Administrative Matters

Required Reading:

• 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):
• Joseph William Singer, Property (Aspen Publishers, 3d ed., 2010).

Class Schedule:

• Class will not meet on the following days:
• Tues., Mar. 27
• Thurs., Mar. 29.
• I have scheduled makeup classes on the following days:
• Friday, Feb. 3, 1:20-3:20, Room 207
• Friday, Feb. 10, 10:05-12:05, Room 206
• On Tues., Mar. 13, we will shift our class one hour back to accommodate a special event earlier that morning. We will meet (in Room 207) from 11:00-1:00.

Office Hours and Contact Information:

• Office hours are Thursdays, 3:30-5:30 p.m. My office is McDonough 410.
• You can reach me at 202-662-9871 or jec@law.georgetown.edu.

Faculty Assistant:

• Kathryn Ticknor, 202-662-9401, McDonough 4th floor across from Room 404.

Course Requirements

Final Exam

• The final exam will be an eight-hour take-home exam on Tuesday, May 8.
• The exam will consist of three essay questions, weighted equally.  Two will be traditional, issue-spotter questions. The third will be more policy-oriented, and will ask for your opinion about how a current issue affecting property law should be resolved. I will make old exam questions and answers available online later in the semester. 
• In total, your exam may not exceed 4500 words. Answers exceeding the word limit 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 and/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. 19, I will distribute and post on the courseware site a list with 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. 24.
• 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 your 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 as 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.
• Please feel free to continue class discussions, or start new ones, on the courseware site.

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.