Property, Intellectual Property, & Real Estate Law

Practice what's necessary to succeed in a growing field

The Moritz College of Law prepares students interested in property and real estate law by exposing them to both an academic foundation and hands-on training. The course offerings spread across several areas of property, intellectual property, and real estate law.

Moritz's Property course is a mandatory part of the first-year curriculum for all students. The course is a survey designed to explore the concept that "property" is not a thing, but rather "denotes legal relations between persons with respect to a thing." The traditional property course leads into a wealth of offerings for students interested in real estate development, and other property issues.

Upper-level property concepts are discussed in the Intellectual Property courses. Intellectual property is concerned with the nature and extent to which the law protects a product of intellectual labor – including music, industrial design, slogans and phrases, art and other fields that benefit from copyright, trademarks and patents.

In the upper-level curriculum, a number of courses build on the Property foundation with regard to real estate. These include Real Estate Transactions, Real Estate Finance, Landlord-Tenant Law, Land Use Planning and Government Regulation and Eminent Domain.

Other groups of upperlevel property courses involve wills, trusts, and estates. Another course in the upper-class curriculum that may be of particular interest to the property law practitioner is Environmental Law, which is a survey course of U.S. environmental law, covering topics including environmental assessment, clean air, clean water, waste management, and endangered species.

Real estate and development law is a dynamic and growing practice area, and Moritz students have an unprecedented opportunity to get first-hand experience. The College offers an innovative, hands-on Real Estate Development Law course that is routinely praised by both students and potential employers. The course mixes simulated negotiations, city council meetings, and real estate deals to provide students the practical experience and knowledge that real estate development firms and law firms are seeking.

The program fills a niche of providing hands-on learning in real estate development law and deals that American law schools often miss.

The ground-breaking course is different than traditional law courses in that it places students in the middle of simulated real estate deals. Students learn about the business, how to effectively represent their clients, and what to expect once they graduate. The course uses a case study approach, which emphasizes the needs of the client at each stage of the real estate development process (beginning with the initial tying up of the project site through the ultimate sale of the developed project).

Moritz students also recently started the College's first Real Estate Law Association. The group hopes to further discussion on the area of law, draw interesting speakers regarding real estate law, and host thought-provoking programming.