Administrative Matters

Required Reading: 

• Joseph William Singer, Property Law: Rules, Policies, and Practices (Aspen Law & Business, 5th ed. 2010) (“CB”).
  
• Various supplemental readings, to be downloaded from the courseware site.
  
• Suggested reference work (not required, but you may find it helpful):
  
• • John G. Sprankling, Understanding Property (LexisNexis, 3d ed., 2012).
    

Class Schedule:

• Class will not meet on the following days:
  
  • Tues.-Thurs., Jan. 22-24
    
  • Thurs., Feb. 7
  • Tues., Mar. 26
    
  
  
• I have scheduled makeup classes on the following days, all in Room 205. All makeup classes will be recorded:
  • Fri., Feb. 15, 10:00-12:00
  • Fri., Mar. 15, 10:00-12:00
  • Fri., Apr. 5, 10:00-12:00
  • Fri., Apr. 19, 10:00-12:00
    

Office Hours and Contact Information: 

• Office hours are Wednesdays, 1:20-3:20 p.m. You do not need an appointment. My office is McDonough 410.
  
• Please note that there will be no office hours on Jan. 23 or Feb. 6; I am traveling out of the country on both of those dates.
  
• You can reach me at 202-662-9871 or via e-mail (jec at...).
   

Faculty Assistant: 

• Patrick Kane, 202-662-9461, McDonough 4th floor across from Room 404. 
   

Course Requirements

Final Exam

• The final exam will be an eight-hour take-home exam on Tues., May 7.
  
• The exam will consist of three sections, weighted equally, as follows:
• • One traditional, issue-spotter question;
  • One set of five short answer questions;
  • One essay question asking for your analysis of a current issue affecting property law and policy.
    
• I will make old exam questions and answers available online later in the semester. However, please note that the short answer section is new this year, so there are no samples of old short answer questions. I will say more about this section of the exam in class.
  
• In total, your exam may not exceed 4500 words. Answers exceeding the word will be marked down by half a grade for every 50 words over the limit.  

Discussion Memos

• What: During the semester, each of you will be required to post two short (<300 words), informal discussion memos. The memos should discuss some issue relevant to the readings for the assigned class meeting or pose questions for class discussion.
  
• Where: Please post your memos in the “Discussion” section of the class courseware site, in the folder that corresponds to the appropriate unit of the syllabus.
  
• When:  Memos must be posted by 8 p.m. (Eastern time) on the day before the class for which they are assigned. On Thursday, Jan. 17, I will distribute and post on the courseware site a list of the memo assignments for each remaining class meeting. Please be sure to find both dates to which you are assigned. The first memos will be posted for Class 3, which meets on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
  
• Why: The memos help me to determine which issues you find most compelling and which issues may require more class time for clarification. They also give you a different kind of opportunity to be heard in class (which in turn helps me get to know you a little better). Please treat your classmates’ memos as part of the course reading assignment for that day.
  
• Effect on Grade: The memos will not be graded. A memo will affect your grade only if you fail to post it by the required time. Failure to post a memo by the applicable deadline will reduce your course grade by half a grade. If you foresee that you will be unable to post a memo on the appointed day, you may arrange a trade with another member of the class. However, I must be notified of all trades at least 24 hours before the memo is to be posted. If you experience technical difficulties when trying to post, please notify me by e-mail or voicemail, and please post your memo as soon possible.

Class Participation

• While much class participation will be voluntary, some class participation will be conducted on a random on-call basis. I consider class participation important practice for fielding questions from clients and judges. I appreciate that being questioned in class is not always the most enjoyable experience. Please know that my intent is to have a thoughtful conversation among reasonable adults. I encourage you to take the time you need to reflect while answering, and  to ask for clarification as needed.
  

Grading Policy

• In general, your final exam grade will be your course grade.  However, as explained above, I will make a downward adjustment of half a grade for failure to post a required discussion memo by the applicable deadline.