Covers the main issues in property well. The module system allows an instructor to customize the content of their version of the book, provided of course that a module exists. The book does choose to deemphasize certain black-letter/traditional. read more
Reviewed by Zvi Rosen, Assistant Professor, Southern Illinois University Carbondale on 3/1/22
Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less
Covers the main issues in property well. The module system allows an instructor to customize the content of their version of the book, provided of course that a module exists. The book does choose to deemphasize certain black-letter/traditional topics, notably failing to include the rule against perpetuities or mortgages and real estate transactions., and no module exists for these.
Content Accuracy rating: 5
No issues of accuracy as far as I'm aware.
Relevance/Longevity rating: 5
This is designed to be a first-year casebook and serves up exactly what is expected. While some small part may become less relevant (the mortgage crisis of 2008 is increasingly a memory), much of this is core material that's been taught for decades, if not centuries.
Clarity rating: 5
The book does a good job explaining the material presented.
Consistency rating: 4
The book is the product of numerous authors for different modules and although it's more consistent than you might expect given that there are inevitable seams.
Modularity rating: 5
An obvious strength of the book given that it's entirely organized around modules.
Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4
An adopter of the text case use one of the "builds" of the book, or build their own. As such organization is mostly up to the instructor unless using a build. I use the Sheff build, which is pretty good, but I do supplement.
Interface rating: 4
Modules are hosted on Drobox, which is fine, but not the cleanest solution. Actual documents are fine.
Grammatical Errors rating: 5
Cultural Relevance rating: 5
The book takes on the complex history of property in America head-on, discussing Johnson v. M'Intosh, redlining/restrictive covenants, and more. The coverage of these issues is thorough.
Students seem to like the book too, it's nice to get a high-quality resource for free.
Open Source Property: A Free Casebook is a free resource for instructors and students of the first-year Property Law course at American law schools, and anyone else with an interest in the subject.
Stephen Clowney: I’m a law professor at the University of Arkansas. I write primarily about property but also work on land use, social norms, race, and trusts & estates. Before moving to Arkansas, I taught for six years at the University of Kentucky.
I hold a J.D. from Yale University and an A.B. from Princeton University. At Yale, I was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and editor-in-chief of the Yale Law & Policy Review.
Prior to entering academia, I served as a Law Clerk in the Chambers of the Hon. Ruggero J. Aldisert, in Santa Barbara, California. I have also worked as a legal consultant in Hawaii, a college admissions officer, and a gravedigger.
James Grimmelmann: I’m the Tessler Family Professor of Digital and Information Law at Cornell Tech and Cornell Law School. I study how laws regulating software affect freedom, wealth, and power. I try to help lawyers and technologists understand each other by writing about digital copyright, search engines, privacy on social networks, online governance, and other topics in computer and Internet law.
I tweet @grimmelm and blog at The Laboratorium.
Michael Grynberg joined the College of Law in 2012 after teaching at the Oklahoma City University School of Law. Professor Grynberg's research focuses on intellectual property law. Before beginning his teaching career, he practiced appellate and telecommunications law in Washington D.C. Prior to that, he clerked for the Honorable Edward R. Becker, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. Professor Grynberg graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was an articles editor on the Virginia Law Review. He received his BA from Carleton College.
