Annual Meeting project
Restatement of the Law Fourth,

Property

This Restatement seeks to bring comprehensiveness and coherence to American property law. Subjects to be covered include the classification of entitlements, possession, accession, and acquisition; ownership powers; protection of and limits on ownership; divided and shared ownership; title and transfer; easements, servitudes, and land use; and public rights and takings.
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At its January 2024 meeting, the Council approved Council Draft No. 9, containing Sections from Volume 4, Division III on Leasing and Volume 5, Division II on Contracts for Purchase and Sale of Present Estates in Real Property.

At its October 2023 meeting, the Council approved Council Draft No. 8, which contained §§ 2.1-2.19 of Chapter 2, Adverse Possession, of Division II, Possession, of Volume 1 on The Basics of Property.

At the 2023 Annual Meeting, the membership voted to approve Tentative Draft No. 4 through Volume 7, Division 1, Chapter 5. There was insufficient time to discuss Chapters 6 and 7 of Volume 7, Division I. A motion to amend §1.2A of Volume 2, Division I, Chapter 1 was withdrawn after Reporters presented edits to §1.2A in response to the motion.

At the 2022 Annual Meeting, the membership voted to approve Tentative Draft No. 3, which includes material from Volumes 2, 3, 4, and 7 on Nuisance, Bailments, The Estate System and Related Matters, and Zoning, Planning, and Subdivision: Volume 2, Interferences with, and Limits on, Ownership and Possession: Division One, Property Torts, Chapter 2, Private Nuisance; Prima Facie Case, Topic 1, Private Nuisance, Generally (§§ 2.1 to 2.4); Volume 3, Powers and Duties Associated with Ownership: Division Three, Bailments (§§ 1 to 16); Volume 4, Divided and Shared Ownership: Division One, The Estate System, Chapter 1, Forms of Ownership (§§ 1.1 to 1.3), Chapter 2, Present Interests: Classification (§§ 2.1 to 2.6), Chapter 3, Future Interests: Classification (§§ 3.1 to 3.5), Chapter 4, Maintaining and Simplifying the Estate System (§§ 4.1 to 4.6), and Chapter 5, Waste (§§ 5.1 to 5.2); Volume 7, Land Use: Division One, Zoning, Chapter 1, The Roots of Zoning (§§ 1.1 to 1.4), Chapter 2, Fundamental Concepts (§§ 2.1 to 2.6), Chapter 3, Regulating Land Use, Structures, and Lots (§§ 3.1 to 3.4); Division Two, Planning (§§ 1 to 3); and Division Three, Subdivision (§§ 1 to 5).

At the 2021 Annual Meeting, the membership voted to approve Tentative Draft No. 2, which contains material from Volumes 1, 2, and 3 on Possession, Trespass to Land, and Bailments: Volume 1, The Basics of Property: Division Two, Possession, Chapter 1, Possession (§§ 1.1, 1.8); Volume 2, Interferences with, and Limits on, Ownership and Possession: Division One, Property Torts, Chapter 1, Trespass to Land, Topic 1, Trespass to Land (§§ 1.1, 1.3-1.5); and Volume 3, Powers and Duties Associated with Ownership: Division Three, Bailments (§§ 1, 2).

All draft approvals are subject to the discussion at the meeting and usual editorial prerogative.

For an in-depth description of this project, please visit the Property page of The ALI Adviser.

Reporter
Henry E. Smith Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA
Associate Reporters
Molly E. Brady Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA
Sara C. Bronin Cornell Law School
Ithaca, NY
Richard R. W. Brooks New York University School of Law
New York, NY
Yun-Chien Chang Cornell Law School
Ithaca, NY
R. Wilson Freyermuth University of Missouri School of Law
Columbia, MO
John C.P. Goldberg Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA
Brian A. Lee Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn, NY
Thomas W. Merrill Columbia Law School
New York, NY
Christopher M. Newman George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Arlington, VA
Consultant
Susan F. French University of California, Los Angeles School of Law
Marina del Rey, CA
Lawrence W. Waggoner University of Michigan Law School
Ann Arbor, MI
Advisers
Vicki Lynn Been New York University School of Law
New York, NY
Michael M. Berger Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
Los Angeles, CA
Andre G. Bouchard Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Wilmington, DE
Michael K. Brown Brown Gee & Wenger LLP
Walnut Creek, CA
José A. Cabranes U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
New Haven, CT
David L. Callies University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law
Honolulu, HI
John G. Cameron, Jr. Dickinson Wright PLLC
Grand Rapids, MI
Robert L. Carter Supreme Court of Illinois (Retired)
Rock Island, IL
Eric R. Claeys George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Arlington, VA
Geoffrey W. Crawford U.S. District Court, District of Vermont
Burlington, VT
Judith C. Cutler Land Court Department of the Trial Court (Retired)
Tiverton, RI
Robert C. Ellickson Yale Law School
New Haven, CT
Thomas P. Gallanis George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Arlington, VA
Todd R. Geremia Jones Day
New York, NY
Steven G. Horowitz Cleary Gottlieb
New York, NY
Keith N. Hylton Boston University School of Law
Boston, MA
David James Kappos Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
New York, NY
Daniel B. Kelly Notre Dame Law School
Notre Dame, IN
Donald J. Kochan George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
Arlington, VA
Nicole L. Kuenzi California State Water Resources Control Board
Sacramento, CA
Lance Liebman Columbia Law School
New York, NY
John A. Lovett Loyola University New Orleans College of Law
New Orleans, LA
Julia D. Mahoney University of Virginia School of Law
Charlottesville, VA
Tanya D. Marsh Wake Forest University School of Law
Winston-Salem, NC
John F. K. Oberdiek Rutgers Law School
Camden, NJ
Eduardo Peñalver Seattle University
Seattle, WA
Daniel B. Rodriguez Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Chicago, IL
Carol Marguerite Rose Yale Law School (Retired)
New Haven, CT
Zachary C. Schauf Jenner & Block LLP
Washington, DC
Michael A. Scodro Mayer Brown LLP
Chicago, IL
Lindsay S. See Office of the West Virginia Attorney General
Charleston, WV
Randall T. Shepard Indiana University, Robert H. McKinney School of Law
Indianapolis, IN
Kathleen Smalley Los Angeles, CA
Craig Sonnenschein UpRight Law
Chicago, IL
Stephen Spitz Charleston, SC
Laura Denvir Stith Supreme Court of Missouri
Kansas City, MO
Molly S. Van Houweling University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Berkeley, CA
Joseph T. Waldo Waldo & Lyle, PC
Norfolk, VA
S. Albert Wang Halpern May Ybarra Gelberg LLP
Los Angeles, CA
Steven O. Weise Proskauer Rose LLP
Los Angeles, CA
Daryl L. Wiesen Goodwin Procter LLP
Boston, MA
Katrina M. Wyman New York University School of Law
New York, NY
Benjamin C. Zipursky Fordham University School of Law
New York, NY
Social Science Advisory Panel
Lee Alston Indiana University Bloomington
Bloomington, IN
Benito Arrunada Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain
William A. Fischel Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
Edward Glaeser Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Stephen Haber Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Zorina Khan Bowdoin College
Brunswick, ME
Gary Libecap Bren School of Environmental Science & Management
Santa Barbara, CA
International Advisory Panel
Bram Akkermans Maastricht University
Maastricht MD, Netherlands
Lisa Austin University of Toronto
Toronto, ON, Canada
Michael Bridge The London School of Economics and Political Science
London, United Kingdom
Christopher Essert University of Toronto
Toronto, ON, Canada
Christian Heinze Heidelberg University
Heidelberg, Germany
Larissa Katz University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Toronto, Canada
Björn Laukemann Max Planck Institute Luxembourg
Kirchberg, Luxembourg
Ben McFarlane University College London Law
London, England
Donal Nolan University of Oxford, Worcester College
Oxford, England
James Penner National University of Singapore
Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Peter Turner University of Melbourne Law School
Melbourne, Australia
Sjef van Erp University of Amsterdam
Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
Sarah Worthington University of Cambridge Faculty of Law
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Members Consultative Group
Kristen David Adams Stetson University College of Law
Gulfport, FL
Jonathan H. Adler Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Cleveland, OH
Jerry L. Anderson Drake University Law School
Des Moines, IA
José F. Anderson University of Baltimore School of Law
Baltimore, MD
Christopher Edward Appel Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Washington, DC
William G. Arnot, III Law Offices of William G. Arnot
Houston, TX
Ronald G. Aronovsky Southwestern Law School
Los Angeles, CA
Lynn A. Baker University of Texas School of Law
Austin, TX
Dabney Dorsett Bassel Texas Second Court of Appeals
Fort Worth, TX
Jeffrey A. Beaver Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP
Seattle, WA
Ira Mark Bloom Albany Law School
Albany, NY
Joseph B. Bluemel Third Judicial District Court
Kemmerer, WY
Daniel B. Bogart Chapman University, Dale E. Fowler School of Law
Orange, CA
Willard L. Boyd III Nyemaster Goode, PC
Des Moines, IA
Charles H. Brower II Wayne State University Law School
Detroit, MI
Ann M. Burkhart University of Minnesota Law School
Minneapolis, MN
K. King Burnett Webb Burnett Cornbrooks (Retired)
Stow, MA
Timothy W. Burns Burns Bair LLP
Madison, WI
John P. Burton Rodey, Dickason, Sloan, Akin & Robb, P.A.
Santa Fe, NM
J. Brett Busby Supreme Court of Texas
Austin, TX
Lynda L. Butler William & Mary Law School
Williamsburg, VA
Alejandro E. Camacho University of California, Irvine School of Law
Irvine, CA
W. Jonathan Cardi Wake Forest University School of Law
Winston-Salem, NC
Steve Charnovitz George Washington University Law School
Washington, DC
Ronald Chester New England Law School of Law
Boston, MA
Cynthia K. Ching Department of Corporation Counsel, City and County of Honolulu
Honolulu, HI
Stephen Yee Chow Stephen Y. Chow, PC
Boston, MA
Penelope L. Christophorou Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
New York, NY
Neil B. Cohen Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn, NY
Kevin L. Cole University of San Diego School of Law
San Diego, CA
Jorge L. Contreras University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law
Salt Lake City, UT
Karen Czapanskiy University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law
Baltimore, MD
Rueben C. Cásarez Wells Fargo & Co. (Retired)
Evergreen, CO
Christopher Scott D'Angelo Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, LLP
Philadelphia, PA
Camille Davidson Southern Illinois University School of Law
Carbondale, IL
Anthony M. DiLeo Anthony M. DiLeo, APC
New Orleans, LA
Nikola R. Djuric Djuric Spratt P.A.
Atlanta, GA
Just. James J. Edelman High Court of Australia
Canberra, Australia
David M. English University of Missouri School of Law
Columbia, MO
Dave Fagundes University of Houston Law Center
Houston, TX
Manuel Farach Mrachek, Fitzgerald, Rose, Konopka,Thomas & Weiss, P.A.
West Palm Beach, FL
Richard G. Feder Philadelphia, PA
James A. Feldman James A. Feldman, Attorney at Law
Washington, DC
Kimberly Kessler Ferzan University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Philadelphia, PA
Arthur Norman Field Field Consulting Services LLC
New York, NY
Joseph Z. Fleming Joseph Z. Fleming P.A.
Miami, FL
Theodore J. Folkman Rubin & Rudman LLP
Boston, MA
Julia P. Forrester Rogers Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law
Dallas, TX
Gregory R. Fox Lane Powell PC
Seattle, WA
Kenneth S. Gallant University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law (Retired)
Sequim, WA
Marvin Garfinkel Gladwyne, PA
Mark P. Gergen University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Berkeley, CA
Joseph M. Getty Supreme Court of Maryland
Annapolis, MD
Donald G. Gifford University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law
Baltimore, MD
Philip S. Goldberg Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Washington, DC
Michael S. Goodrich Decker Jones, P.C.
Fort Worth, TX
Michael D. Green Washington University School of Law
Saint Louis, MO
Charles E. Griffin Butler Snow LLP
Ridgeland, MS
Katheleen R. Guzman University of Oklahoma College of Law
Norman, OK
Anton G. Hajjar Chevy Chase, MD
W. Scott Hastings Locke Lord LLP
Dallas, TX
Paul T. Hayden Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Gregory Alan Hicks University of Washington School of Law
Seattle, WA
Roger F. Holmes Biss & Holmes
Anchorage, AK
Kathleen J. Hopkins Real Property Law Group PLLC
Seattle, WA
Lolita Buckner Inniss University of Colorado Law School
Boulder, CO
John E. Iole Jones Day
Pittsburgh, PA
Robert A. James Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
San Francisco, CA
Leslie Carolyn Kendrick University of Virginia School of Law
Charlottesville, VA
Jeff Kichaven Jeff Kichaven Commercial Mediation
Los Angeles, CA
Nancy S. Kim Chicago-Kent College of Law
Chicago, IL
Daniel S. Kleinberger Mitchell Hamline School of Law (Retired)
Mendota Heights, MN
Gerald Korngold New York Law School
New York, NY
Kathryn Kovacs Rutgers Law School
Camden, NJ
Michael J. Kramer Noble Circuit Court
Albion, IN
William K. Kroger Baker Botts L.L.P.
Houston, TX
Andrew Kull University of Texas School of Law
Austin, TX
Peter B Kutner University of Oklahoma College of Law
Norman, OK
Sybil H. Landau New York, NY
Douglas Laycock University of Virginia School of Law (Retired)
Charlottesville, VA
Herbert I. Lazerow University of San Diego School of Law
San Diego, CA
Erika F. Lietzan University of Missouri School of Law
Columbia, MO
Carl H. Lisman Lisman Leckerling, P.C. (Retired)
Burlington, VT
Houston Putnam Lowry Ford & Paulekas, LLP
Hartford, CT
Orlando Lucero Fidelity National Financial Family Companies
Albuquerque, NM
Michael J. Madison University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Pittsburgh, PA
Edward M. Mansfield Supreme Court of Iowa
Des Moines, IA
C. Scott Maravilla U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
Washington, DC
Lorelie S. Masters Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
Washington, DC
Robert L. McCurley, Jr. Alabama Law Institute
Tuscaloosa, AL
James C. McKay, Jr. Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia
Washington, DC
Nancy A. McLaughlin University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law
Salt Lake City, UT
Richard J. McNeil Crowell & Moring LLP
Irvine, CA
Stephanie A. Middleton The American Law Institute (Retired)
Greenbrae, CA
Juliet M. Moringiello Widener University Commonwealth Law School
Harrisburg, PA
Timothy M. Mulvaney Texas A&M University School of Law
Fort Worth, TX
Kevin Reid Murray Holland & Hart LLP
Salt Lake City, UT
Alice M. Noble-Allgire Southern Illinois University School of Law (Retired)
Carterville, IL
Christopher K. Odinet University of Iowa College of Law
Iowa City, IA
Robert H. Pemberton Texas Third Court of Appeals
Austin, TX
Kristina Pickering Supreme Court of Nevada
Las Vegas, NV
Thomas E. Plank University of Tennessee College of Law
Knoxville, TN
Jeffrey M. Pollock Fox Rothschild LLP
Princeton, NJ
Ellen S. Pryor UNT Dallas College of Law
Dallas, TX
Hugh Massey Ray, III Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Houston, TX
David Reiss Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn, NY
Daniel I.S.J. Rey-Bear Rey-Bear McLaughlin LLP
Spokane, WA
Sally Brown Richardson Tulane University Law School
New Orleans, LA
Dan Robbins Motion Picture Association, Inc.
Calabasas, CA
James L. Robertson Wise Carter Child & Caraway, P.A. (Retired)
Jackson, MS
Shannon M. Roesler University of Iowa College of Law
Iowa City, IA
Margaret Ann Rolando Shutts & Bowen LLP
Miami, FL
Jonathan Rosenbloom Albany Law School
Albany, NY
Jeremy Ledger Ross Amazon.com Inc.
Seattle, WA
Keith A. Rowley University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law
Las Vegas, NV
Patricia E. Salkin Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
New York, NY
Ronald Joseph Scalise, Jr. Tulane University School of Law
New Orleans, LA
William H. Schorling Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC
Dillon, CO
Victor E. Schwartz Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Washington, DC
Kenneth W. Simons University of California, Irvine School of Law
Irvine, CA
Wenona T. Singel Michigan State University College of Law
East Lansing, MI
Robert H. Sitkoff Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA
David L. Sloss Santa Clara University School of Law
Santa Clara, CA
Douglas G. Smith Aurelius Law Group LLC
Chicago, IL
Lionel D. Smith University of Cambridge Faculty of Law
Cambridge, Canada
John M. Steadman District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Washington, DC
Paul B. Stephan University of Virginia School of Law
Charlottesville, VA
Stewart E. Sterk Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
New York, NY
James Y. Stern William & Mary Law School
Williamsburg, VA
H. Mark Stichel RKW Law Group
Baltimore, MD
Shale D. Stiller DLA Piper US LLP (Retired)
Baltimore, MD
Lior Jacob Strahilevitz University of Chicago Law School
Chicago, IL
Guy Miller Struve Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (Retired)
New York, NY
John D. Taurman Vinson & Elkins LLP (Retired)
Washington, DC
Robert H. Thomas Pacific Legal Foundation
Sacramento, CA
Daniel Mack Traynor U.S. District Court, District of North Dakota
Bismarck, ND
Thomas A. Tupitza Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, P.C.
Erie, PA
Sjef van Erp University of Amsterdam
Noord-Brabant, Netherlands
Chang Wang Kingsfield Law Office
Bloomington, MN
Linda A. Wasserman Honigman LLP
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Alan M. White City University of New York School of Law
Long Island City, NY
James A. Williams Hughes Vanderburg Williams Booth PLLC
Austin, TX
Kelli Alces Williams Florida State University College of Law
Tallahassee, FL
Charles W. Wirken Gust Rosenfeld, PLC
Phoenix, AZ
Richard W. Wright IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law
Evanston, IL