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 17th
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 18th
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:
- Greg Alexander
- Bethany Berger
- Robert Merges
Participants
Gregory Alexander, Cornell
José Argueta Funes, Berkeley
Bernadette Atuahene, USC
Bethany Berger, Iowa
Yun-chein Chang, Cornell
Eric Claeys, George Mason
Hanoch Dagan, Berkeley
David Dana, Northwestern
Seth Davis, Berkeley
Diana DiGennaro, Berkeley
Danielle D’Onfro, WashU
Rashmi Dyal-Chand, Northeastern
Mark Gergen, Berkeley
Xiaoqian Hu, Arizona
Nadiyah Humber, Connecticut
John Infranca, Suffolk
Randall Johnson, UMKC
Ela Leshem, Fordham
Daphna Lewinsohn-Zamir, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem
Adam MacLeod, St. Mary’s
Robert Merges, Berkeley
Tim Mulvaney, Texas A&M
Tejas Narechania, Berkeley
K-Sue Park, UCLA
Claire Priest, Yale
Anna di Robilant, Boston
Christopher Serkin, Vanderbilt
Nadav Shoked, Northwestern
Emily Stolzenberg, Villanova
Talha Syed, Berkeley
Mateo Taussig-Rubbo, Buffalo
Molly van Houweling, Berkeley
Jack Whiteley, Minnesota
Lua Kamal Yuille, Northeastern
Conference Papers
Papers can only be accessed with a password. Please click the page above to access the papers.
