Law School to Host 11th Annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference Oct. 30-31

  • Oct. 30-31
    Oct. 30-31  During the event, attorney Michael M.Berger of Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips will be honored with the 2014 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize.  
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William & Mary Law School will host the 11th Annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference on Oct. 30-31. During the conference, Michael M. Berger, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips, will be honored by the William & Mary Property Rights Project with the 2014 Brigham-Kanner Prize. The prize is awarded in recognition of scholarly or professional achievements that affirm the importance of property rights to individual liberty. Berger is the first practicing lawyer to receive the prize and is considered by his peers to be among the best takings lawyers in the nation.

The conference will include panels on the role of the advocate in defining property, the resurgence of property principles under the Fourth Amendment, balancing private property and community rights, and property rights in developing and transitional democracies.

View the brochure.

"We are delighted, once again, to bring together leading property law scholars and practitioners to discuss property rights in both a national and international context," said William & Mary Chancellor Professor of Law Lynda L. Butler, director of the Property Rights Project. "The occasion also gives us the chance," she said, "to honor Michael M. Berger, who is truly one of the most respected advocates in the field."

The Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize is named in recognition of Toby Prince Brigham and Gideon Kanner for their lifetime contributions to private property rights and their efforts to advance the constitutional protection of property. Previous prize recipients include Professor Frank I. Michelman of Harvard University (2004), Professor Richard A. Epstein of the University of Chicago (2005), Professor James W. Ely, Jr. of Vanderbilt University (2006), Professor Margaret Jane Radin of the University of Michigan (2007), Robert C. Ellickson of Yale University (2008), Richard E. Pipes of Harvard University (2009), Carol M. Rose of the University of Arizona (2010), retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (2011), Professor James E. Krier of the University of Michigan (2012), and Professor Thomas W. Merrill of Columbia Law School (2013).

Conference Co-Chair Joseph T. Waldo, a partner and president of Waldo & Lyle in Norfolk, Va., said the annual gathering grew from the idea that it was vital to provide a forum in which academic experts and practitioners meet and share the theory and practices regarding the importance of property rights.

Waldo said Berger has had a tremendous impact on the field during his distinguished career. "Practitioners shape the law by selecting and litigating cases that will advance causes and positions important to society," Waldo said. "Mike Berger's career demonstrates a successful practice in which he has shaped the law at the highest levels of both state and federal court.  His practice, scholarship, publications, and teaching make his recognition as the 2014 Brigham-Kanner Prize recipient well deserved."

Panelists include:

Fabio Arcila, Jr., Touro Law Center

Michael M. Berger, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, Los Angeles, Calif.

Dana Berliner, Institute for Justice, Arlington, Va.

James S. Burling, Pacific Legal Foundation, Sacramento,
Calif.

Lynda L. Butler, William & Mary Law School

David L. Callies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law

Morgan Cloud, Emory University

Steven J. Eagle, George Mason University School of Law

James W. Ely, Jr., Vanderbilt University

Richard A. Epstein, New York University School of Law, The Hoover Institution, and The University of Chicago

Janet Bush Handy, Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Baltimore, Md.

Orin S. Kerr, The George Washington University Law School

James E. Krier, University of Michigan

Thomas W. Merrill, Columbia Law School

Marc R. Poirier, Seton Hall University School of Law

Weixing Shen, Tsinghua University School of Law, Beijing, China

James Y. Stern, William & Mary Law School

Herbert W. Titus, William J. Olson, P.C., Vienna, Va.

Joseph T. Waldo, Waldo & Lyle, P.C., Norfolk, Va.

Christie Warren, William & Mary Law School

The conference panels on October 31 are free and open to the public. CLE credit is pending. Registration and a $50 fee are required for printed materials, meals, and CLE credit.  Law students with advanced registration can enjoy materials and meals that day at no cost. 

To register or for more information, please call Kathy Burger at (757) 221-3796 (or email [[w|lsdevl]]).

About William & Mary Law School

Thomas Jefferson founded William & Mary Law School in 1779 to train leaders for the new nation. Now in its third century, America's oldest law school continues its historic mission of educating citizen lawyers who are prepared both to lead and to serve.