and events on zoning:

CFP: Wealth Transfer Law in Comparative & International Perspective @Iowa

This just in from Tom Gallanis (Iowa):

Call for Papers

Wealth Transfer Law in Comparative and International Perspective

Friday, September 8, 2017

The University of Iowa College of Law and The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel’s Legal Education Committee are organizing the 7th academic symposium financially supported by the ACTEC Foundation.  The symposium, Wealth Transfer Law in Comparative and International Perspective will be held at the University of Iowa College of Law on Friday, September 8, 2017.  The keynote address will be given by Professor Lionel Smith of McGill University and King’s College London.

Among the objectives of this symposium are:

            (1) To bring together prominent and up-and-coming scholars for the discussion of important issues in wealth transfer law from a comparative and international perspective;

            (2) To spur leading-edge research on wealth transfer law, looking beyond the borders of any one jurisdiction;

            (3) To encourage U.S. professors of trusts and estates to incorporate comparative and international perspectives into their scholarship and teaching; and

            (4) To promote collaborations and exchanges between U.S. and non-U.S. scholars.

Papers presented at the symposium will consist of papers selected from this Call for Papers and papers from invited speakers.  The papers will be published in the Iowa Law Review.

If you would like to be considered to present a paper, please submit an abstract of your paper to Professor Thomas Gallanis by email ([email protected]) by November 1, 2016.  The Iowa Law Review will notify individuals chosen to participate in the symposium no later than December 1, 2016.  Symposium speakers will be required to submit a draft of their papers by August 1, 2017, so that the panel commentators will have sufficient time to prepare their commentary.

Symposium speakers will be reimbursed for their travel expenses (economy airfare, the cost of ground transportation, and up to two nights’ hotel for speakers within North America and up to three nights’ hotel for speakers from beyond North America).  Speakers will be invited to dinner on the evenings of Thursday, September 7, and (for speakers staying Friday evening) Friday, September 8. 

Breakfast and lunch will be provided to speakers and attendees on Friday, September 8, courtesy of the ACTEC Foundation.

Questions about the symposium or this call for papers should be directed to Professor Gallanis at the email address above.

 

Registration Open: State & Local Government Law Works-in-Progress Conference

The University of Houston Law Center will be hosting the 5th Annual State & Local Government Law Works-in-Progress Conference on Friday, October 7, 2016 and Saturday, October 8, 2016.  Scholars and practitioners writing in areas related to state and local government law are invited to attend and/or present works in progress. Participants can register and obtain hotel information here.

Please register for the conference by September 9, 2016.  Participants will have the option of either presenting a full draft or an early work-in-progress/abstract.  Drafts/abstracts will be due September 26, 2015.  Questions should be directed to Kellen Zale at [email protected].

Save the Date: State & Local Government Law Works-in-Progress Conference

For anyone writing in the area of property and local government law, here's an announcement from the University of Houston Law Center, courtesy of Kellen Zale:

The University of Houston Law Center will be hosting the 5th Annual State & Local Government Law Works-in-Progress Conference on Friday, October 7, 2016 and Saturday, October 8, 2016.  Scholars and practitioners writing in areas related to state and local government law are invited to attend and/or present works in progress. A formal call for papers will follow during the summer.  Registration will take place in late August, and the deadline for papers and abstracts will be in mid-September.  The conference will provide an opportunity for state and local government law scholars and practitioners to present works-in-progress and receive feedback from colleagues.  Questions should be directed to Kellen Zale at [email protected].

AALS Property Law Section Call-for-Papers!

AALS Property Law Section Call For Papers

January 2017 -- AALS Conference in San Francisco, CA

 

The AALS Property Law Section has two panels at the AALS Conference this year.  If you would like to participate in either of these panels, please email a title and abstract of your proposed presentation to Ezra Rosser, [email protected], by June 1, 2016.  The Property Section’s Executive Committee will select participants from the proposals received by that date.  

 

(1) “Property and the Challenge of Housing Affordability” -- Co‐Sponsored by State and Local Government Law, and Poverty Law Sections.  1:30-3:15 pm, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017.

 

The main property law panel this year focuses on housing affordability, a topic that is appropriate for a conference being held in San Francisco.  Two speakers will be chosen from this call-for-papers and they will join invited panelists Courtney Anderson (Georgia State), Steve Eagle (George Mason), Lisa Alexander (Texas A&M), and moderator Eduardo Peñalver (Cornell).  Fordham Urban Law Journal has agreed to publish articles coming out of this panel and has asked that authors submit drafts to them by August 1, 2016, making this call ideally suited for those who already anticipate working on a housing affordability topic this summer.  If you have any questions about this panel or the associated publication opportunity, please email [email protected].  

 

(2) “Property Law Works in Progress” -- 3:30-4:45 pm, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017.

 

This year, the AALS Property Law Section is organizing a works-in-progress session for junior (pre-tenure) scholars.  This is meant to be an opportunity to present and get feedback on works that will not be published as of Jan. 2017 and that are still at a stage in which feedback could be valuable.  In addition to having the opportunity to share work through the panel, selected presenters will be matched with a senior scholar who will provide written comments.  There is no limitation as far as topic area for this panel and we look forward to receiving your proposal. 

 

Looks like two great opportunities for property law scholars! Send in your papers ASAP!

Housing in a Time of Expanding Crisis @USFLaw

 

This past Friday I had the pleasure of participating in a symposium on Housing for Vulnerable Populations and the Middle Class: Revisiting Housing Rights and Policies in a Time of Expanding Crisis, hosted by the wonderful faculty and law review folks at the University of San Francisco School of Law (and a special hat tip to our very gracious host, Tim Iglesias). The timing of this gathering couldn’t have been better. 2015 was a busy year in the housing world as SCOTUS upheld the validity of the disparate impact theory under the Fair Housing Act and HUD issued its significantly updated regulations on the obligation to affirmatively further fair housing. Moreover, cities and local governments are being looked to more than ever to solve major and seemingly intractable issues around housing, spurring a host of new policies, programs, and initiatives. The impressive participants of the USF symposium (coming from practice, government, non-profit, and the academy) explored these and related issues, including potential solutions to pressing problems of housing. Here’s an overview of what the panelists had to say:

What’s the matter with housing?
Rachel Bratt (Harvard Joint Center) kicked off the day by giving an overview of the nation’s current housing woes. She noted that the increase in income inequality over the last 20 years, combined with disinvestment and misinvestment of public resources, has been at the core of the affordable housing issue. She also described how political spending has played a role in further entrenching existing housing interests (in 2015, $234M was spend on real estate/finance lobbying, second only to healthcare). Bratt also explained the uneven distribution of federal housing benefits to the wealthy and the continued persistence of concentrated racial segregation. Rosie Tighe (Cleveland State-Urban Affairs) followed by describing the particular housing problems facing so-called “shrinking cities” (those places in an intense population-decline). She noted that the issue for these cities has more to do with poor quality affordable housing, rather than quantity. Tighe described the failure of low-income housing tax credits to meet the needs of these locales, and discussed the need for more scattered-site developments in these areas, while recognizing the financing and property management challenges inherent in such developments. Peter Dreier (Occidental-Poli Sci) rounded-out the discussion by pointing out that the current political discussions around the presidential election have focused much on wages and other issues, but not at all on housing. He described some reasons for the absence of attention to this important area, and drew the strong connection between household over-all health and housing.

What’s the matter with our current solutions?
Chris Odinet (Southern) started the discussion by describing some current efforts by states and local governments to deal with the fall-out from the housing crisis and on-going issues of blight and abandoned property. He then explained a number of recent federal court cases and acts taken by the FHFA that have significantly frustrated these efforts and also seriously call into question the ability of states and local governments to be innovative in dealing with issues of housing when federal programs are involved. Michael Allen (Relman, Dane, & Colfax) discussed the Fair Housing Act and the new “affirmatively furthering” regulations. He went into depth on contemporary disagreements between affordable housing advocates (who support more affordable units) and fair housing groups (who support integrated housing, and advocated for a way to reconcile their views under the auspices of these new HUD regulations. John Infrana (Suffolk) followed by describing the types of housing in and changing household composition of many cities. Despite these changing demographics, however, housing has not kept pace. In connection with this, Infranca pointed to the many possibilities that micro-housing and accessory-dwelling units (ADU) provide in the way of meeting this need. He noted that ADUs allow for greater economic diversity and can better align with demographic trends, but noted current legal barriers to them such as occupancy requirements and zoning restrictions. Marcia Rosen and Jessica Cassella (both of the National Housing Law Project)) concluded the panel by discussing the current state of the public housing program in the U.S., noting that there are currently 1.2M units (and ever-declining). She described HUD’s recent efforts to give public housing authorities (PHAs) a financing tool to rehab and rebuild these properties through the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD). This program essentially allows PHAs to convert their public housing stock into section 8 funded housing, and to combine section 8 with tax credits and other forms of debt and equity financing to fund the project. Cassella stated that although the program has great potential in terms of revamping old and decaying public housing properties, there are draw-backs in the way of transparency and long-term funding stability.

What are some new solutions?
For this final panel, John Emmeus Davis (Burlington Community Development Associates) gave an overview of community land trusts (CLTs)—currently over 280 exist nationwide—and their successes across the country. He noted that these types of entities are usually most successful in communities where there would otherwise be no affordable housing available. He noted the ability of CLTs to empower communities, protect tenants, and provide street-level land reform. Andrea Boyack (Washburn) followed by noting the current lack of rental stock compared to the growing demand across the country. She pointed out that in 2015 over half of the population of the U.S. is renting, with an annual demand of 300K new rental units per year. She followed by describing some current statistical trends in American homeownership and posited a number of ways in which cities and states in particular can seek to achieve solutions to these major housing problems. Lastly, Lisa Alexander (Wisconsin) discussed the the human right to housing, not through the lens of federal law, but rather through the ways in which localities across the country are building legal structures that provide many of the rights associated with a right to housing. She noted that market participation has been important to this process, and she used the “tiny homes for the homeless” movement and community control of vacant land as examples.

You can watch each of these presentations by clicking on the youtube video above. Participants, moderators, and USF Dean John Trasviña (former HUD assistant secretary for fair housing) are pictured below.

SEALS 2014 Property Panel?

SEALS '13 is almost over and its been great -- the series for new and newish faculty members has been particularly interesting, as well as the panel on interdisciplinary courses.  But not a ton of property or real estate offerings.  Anyone interested in putting together a panel or discussion group (or more than one) on a property/real estate/land use theme?  We could do something general or specific.  Next year SEALS will be back at Amelia Island Plantation, August 1-7th.

If you have ideas for a panel or discussion group, please leave a comment or e-mail me directly.

Tanya Marsh

Call for Papers -- ALPS Reminder

I'm live blogging from AALS in DC. Attended a great session yesterday, co-sponsored by the Property and Real Estate Transactions Sections, on many facets of urban development in the current economic climate.

We were reminded during the session that property profs can return to DC shortly, on March 2-3, to attend the 3rd annual ALPS conference at Georgetown. The deadline to submit a paper topic is January 20th. If you don't have a paper in progress, they are recruiting moderators. All of the PropertyProf bloggers attended last year's conference. It is a great multi-disciplinary, yet property-focused, get together.

Get the details and register at the website: http://www.alps.syr.edu/

Tanya Marsh
posted from my iPad