My Two Cents on Changing Times

In this Article, I provide an overview of changes that have taken place at Washington University over the course of his 35 years of tenure, including changes in the curriculum, the makeup of the faculty and student bodies, and the law school building itself

Municipal Boundaries and Zoning: Controlling Regional Land Development

This Article is concerned with the resolution of those problems of urban growth which invariably envelop an entire region. More specifically, it examines the legal machinery, particularly extraterritorial zoning, which has or may be used in accomplishing these objectives and in overcoming the obstacles posed by the proliferation of municipal boundaries

Teaching Teachers About Teaching Students

Teachers are accustomed to teaching students, but experienced teachers must also teach teachers. In some instances, law professors are asked to visit and evaluate the classes of non-tenured colleagues. Often evaluations include advice that is intended to improve the subject’s teaching, and this advice may be the most important component of the total process. More often, perhaps, law professors are asked to mentor young colleagues by the school’s dean or directly by the young colleague herself. Inevitably, such mentoring involves guidance respecting the production of scholarship, but it almost always includes instruction about teaching. What is it that one teacher can and should convey to another, especially when classroom observations suggest problems and a real need for improvement? The temptation is to say: ―Come watch me and do as I do.‖ Yet even when the recipe for success is not this brazen, the package of advice may amount to the same thing, especially when it is replete with specific instruction that invariably begins: ―Here is the way I would do it.‖ Yet is ―do as I do‖ ever a sound approach? If not, what is? Are there any constants to a wise approach to teaching teachers about teaching students? What are the ingredients of successful teaching and can they be taught? This essay examines these questions and attempts to identify some of things that one may do to improve teaching at least around the edges

Debunking the Sanctity of Precedent

This Article addresses the question of how courts should interpret deviant language-language that falls well beyond the parameters of conventional phraseology. This Article concludes that courts should abandon precedent completely in favor of other governing factors-such as intent, custom, fairness and other policy considerations-because the benefits of ad hoc determination far outweigh the costs of inconsistent treatment of such language. To reach this conclusion, Part II first examines what courts actually say and do about deviant language in two illustrative situations, one involving consideration and the other a gift. Part III assesses the importance and value of precedent in these situations. It begins with further analysis of the reasons for interpretive consistency and the circumstances in which adherence to precedent might become important. Within the context of these situations, Part III then examines the impact of ad hoc interpretation of deviant language. Finally, Part IV recommends how courts should interpret deviant language, concluding that most cases should be governed by factors peculiar to the case and not by precedent

A Methodology for Solving Perpetuities Problems Under the Common Law Rule: A Step-by-Step Process That Carefully Identifies All Testing Lives in Being

This Article develops a methodology that attempts to overcome the problems of misunderstanding, indifference, and mismanagement with respect to the common law rule against perpetuities. This Article assumes that, for whatever reason, many lawyers will never truly understand the logic and process of the rule. It is only important, however, that they apply the rule correctly. In short, the methodology is one of technique-it focuses on reaching the right result. It presents a series of ordered questions one must contemplate and answer. For those who do not understand the logic of the rule and the process by which to apply it, the methodology requires an act of faith and adherence much the same as for those of us who had to learn the rules of arithmetic before the advent of the new math

Understanding the Rule against Perpetuities in Relation to the Lawyer\u27s Role - To Construe Or Construct

This Article is about the common law rule against perpetuities and the confusion that exists with respect to the life in being concept. This Article observes that one common and very important pronouncement about the rule, that the life in being can be anyone or any group of people, is really a precept for the creation of interests and not for the interpretation of existing limitations. It observes further that, because the interpretive function is essential to comprehensive and effective planning and drafting, this precept is not enough to create dispositive designs and interests which both achieve planning objectives and satisfy the common law rule

Eroding the Common Law Paradigm for Creation of Property Interests and the Hidden Costs of Law Reform

At the core of property, its ownership, and its concepts, is real estate. Indeed, most of property law has been forged and shaped by the law of real property. Because land lasts forever and so does its history, the marketplace could not function without clarity and stability as to ownership. The last twenty-five to thirty years have, however, produced relatively rapid and even staggering changes in the law of property. Among them is § 2-707 of the Uniform Probate Code (hereinafter referred to as § 2-707). This article focuses and expands upon this transcendent impact. It elaborates how § 2-707 has made a major change in the common law paradigm for creation of property interests. This article predicts that the changes imposed by § 2-707—and any others it might spawn—will inevitably create serious problems because these changes impair a system of expression that is logically sound and has worked successfully for many centuries. In conclusion, it sounds a warning about all law reform and its hidden dangers, especially law reform which reflects the views of a select group, that alters the way lawyers must think, design, and draft

Future Interests and the Myth of the Simple Will: An Approach to Estate Planning—Part One

In reality, the simple estate planning situation is probably nonexistent. The simple will—a document which might contain several uncomplicated provisions—should evolve only after the not-so-obvious has been considered and mastered. This is no easy matter. The purpose of this Article is twofold. First, it attempts to develop and illustrate the nature and importance of the problems which make up this aspect of estate planning. Second, it suggests an approach to the recognition and resolution of these problems