Professor David L. Callies of the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaiʻi will receive the 2017 Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize in October from the William & Mary Property Rights Project. Callies will receive this prestigious prize during the Project’s 14th annual conference to be held at William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia, on October 12-13.
The prize is named in honor of the lifetime contributions to property rights of Toby Prince Brigham and Gideon Kanner, and it is presented annually to a scholar, practitioner, or jurist whose work affirms the fundamental importance of property rights. Recently it has gone to legal scholars from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and the University of Michigan. Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was a recipient in 2011.
Callies, a prolific scholar whose work explores land use, property, and state and local government law, has lectured around the world and written or collaborated on more than 90 articles and 20 books. He has been a member of the American Law Institute since 1990 and is the Benjamin A. Kudo Professor of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Prior to entering academia, he was an attorney in private practice and an assistant state’s attorney.
Callies gained fame as a leading expert on land use and development in Hawai‘i early in his distinguished career, said Lynda L. Butler, Chancellor Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School and director of the school’s Property Rights Project, but his research interests have become truly international in scope over time and encompass land use control, eminent domain, and sustainable development in numerous other countries. Butler noted that the annual Brigham-Kanner conference has been held in China and in The Hague as well as in Virginia.
UH Law Dean Avi Soifer called the prize “a much-deserved honor for Professor Callies” that not only resonates in legal circles, but in the wider business community. “David Callies brings tremendous breadth to our offerings in business and land law,” said Soifer, “and his presence within this constellation of prize winners speaks to the importance of his scholarship. Our students are very fortunate to be receiving world-class instruction in the complex areas in which he excels, from one of the world’s great experts.”
Callies is renowned as a “scholar, teacher, lawyer, mentor,” according to Robert H. Thomas, an attorney and director at Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert in Honolulu. “For four decades, David Callies has shaped property law, and the practice of property law, as a legal scholar, practitioner, and advocate,” said Thomas. “Professor Callies has devoted his career to a search for understanding the deeper meaning of what it means to own property, and the relationship between property rights and individual liberties. His work has also integrated property law's traditions with more modern concepts such as environmental concerns and the public trust.” Thomas added, “A truly deserving prizewinner, David Callies represents the best of the law’s academic and practice sides."
Michael Berger, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, who received the Brigham-Kanner Prize in 2014, called Callies “one of the brightest stars in the constitutional property rights firmament.” His lengthy academic career, Berger said, “has been festooned with scholarly explorations of property law that have enriched the scholarly literature and influenced the way that courts have viewed the law. When I learned that he was to be this year’s honoree, all I could do was cheer.”
The Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize, which has been awarded annually since 2004, honors the work of Toby Prince Brigham, founding partner of Brigham Moore, LLP, and Gideon Kanner, professor of law emeritus at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Previous recipients include: Professor Frank I. Michelman of Harvard University (2004); Professor Richard Epstein of the New York University School of Law (2005); Professor James W. Ely, Jr., of Vanderbilt University (2006); Professor Margaret Jane Radin of the University of Michigan Law School (2007); Professor Robert C. Ellickson of Yale Law School (2008); Professor Richard E. Pipes of Harvard University (2009); Professor Carol Rose of the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (2010); retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (2011); Professor James E. Krier of the University of Michigan Law School (2012); Professor Thomas W. Merrill of Columbia Law School (2013); Michael M. Berger of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (2014), Professor Joseph William Singer of Harvard Law School (2015); and Hernando de Soto, president of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (2016).
Callies’ previous recognitions include The Owners’ Counsel of America’s Crystal Eagle Award, the Lambda Alpha International Member of the Year Award, and the Jefferson Fordham Lifetime Achievement Award, which is conferred by the ABA’s Section of State and Local Government Law.
To request a brochure about the conference, please email Ali Trivette at mtrivette@wm.edu or call (757) 221-7466.