Here's the full report from David Morrill about the 21st Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference earlier this month. Pictured above: Professor James Stern (responsible for the overall planning of the B-K Conference), this year's Prizewinner Professor Lee Fennell (U. Chicago Law School), and Andrew Brigham, St. Augustine, Florida - property rights lawyer extraordinaire).
Here are what Prof. Fennell had to say:
Upon accepting the Property Rights Prize, Fennell said that spending time in myriad places through the years piqued her interest in how property can work better for complex systems like large and interconnected cities and ecosystems. In the process, she tried to learn more about what sorts of interconnectedness matter most for humans and other animals, and what forms of adaptability and property forms can best serve needs going forward.“We can’t make any headway on property as an institutional response to interdependent systems without practicing interdependence ourselves, getting together and sharing knowledge and ideas,” Fennell said. “And I can’t imagine any better place to do that than at this conference, which throws together a bunch of people who can’t get property out of their systems.”
Fennell said she was “incredibly honored, amazed, and delighted” to be receiving the Brigham-Kanner Prize. “It’s an astonishing privilege to be joining the ranks of all of the esteemed past winners and all of the esteemed future winners of this wonderful award, and I am so grateful to be celebrating with all of you in this incredibly old room.”
The week also included several student-oriented programs, including visits to our two classes (Land Use, and Eminent Domain and Property Rights) by property law practitioners from across the country, to discuss a variety of topics with students, including careers in property law, pathways to practice, and public service vs private practice.
Kady Valois (Pacific Legal Foundation, FL),
Randy Smith (Smith & Fawer, LA),
and Elizabeth Sockwell (W&M Law JD 2023)
(Miller Miller & Canby, MD) discuss "Pathways to Practice"
Jeremy Hopkins (Cranfill Sumner, NC) speaks to our Eminent Domain
class about how and why he chose property rights lawyering
as a career, and how students can enter that profession
if they have similar desires.
Steve Davis, who is now a public-interest lawyer (PLF),
but who also has a varied background in public service (AUSA),
private practice (True North Law), and as legislative counsel,
speaks about the differences between these pathways in the profession.
Xijia Yuan (Troutman Pepper, VA) (and a former student of ours)
discussed with our Land Use class the excitement of
being a transactional real estate attorney. There are multiple
paths in Dirt Law, and lawyers are not limited to courtroom advocacy.
Heather Cunningham (Owners' Counsel of America, ID), speaks about
her time in a smaller, rural private firm, and her current role
as Executive Director of a non-profit.
Andrew Brigham (Brigham Property Rights Law Firm, FL) chats with
Land Use students about ways to enter the Dirt Law Bar, and why he
loves a property law practice.
We're thankful that real, live, practicing lawyers (including two W&M Law
alums (Brett Tensfeld, JD 2016), and Xijia Yuan (JD 2022) took the time
to come our classes to talk about what its really like in the Dirt Law trenches.
