Professor Henry H. Perritt, Jr.
Property (Three Hours)
Exam No. _________________
Spring 2009
Time: 1315-1615, 15 May 2009
Chicago-Kent College of
Final Examination in property
Instructions
1. This examination
consists of 4 pages. Please check to make certain you have the complete
examination.
2. Read these instructions carefully and read
each question carefully. Think each problem through before you write and treat
every appropriate issue in each question. Be direct and concise.
3. Answers
will be graded upon the reasons given as well as the conclusions drawn. If
more than one reason is
pertinent to an answer, state every reason.
4. While you have been permitted to bring
materials into the examination room, answering the questions appropriately will
put time pressure on you. You should not do extensive research during the
examination. Credit will be weighted according to the time allocations
shown. Manage your time accordingly.
5. You may decide, in answering one or
more questions, that a complete answer would require legal research. If
this is so, you should identify the specific issue that you would
research. If you have a mastery of the basic concepts, you will be able to
frame research issues very narrowly and precisely.
6. It also may be that more factual
information is required to answer a question. If this is the case, you
should say what factual information is required and why you need it. A
mastery of the underlying concepts will permit you to frame any factual
inquiries very narrowly and link them precisely to the legal issue involved.
7. Organization and clarity are very
important. A shorter answer that is well organized and evidences a clear
understanding of basic concepts and their interrelationships is better than a
long answer with disconnected fragments of information.
8. Do not write outside the margins of your
bluebook pages, but write clearly. If it’s not legible, it will not get
credit.
9. Write your examination number on your
bluebook(s) and on each page of this examination. Do not use your name.
10. When you have finished the examination place it inside your bluebook(s) and deposit them in the appropriate box in the examination room.
MATERIALS WHICH
Any material including any outlines
whether commercially prepared or not, whether accessible by computer or
not. No communication by e-mail, cell phone, voice-over-IP, or any form
of instant- or text-messaging is permitted during the exam.
GOOD LUCK!
QUESTION I
Edwina Burke owns a condominium unit in fee simple absolute. Not having need of it herself, but wanting to keep it for her children, she conveys, through a general warranty deed, an estate in the unit “for the duration of my (Burke’s) life” to Chris Boxer, retaining all the remaining interests. Chris Boxer operates an active blog, on which he expresses himself about various issues of the day, sometimes adding music in the form of .mp3 files attached to a particular entry. He finds that his best work occurs when he smokes weed (marijuana) while he composes. Wanting company (and a source of other recreational substances), he rents one of the four bedrooms in the condo unit to Brad Dozier, who sets up an on-line beer distributorship with the high-bandwidth Internet connection that Boxer pays for. Dozier also operates a methylamphetamine (“meth”) lab in the bathroom connected to his bedroom. His beer and meth sales are quite profitable. He spends all the proceeds.
Buhla Newpup is attracted to Boxer, but Boxer is more attracted to Dozier. Jealous of Dozier, Newpup is in the condo one evening when Boxer is working on entries for his next blog contribution. Boxer is smoking, and Dozier is drinking beer. Before they are too far gone, Boxer recites what he is writing in the blog about the Rule Against Perpetuities being an unnecessary curse inflicted on law students by out-of-touch law professors. While Boxer recites, Dozier hums a pedestrian melody, comprising only the three notes of a rudimentary tonic triad in the basic key of C-major.
Newpup, wishing to curry favor with Boxer, and to embarrass Dozier, secretly records Boxer’s recitation and Dozier’s humming. She posts her recording on YouTube, where anyone can view it for free. There is a huge reaction, surprisingly applauding Dozier’s “song,” and belittling Boxer’s blog content.
Burke hears about Dozier’s activities and hires some former Blackwater tactical force personnel to raid the unit. In their illegal search, they trash not only Dozier’s bedroom and bathroom, but also the remainder of the unit, doing considerable damage, caving in the wallboard with sledgehammers, among other things, generally making it uninhabitable.
A. (20 minutes) Dozier is now in a federal prison. He needs money to pay his lawyer—you. He suggests that you sue Newpup for copyright infringement on his behalf. What are your prospects for success? Explain your legal theory or theories, analyze the facts supporting them, and evaluate probable defenses.
B. (20 minutes) Burke wants to sue Boxer. Suppose you represent her. What legal theories might she assert? What is the probability of success? Explain your legal theory or theories, analyze the facts supporting them, and evaluate probable defenses.
C. (15 minutes) Boxer wants to sue Burke, either in a separate lawsuit or as a counterclaim in her suit against him. Suppose you represent him. Explain your legal theory or theories, analyze the facts supporting them, and evaluate probable defenses.
D. (15 minutes) Suppose, instead of leasing to Dozier, Boxer had conveyed a co-tenancy in the entire premises to him. You represent Boxer in a suit against Dozier. What is the probability of success? Explain your legal theory or theories and, analyze the facts supporting them, and evaluate probable defenses.
E. (15 minutes) Dozier, still in prison, and still a co-tenant, needs more money than he obtained from the copyright action. He hears that Boxer has moved out of the condo and leased it to a substance-abuse rehabilitation service for the remaining term of his (Boxer’s) estate. You represent Dozier in an action against Boxer. What is the probability of success? Explain your legal theory or theories, analyze the facts supporting them, and evaluate probable defenses.
F. (10 minutes) How would your answer to subquestion (E) change if Dozier were still a tenant instead of a co-tenant?
QUESTION II
Braxton White is fascinated by horses and history. He shops
for property on which he can pursue both interests. After a long search, he
identifies Sue English, who owns a large plot of land in the outskirts of
Immediately after his purchase of Eastern Shore Acre, White invites the Kent County, Maryland, equestrian club to play polo games on the property (polo is a game involving horses). The club invests $10,000 in stables and polo apparatus. Unfortunately there is little interest in polo on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the games eventually cease, some eleven years later. At that point, the equestrian club decides to hold ATV races on the property. ATVs are all terrain vehicles powered by gasoline engines rather than horses. The ATV races continue for ten years.
Andrew is long dead. Erin Brunwald is his granddaughter and
succeeded to all of Andrew’s property through a chain of intestate succession.
While doing some genealogical research, she discovers the deed from Claiborne
to English. Desiring to establish a refuge for alligators, she decides to take
over Eastern Shore Acre. She begins construction of a small replica of the
The statute of limitations in
If your answer to one or more of the following subquestions is pertinent to your answer to another, you may incorporate your analysis in the other subquestion by reference.