Land law expert David L. Callies publishes two new volumes

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Cynthia D. Quinn, (808) 956-7966
Interim Associate Dean for Student Services, William S. Richardson School of Law
Posted: Dec 8, 2011

UH Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law Professor David L. Callies, the leading Hawai‘i expert on land law and land use, has published two new volumes, including a handbook on eminent domain that includes contributions from six Law School alumni. The new volumes are his 18th and 19th books.
 
The handbook, “Eminent Domain: A Handbook of Condemnation Law,” published by the American Bar Association and edited by Callies, is written by leaders in the field and introduces the intricacies of the condemnation process, including new and controversial decisions involving such matters as “just compensation.” The volume raises issues such as whether government can condemn property to increase its tax base,  and whether the state can transfer property from one private owner to another for incidental public benefit and if this constitutes public use.
 
Alumni contributors include: Christian K. Adams, Calvert G. Chipchase, Christi-Anne H. Kudo Chock, Mark M. Murakami, Kamaile A. Nichols, and Robert H. Thomas.

The second new volume, “A Concise Introduction to Property Law,” published by LexisNexis, will expose first-year law students to the rich history of American property law through the study of court decisions. It gives particular attention to cases that arose in Hawai‘i, the one jurisdiction in which property law history differs dramatically from the national experience.

This new 700-page casebook, designed for a shorter one-semester, four-credit course, compares with an older 1,000-page volume designed for a two-semester, six-credit course. It follows a format with traditional materials, while adding new material as well. The new volume responds specifically to the new trend of a shortened property law course in many law schools today, but preserves the “unified whole” concept that has been the hallmark of property law casebooks.

Callies is the Benjamin A. Kudo Professor of Law at the Law School and he has a long history of both teaching and practicing land use law. Before joining the faculty at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Law School, he practiced local government and land use law with the Chicago firm of Ross & Hardies, served as an Assistant State’s Attorney, and  taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Callies is a graduate of DePauw University, the University of Michigan Law School (J.D.) and the University of Nottingham (LL.M.), and is a past foreign fellow and present life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University.

In 2006 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Bar Association Section of State and Local Government Law. Callies was honored this week by his Richardson colleagues with a book reception at the Pacific Club.