Professor David L. Callies to be Honored with Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize in October
Accolades
Professor Callies' peers have hailed him as "one of the brightest stars in the constitutional property rights firmament" and as representing "the best of the law's academic and practice sides."
The prize is named in honor of the lifetime contributions to property rights of Toby Prince Brigham and Gideon Kanner, and is presented annually to a scholar, practitioner or jurist whose work affirms the fundamental importance of property rights.
A prolific scholar whose work explores land use, property, and state and local government law, Callies has lectured around the world and authored or collaborated on about 90 articles and 20 books. He has been a member of the prestigious American Law Institute since 1990 and is the Benjamin A. Kudo Professor of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Prior to entering academia, he was an attorney in private practice and an assistant state’s attorney.
Lynda L. Butler, Chancellor Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School and director of the school’s Property Rights Project, noted that the annual Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference has been held outside the United States twice in its history, in China and in The Hague. As an attorney in Chicago and later as a professor, Callies established himself as a leading expert on land use and development, said Butler. His research interests have become truly international in scope over his distinguished career, she added, and have encompassed land use control, eminent domain and sustainable development in numerous countries.
Michael M. Berger, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, received the Brigham-Kanner Prize in 2014 and said Callies is “one of the brightest stars in the constitutional property rights firmament.” His lengthy academic career, Berger said, “has been festooned with scholarly explorations of property law that have enriched the scholarly literature and influenced the way that courts have viewed the law. When I learned that he was to be this year’s honoree, all I could do was cheer.”
Callies is renowned as a “scholar, teacher, lawyer, mentor,” according to Robert H. Thomas, who is an attorney and director at Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert in Honolulu. “For four decades, David Callies has shaped property law, and the practice of property law, as a legal scholar, practitioner, and advocate,” he said. “Professor Callies has devoted his career to a search for understanding the deeper meaning of what it means to own property, and the relationship between property rights and individual liberties. His work has also integrated property law's traditions with more modern concepts such as environmental concerns and the public trust. A truly deserving prizewinner, David Callies represents the best of the law’s academic and practice sides."
Joseph T. Waldo, co-chair of the coordinating committee for the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, is a 1978 graduate of William & Mary Law School and partner and president at Waldo & Lyle, P.C., in Norfolk, Virginia.
Callies, said Waldo, “is a remarkable professor. Having risen from the ranks of private practice, government attorney and finally professor of law, he brings a unique perspective and vantage point to property and takings law. Professor Callies’ scholarly work alone distinguishes his career as advancing property rights’ importance in our society and focusing on the role property rights plays in honoring human dignity and ensuring liberty.”
Callies’ previous recognitions include The Owners’ Counsel of America’s Crystal Eagle Award, the Lambda Alpha International Member of the Year Award, and the Jefferson Fordham Lifetime Achievement Award, which is conferred by the ABA’s Section of State and Local Government Law.
The Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize, which has been awarded annually since 2004, honors the work of Toby Prince Brigham, founding partner of Brigham Moore, LLP, and Gideon Kanner, professor of law emeritus at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Previous recipients include Professor Frank I. Michelman of Harvard University (2004), Professor Richard Epstein of the New York University School of Law (2005), Professor James W. Ely, Jr., of Vanderbilt University (2006), Professor Margaret Jane Radin of the University of Michigan Law School (2007), Professor Robert C. Ellickson of Yale Law School (2008), Professor Richard E. Pipes of Harvard University (2009), Professor Carol Rose of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (2010), retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (2011), Professor James E. Krier of the University of Michigan Law School (2012), Professor Thomas W. Merrill of Columbia Law School (2013), Michael M. Berger of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (2014), Professor Joseph William Singer of Harvard Law School (2015), and Hernando de Soto, president of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (Lima, Peru) (2016).
To request a brochure about the Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Conference, or for more information about the event, please email Ali Trivette at [[w|mtrivette]] or call (757) 221-7466. Visit the conference website.
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