Property Works in Progress

Berkeley Center for Private Law Theory logo

October 17-18, 2025

About the Conference

“Property Works in Progress” brings together leading property scholars who are invited to present and discuss papers on a variety of topics, including property theory, land use, takings, the history of property law and intellectual property. It features seven panels devoted to the discussion of advanced “works in progress” and two roundtables on “early-stage” ideas.

Organizing Committee

Rashmi Dyal-Chand
Professor of Law; Vice Provost for Academic and Faculty Administration
Northeastern University

Nestor Davidson
Albert A. Walsh Chair in Real Estate, Land Use, and Property Law
Fordham Law

Anna di Robilant
Professor of Law
Boston University

Hanoch Dagan
Elizabeth J. Boalt Distinguished Professor of Law and Founding Director, Berkeley Center for Private Law Theory
Berkeley Law

Program

TBD

Agenda

Friday, October 17^th

Location: Berkeley Law, Warren Room 295

8:00 – 8:45 a.m. – Breakfast

8:45 – 9:00 a.m. – Introductions

9:00 – 10:20 a.m. – Works in Progress Session One

Moderator: Hanoch Dagan

Panelists:

Robert Merges, Peripheral Liability in Patent Law: Restitution and the Doctrine of Equivalents. Comments by Molly Van Houweling.
Talha Syed, Intellectual Property as Market Power. Comments by Eric Claeys.

10:20 – 10:30 a.m. – Break

10:30 – 11:50 a.m. – Works in Progress Session Two

Moderator: Chris Serkin

Panelists:

José Argueta Funes, Origin Stories in Property Law. Comments by Anna di Robilant.
Daphna Lewinsohn-Zamir, Harnessing the Identifiability Effect to Enhance Public Support for Redistributive Taxes. Comments by Lua K.Yuille.

11:50 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Break

12:00– 1:00 p.m. – Early Stage Roundtables (I) (sessions running concurrently)

Session A – Warren Room 295

Moderator: Anna di Robilant

Panelists:

Ela Leshem, Law’s Shifting Circles
Danielle D’Onfro – Property After General Law

Session B – Goldberg Room, 297

Moderator: Nadav Shoked

Panelists:

John Infranca –Property Rights Rhetoric and Zoning Reform Debates
Claire Priest –From Housing to Capital Creation and writing The Other Path in Peru, 1979-1988

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. – Lunch

2:00 – 3:20 p.m. – Works in Progress Session Three

Moderator: Greg Alexander

Panelists:

Bethany Berger, Sewers, Septic, and Segregation. Comments by Chris Serkin.
Bernadette Atuahene, Justice Lockout. Comments by Rashmi Dyal-Chand.

3:20 – 3:30 p.m. – Break

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.– Early Stage Roundtables (II) (sessions run concurrently)

Session A – Warren Room 295

Moderator: David Dana

Panelists:

Nadiyah Humber – Digital Habitability – A Third Generation of Tenant Protections
Mateo Taussig-Rubbo – Property Rites and Rituals: Reflections on Land Acknowledgements

Session B – Goldberg Room, 297

Moderator: Lua Yuille

Panelists:

Randall Johnson – Toys as Evidence
Tim Mulvaney, Property Rhetoric in the Contemporary Property Tax Revolt

6:30 p.m. – Conference Dinner at Gather

Saturday, October 18^th

Location: Faculty Club, Seaborg Room

8:15 – 9:00 a.m. – Breakfast

9:00 – 10:20 a.m. – Works in Progress Session Four

Moderator: Rashmi Dyal-Chand

Panelists:

Yun-chien Chang, A Complex Systems Theory of Trust Law. Comments by Adam MacLeod.
Emily Stolzenberg, Children as Non-owners in U.S. Domestic Relations and Inheritance Law. Comments by Greg Alexander.

10:20 – 10:30 a.m. – Break

10:30 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. – Works in Progress Session Five

Moderator: Mark Gergen

Panelists:

Jack Whiteley, Property, the State, and the Fur Trade. Comments by David Dana
K-Sue Park, Who Owns Property in America? Title Registries and the Governance Challenges of Anonymous Ownership. Comments by Nadav Shoked.

11:50– 1:00 p.m. –Lunch

1:00 – 2:30 p.m. –Author Meets Readers Panel

Author: Eric Claeys, Natural Property Rights (CUP 2025)

Moderator: Adam MacLeod

Panelists: