To Sign On

1. To Sign On http://www.blackboard.com/courses/91_132

2. Http://www.blackboard.com

3. Pierson v. Post

4. Can you identify Pierson and Post?

5. Tally Ho! The Breakfast Toast

6. Pierson v. Post • Action of trespass on the case • Post, with dogs and hounds, chases a fox on a beach. • While hunting the fox, Pierson, knowing Post was hunting the fox, shoots and kills the fox • Post sues Pierson • Verdict for Post • Pierson seeks writ of certiorari

7. State v. Shaw • Facts: • State appeals the acquittal of the defendant in a criminal trial • Defendant charged with theft of fish that were in the possession of Grow and Hough • Grow and Hough had set nets with an opening through which fish entered but could also exit. • Defendants apparently took both the fish and the nets • Issue: • Were the fish in the possession of Grow and Hough such that defendant’s taking of the fish was theft?

8. The Law of Finders • A finder has good title against all the world but the true owner • Is this true, consider the next case Armory v. Delamarie

9. Favorite v. Miller • Miller without permission entered on to Favorite’s land and found the head from the statue of George III • Miller agreed to sell the head to the Museum of the City of New York, which is withholding the purchase price pending outcome of this suit • Favorite claims title to the property as owner of the locus in quo

10. Favorite v. Miller • At common law, how might lost property have been classified? • Lost • Mislaid • Abandoned • Treasure Trove • How are each of these distinguished? • What criteria is used to determine into which of these categories the found property fits? • Intent of the person who lost it.

11. Favorite v. Miller • How is the property in this case classified? • If classified as lost, shouldn’t the finder win? • Public land • Private land • Not reward a trespasser

12. Benjamin v. Lindner Aviation, Inc. • What are the facts of this case? • How is this case different from the other cases we have discussed? • Should that difference make a difference? • What about the court’s argument regarding the legislature’s intent?

13. Hurley v. City of Niagara Falls, New York • What are the facts of this case? • What does the NY Statute provide that is relevant to the outcome of this case? • How do the majority at the Appellate Division and the dissenters at the Court of Appeal differ regarding the interpretation of the New York statute? • Who, in your opinion, has the better of the argument?

14. Test Your Skills • O owns a watch, but loses it. A finds the watch, but loses it. B finds the watch • If A sues B who wins? • Now suppose A steals the watch from O and then loses it. B finds the watch • A sues B, who wins? • What if B stole the watch from A. • A, the thief, sues B the thief. Who wins?

15. White v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc. • What are the facts? • Here again we have multiple opinions in the same case. How do the judges differ?

17. White v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc. • Defendant uses the plaintiff’s identity • Defendant appropriates plaintiff’s name or likeness to defendant’s advantage • Lack of consent • Injury • Majority sees point two as merely illustrative of type of appropriation that results in use of plaintiff’s identity • Dissent sees majority as expanding, inappropriately, the right of persons to claim property interest in a character, not themselves

18. Mario Zacchini on right Died at age 87 The Human Cannonball

19. Kass v. Kass • What are the facts of this case? • What does the court hold? • Should people be free to enter into contracts regarding their embryos? • To what extent does the court view an embryo as “property” • If the embryo were brought to term, should the biological father be liable for child support?

20. Property in Body Parts • To what extent would deposited sperm or eggs remain the property of the depositor? • To what extent do you have a “property right” in your organs? • To what extent do you (or another) have a property right in your body?

21. The Law of Gifts-The Operative Principles • Intent • Delivery • Actual • Symbolic (Letter etc.) • Constructive (keys) • To Donee • To Third party • As agent • As trustee • Acceptance (Presumed)

22. Gruen v. Gruen • What are the facts of this case? • What was the precise nature of the gift?

23. Attributes of ownership (sticks in the bundle of property rights): Right to possess Right to sell Right to mortgage Right to gift Right to bequest O

24. O conveys to A for life, then to B

25. Attributes of ownership (sticks in the bundle of property rights): Right to possess Present Interest A Future Interest B

26. Attributes of ownership (sticks in the bundle of property rights): Right to possess Right to sell Right to mortgage Right to gift Right to bequest B

27. Gruen v. Gruen • What was Gruen’s lawyer’s concerns? • How did the lawyer purport to resolve those concerns? • Why didn’t these actions taint the gift? • What kind of delivery was made in this case? • Was it sufficient to make a gift?

28. Problems • 5-9 on page 127

29. Foster v. Reiss • What are the facts of this case? • Does the majority dispute intent, delivery or acceptance? • What about the minority? • Where is the point of departure?