Property Law and Real Estate Commons^™

Session 1: Innovation In Legal Services, Steven W. Bender, Michael Cherry, Matthew Spencer

SITIE Symposiums

This panel featured two “disrupters” who detailed their experiences innovating in the legal services space. The first panelist spoke about data-driven regulatory reform and the other spoke as an entrepreneur whose product introduces artificial intelligence (AI) into the legal recruiting process. Two additional panelists provided commentary regarding the second panelist’s presentation.

The panel provided insight on the topics of: (1) the legal regulatory process at large; (2) how a data-driven and feedback-oriented sandbox provides an alternative regulatory process; (3) the legal hiring and recruiting process and (4) how AI allows law firms to consider alternative hiring metrics when assessing candidates …

Introduction To The 5th Annual Innovation And Technology Law Conference, Annette Clark

SITIE Symposiums

Seattle University School of Law’s then dean, now Dean Emerita, Annette Clark, opens the 5^th annual Innovation and Technology Law Conference, co-sponsored by the Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, and Innovation Law (SJTEIL) at Seattle University School of Law. Annette Clark has been involved with the planning and organization of the Innovation and Technology Law Conference since the conference’s inception. The theme of the 5^th annual 2022 conference is “deep innovation dives.”

Annette Clark explains that “This conference is part of our continuing efforts at Seattle [University] Law to expand educational opportunities for our students and community in …

5th Annual Innovation And Technology Law Conference: Deep Innovation Dives, Steven W. Bender

SITIE Symposiums

Steven W. Bender, Seattle University School of Law Professor and organizer of the SITIE Symposium series, details the history of the SITIE symposiums and the 2022 proceedings. He discusses how this year's symposium builds on themes and issues raised in previous symposiums and looks ahead to the 2023 SITIE symposium.

Mezzanine Real Estate Loan Foreclosures: What Is Commercially Reasonable During An Emergency?, Christopher J. Collins

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Owners of commercial real estate frequently use mezzanine debt as an additional source of financing. In contrast to mortgage loans, which are secured by real property, the collateral for mezzanine real estate loans is the mezzanine borrower’s ownership interest in the entity that owns the property. This ownership interest is considered personal property, and thus foreclosure and disposition of the collateral is governed by the Uniform Commercial Code, which requires foreclosure sales to be “commercially reasonable.” During COVID-19, mortgage loan foreclosures were stayed in New York pursuant to executive order. Despite the fact that, in a practical sense, mezzanine loan …

The Post-Pandemic Order: A Blueprint For Balancing Health And Ip Interests In The Age Of Covid Variants, Arjun Padmanabhan, Tanner J. Wadsworth

Student Scholarship

In December 2021, the World Health Assembly (“WHA”) convened to develop a pandemic response treaty for future pandemics. Unfortunately, as presently envisioned, the resulting pandemic response framework will suffer from many of the same inadequacies that prevented existing frameworks from responding effectively to COVID-19. The threat of new pandemics emerging in the future—and new variants developing in the present—call for a more integrated, robust, comprehensive solution.

This Article lays a blueprint for that solution: a global multilateral Council empowered to(1) investigate developing pandemics; (2) incentivize pharmaceutical companies to rapidly-produce vaccines and share them through voluntary licenses or TRIPS compulsory licensing …

Comparative Lessons In Sectional Title Laws: Mitigating Urban Inequality In South Africa, Edward S. W. Ti

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Urban inequality in South Africa is a formidable problem that is linked to the injustices of its historical apartheid past. This paper identifies sectional titles, a form of property ownership where proprietors wholly own their apartment unit while co-owning the land and common property, as critical to providing more affordable housing. Sectional title schemes mitigate urban inequality by giving a greater proportion of the country the opportunity to own legally secure, well-located dwellings while serving as a platform where communal living could take place. Two suggestions how sectional title legislation can further alleviate aspects of urban inequality are made (1) …

A Taking Timebomb: Loss Of Access Takings As A Barrier To Managed Retreat From Sea Level Rise, Isaac Foote

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Cross-Border Real Estate, Timur Bondaryev, Olga Ivanova, Felipe Isa Castillo, Avikshit Moral, Apurva Kanvinde

The Year in Review

No abstract provided.

Tenancies Uncommon: Limits On Representing Cotenants Pro Se, Robert L. Bentlyewski

Fordham Law Review Online

An adversary proceeding that was part of the Bernie Madoff bankruptcy litigation involved a fraud victim making a motion to represent pro se the interests of all tenants in common who co-owned an account with Madoff. This Essay analyzes and expands upon the bankruptcy court’s holding, which addressed this novel issue by finding that a tenant in common cannot represent his cotenants pro se for two reasons. First, a tenancy in common is not a legal entity that can speak with one voice. Second, one tenant in common cannot represent one or more other cotenants’ interests in litigation without joining …

Mitigating The Discretion Disaster: How Changes In The Law Can Help Fema Effectuate Its Critical Mission, Paul G. Rando

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

Adventures In Land Use Dispute Resolution: Utah's Innovative Program To Provide "Free" Legal Advice To Local Government, Neighbors, And Property Owners, Craig Call

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Utah may have the nation’s most robust process allowing citizens to question local government land use decisions. This exists in the Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman (OPRO), created in 1997 and charged to assist in land use disputes in 2006. In three parts, this article divides an overview of the history of that office into two eras, evaluates one of the key functions of the current era—the preparation of advisory opinions (AOs), and suggests that Utah’s OPRO is a useful model for other states to consider. Most of this article focuses on the debates leading to the second era …

Examination Of Eviction Filings In Lancaster County, Nebraska, 2019–2021, Ryan Sullivan

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

The study examined and analyzed eviction filings and proceedings in Nebraska, with a specific focus on Lancaster County—the home to the State’s capital, Lincoln. The primary objective of this study is to place eviction proceedings under a microscope to gain a better understanding of the volume of evictions in Nebraska, and whether the statutorily mandated processes are being followed. The study also attempts to capture the impact of certain external factors present during the period examined. Such factors include the COVID-19 pandemic and various eviction moratoria in place during 2020 and 2021, as well as the increased availability of legal …

Bright Stars Or Unreliable Compasses: Navigating Patent Definiteness During The Fourth Industrial Revolution, N. Thane Bauz

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

This Article traces the evolution of the definiteness requirement over the course of two centuries. From the time of inventions relating to flour mills, the definiteness requirement evolved into the consequence for drafting uninterpretable claims. Without considering the reasons for this evolution, the Supreme Court in its Nautilus decision returned the standard for assessing definiteness to its root form. Given the consequences are the loss of patent rights, this Article grapples with the Supreme Court’s decision during an era where complex and convergent technologies are more commonplace. The Article also analyzes empirical evidence six years before and six years after …

Biotechnology Patent Law Top Ten Of 2020: Valeant Victorious, Falling Eagle, And Successful Slayback, Kevin E. Noonan, Andrew W. Torrance

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

This Article discusses the Top 10 BioTechnology Patent Cases of 2020. Suffice it to say that biotechnology patent law will continue to vigorously evolve, and we plan to continue our coverage of its evolution beyond the current trilogy of Biotechnology Patent Law Top Tens. As in previous years, we admit it was difficult to choose precisely ten top biotechnology patent law decisions. There are certainly others we did not include that warrant close attention for their reasonings, rules, and future implications. Nevertheless, both we and our readers can count, so we have done our best to select what we consider …

Can You Dig It? Yes, You Can! But At What Cost?: A Proposal For The Protection Of Domestic Fossils On Private Land, Bridget Roddy

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

Paleontological resources require similar protections to archaeological resources because the threat of looting, improper excavation, and market demand are analogous. Paleontological resources are responsible for informing much of scientists’ understanding of evolution and the history of the planet, just as cultural property helps to inform the evolution of humanity and culture. Once either object is removed from its original context, there is an immediate and invaluable loss of information that could have illuminated important information about the past. When either is removed from the environment in which they were created, a nonrenewable link to the past is lost.

Existing laws …

Property, Bas Van Der Vossen

Philosophy Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"This chapter discusses the nature and value of property rights. It will explain (1) what property rights are, (2) the relationship between private property and economic development, and (3) some objections to structuring societies around such rights. This discussion throughout focuses on the decentralizing nature of private property rights, asking what implications it has from a philosophical, but also social and political, point of view."

Redressing The Past To Repair The Present: The Role Of Property Law In Creating And Exacerbating Racial Disparities In Wealth And Poverty In Nova Scotia, Melissa Marsman

LLM Theses

For over 200 years African Nova Scotians have been fighting to confirm legal title to the land on which their ancestors were settled. In 2020, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court remarked “the lack of clear title and the segregated nature of their land triggered a cycle of poverty for black families that persisted for generations.” Nova Scotia has a long history of obscure land titles; however, the ensuing cycle of poverty appears to have disproportionately impacted African Nova Scotians. This thesis reframes the African Nova Scotian land titles discourse into a broader understanding about systemic anti-Black racism and White supremacist …

Stale Real Estate Convenants, Robert C. Ellickson

William & Mary Law Review

Since the 1970s, covenants running with the land have tethered a large majority of the new housing units produced in the United States. These private restraints usually continue for generations, until a majority or supermajority of covenant beneficiaries affirmatively vote to amend or terminate them. Covenants interact with public land use controls, particularly zoning ordinances. Zoning politics tends to freeze land uses in urban America, particularly in existing neighborhoods of single-family homes. This Article investigates to what extent covenants exacerbate the zoning freeze. It provides a history of the use of private covenants and suggests how drafters, judges, and legislators …

Redefining The Boundary Between Appropriation And Regulation, Jessica L. Asbridge

BYU Law Review

The U.S. Supreme Court distinguishes between appropriations and regulations of property rights when interpreting the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause. While appropriations of any kind require just compensation to survive constitutional scrutiny, whether non-appropriative laws regulating property rights require compensation is determined on an ad hoc basis, guided by concerns of fairness and justness. In Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, the Court reaffirmed its prior precedent establishing the physical takings doctrine, providing that an appropriation is any government action that results in a physical invasion of an owner’s real property and a taking of the owner’s right to exclude. The Court …

The Regulation Of The Ownership Of Flats By Foreigners After The Enactment Of The Job Creation Law, Made Suksma Prijandhini Devi Salain, I Dewa Gede Palguna, I Gusti Ngurah Parikesit Widiatedja

Indonesia Law Review

The presence of foreigners in Indonesia for a long period certainly requires a place to live or a residential house. According to Article 144 (1) b of Job Creation Law, foreigners have the right to own flat units in Indonesia. Is this regulation intended to attract foreign investors? If it is yes, does not it contradictory to the “kenasionalan” principle stipulated in the Basic Agrarian Law (BAL) and other Indonesian regulations? This study is aimed to deal with those legal issues, by using the normative legal method. The result shows that the ownership right of flat units given to foreigners …