William Blackstone

Jessie Allen, Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh  Book the Second. Chapter the Twenty First. Of Alienation by Matter of Record. The common law of property doesn’t get much more arcane and insular than...

Jessie Allen, Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh  BOOK THE SECOND, Chapter the twentieth, Of ALIENATION by DEED. This chapter is about words and deeds. Is this really the first time I have noticed that...

Jessie Allen, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh  Book the Second. Chapter the Nineteenth. Of TITLE by ALIENATION. This chapter is about a conflict in property law. I’ve written several times lately about the way...

Jessie Allen, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh Book the Second, Chapter the Eighteenth, Of TITLE by FORFEITURE. This is one of those chapters where Blackstone revels in the tricks of the legal trade. Nominally,...

Jessie Allen, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh Book the Second, Chapter the Seventeenth. Of TITLE by PRESCRIPTION. This chapter is about a legal doctrine that is easy to articulate and hard to believe: by...

Jessie Allen, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh  Book the Second, Chapter the Sixteenth. Of TITLE by OCCUPANCY. This chapter is about where things begin and what they become. For Blackstone, “the true ground and...

Jessie Allen, School of Law, University of Pittsburgh Book the Second, Chapter the Fifteenth. Of TITLE by PURCHASE, and First by ESCHEAT. This chapter is about line drawing – and erasing. The focus is ostensibly...

Jessie Allen, School of Law, University  of Pittsburgh Book the Second, Chapter the Fourteenth. Of TITLE by DESCENT. This chapter is not about nature. You would think that family inheritance would be an ideal place...