PROPERTY

GENERALLY

Property is often said to be the hardest class during first-year. I think it gets this reputation primarily because the class covers a lot of crap. Usually, professors gloss over many of the concepts but expect you to know them in-depth. And this is why I didn’t find that attending class was that useful.

• Cases are not important to the class because, like Torts and Contracts, they are unique to a particular jurisdiction—they’re merely illustrative, and you should focus on the black-letter law.
• Exception: There are a few Supreme Court cases which matter but those are all at the very end when you study Takings.
• Future Interests and the Rule Against Perpetuities. This is some fun stuff. Unfortunately, most people don’t see it as fun, but rather as horribly excruciating. It will definitely be one of the most annoying things you’ll study. Though it’s not covered too extensively on the test (usually just in the multiple choice section), it does take awhile to understand it.
• Emanuel’s versus Gilbert’s. Everybody gets Gilbert’s. It’s written by Dukeminier, who actually wrote the book that Stone and Altman use, and it’s a solid purchase featuring some sweet flowcharts and good explanations. There’s also an Emanuel’s that’s keyed to the Dukeminier book which some people prefer. Personally, I’d go with Gilbert for use as a quick reference—but I think the Understanding Property book is much better than both in explaining the subject.

KEY STUDY AIDS

• Understanding Property (LexisNexis)—I wouldn’t even read the casebook if I was you. Just look at this book. It’s only worth buying if you buy it early—it’s too long to buy as a last minute study aid.
• There’s also a LexisNexis book called A Student’s Guide to Estates in Land and Future Interests, which explains future interests fairly well. However, it costs about $70—apparently, they haven’t been publishing them too much.
• The Flashcards made by Emanuel’s are also a useful study aids—giving you a series of hypos to help solidify your understanding of each main concept. There’s also flashcards just for Future Interests, but again, I would be hesitant to invest in these because they are so focused on one aspect of a very broad subject area.

PROFESSORS

PROFESSOR STONE

PowerPoint Slides. With sound effects.

• Ideally, you should set up your slides on a document prior to class and edit them as he goes through them in class.

Cases. Occasionally, he gets into cases but you’ll be able to anticipate which ones he’ll get into by the number of slides devoted to the case.

• Initially, he made a big deal of cases and wanted us to brief them and write down who the parties are and what the cause of action is and get really detailed. He ended up only going this much in depth on a one or two cases. There really isn’t that much time in this class to go into all the cases he assigns.

Exam

• Multiple Choice: He will subtract points for wrong answers on the multiple choice section.
• I think about a third of the questions in this section had to do with future interests and the rule against perpetuities.
• Spring 2004:
• Short Answer: Four questions—each one gives you a concept and asks you to define it and explain it to someone not in law school.
• Fact Pattern: Standard fact pattern—spot as many issues as you can.
• Spring 2005:
• Two Fact Patterns.
• Note:
• You need to balance your time between the short answer and the long fact pattern—there’s no break in-between. It will definitely be a time crunch.
• He will ask about concepts rarely discussed in class (e.g., ius tertii). Bring all your study aids to the test, tab them ahead of time so you know where to look. And if you're having trouble finding something, use the index.

Socratic

• He likes to call on people who sit on the sides. The class is in room 101, so I recommend sitting in the back of the rows facing the whiteboard if you don’t want to get called on. I sat in the back row in that section and got called on only once the entire semester (though not going to about half the lectures may have had something to do with it… hmmm… (but also, and actually strengthening this argument, my friend who sat next to me and actually went to class also got called on only once)) People on the sides always got called on. I was given this advice prior to taking the class so apparently it’s something that has been doing for awhile. I'm sure this advice is completely useless to you four weeks into the semester.
• He’s very inconsistent with how many people he calls on each day and whether he even calls on people. But usually he won’t stay on you too long—especially, if you just play dumb and don’t say anything (that’s what my roommate did). He likes people who play along with his jokes—so if you play along, he’ll stay with you longer and probably come back to you.
• No Attendance.

DEAN ALTMAN
sorry, not much of a scoop on this guy, but this is what my friend, Ahmed Sangbana (sangbana@usc.edu), has to say:

• Great Teacher. Class is worth going to because he teaches the material well.
• Straightforward Exams. The exam is straightforward with no surprises.
• Not Socratic.
• No Attendance.

PROFESSOR STOLZENBERG
by Sam Goldberg -- GenGoldy@aol.com

• Know thy policy.
• The test had a short answer portion that had some rather ridiculous hypotheticals that I cannot remember, but recall being rather dicey. O to A then to B and A for life if O isn't human. How can O give to A and B for longer than life and not violate RAP? Seriously, one short answer was something like that. Bottom line--knowing the black letter law was definitely helpful, but being able to be flexible with conceptual ideas would also be good. Obviously that doesn't help, but knowing this ahead of time can help you prepare.
• The essays were like Constitutional Law--property style. I would say it was a writing contest except that I'm sure she looked at some of the ideas in the text as well.
• Most of her class time is spent between rules and standards, and if there is one rule to her test (two years ago), it was that you should have been paying attention. Maybe even ask for an application example from time to time when being confronted with a seemingly vague policy perspective.
• Since it will probably be a closed book test, a thorough understanding of the black letter law is likely not as beneficial as a well polished policy preparation. That being said, of course knowing the black letter law well would be helpful.
• Maybe do a practice test and ask her to review it? Maybe find out what type of music she listens to and play it while going to class? Is Stolzenberg property were a cake: Constitutional Law would be the cake part, LLE the icing, and the sprinkles on top would be property.