Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

A Mystery: Miami Property Values Seem Immune to Climate Change Risk

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Michael Froomkin

There’s been a lot of news recently about the dire effects climate change can have on Miami, yet not only has the risk not been priced into real estate but values are rising. What’s up? Are climate change deniers that rich, or is something else going on? Is the risk seen as so far out as to be discounted to zero?

It’s flat here, there’s a lot of coastline, and a sea level rise of only a few feet would turn Coral Gables into New Venice. Even a foot and a half — which apparently has a decent change of happening in the next decade or three — would be very bad for Miami Beach, and also for much of South Florida in that it could impact water supplies and swamp power plants.

How then to explain why none of this is priced into the real estate market? Not only are house prices mostly going up after perhaps over-reacting to the the foreclosure crisis, but so too are waterfront land prices, as evidenced by this $100 million/acre sale of the last piece of undeveloped waterfront in downtown (total price for 1.25 acres was $125 million).

Yes, it could be a bubble. Yes, it could be the musical chairs phenomenon where the buyer thinks they can flip it, or develop it, before the music stops. Or it could be that the buyers watch too much Fox News, or have their own climate scientists.

I’d really like to know what’s going on here — if only because I (co)own a house. Any ideas?

Posted in Econ & Money, Miami | 4 Comments

Should This Be Required Viewing Before Law School?

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Michael Froomkin

“Weird Al” Yankovic – Word Crimes:

Almost all great stuff. I disagree about the Oxford comma — I think it’s essential for legal writing. (I also have some other legal writing tips.) Catchy tune, though.

Posted in Law School | Comments Off on Should This Be Required Viewing Before Law School?

Bon 14 Juillet

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Michael Froomkin

Joyeux anniversaire à la République Française (et à moi).

StormingBastille

Hier

Feu-artifice-Paris-Tour-Eiffel-2013-5sm

Aujourd’hui

Posted in Personal | 1 Comment

Jotwell Conference Program & Registration

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Michael Froomkin

We’ve posted a program for Jotwell’s 5th anniversary conference on “Legal Scholarship We Like and Why It Matters” and also have opened up registration. The conference will be Nov 7 & 8, 2014 at the University of Miami School of Law.

If you are planning on coming, you can take advantage of the UM rate at local hotels. The main conference hotel is the Sonesta in Coconut Grove, but the UM discount also applies to the other hotels on the list.

In case you are rationing clicks, here’s the program:

JOTWELL 5TH anniversary Conference

Legal Scholarship We Like and Why It Matters

University of Miami School of Law
Nov 7-8, 2014

Register To Attend
“Legal Scholarship We Like and Why It Matters”

Friday Nov 7

1pm Welcome
Dean Patricia White, Welcome
A. Michael Froomkin, A Little About Jotwell

1:15 – 2:00
Raizel Liebler, Jessica de Perio Wittman and Kim Chanbonpin. Collaboration, Knowledge Production, and Legal Scholarship

2:15- 3:00
Patrick Gudridge, Past Present

3:15 – 4:30 Counterpoint
Jeanne Schroeder and David Carlson, Improving Oneself and Ones Clients; Not the World
Neil Buchanan, Legal Scholarship Makes the World a Better Place

4:45 – 5:30 Keynote Address
Margaret Jane Radin, Then and Now: Developing Your Scholarship, Developing Its Audience

5:30- 6:30
Reception, Student Lounge

7:00 ->
Conference Dinner

Sat Nov 8

9:30 – 10:45 Counterpoint:
James Chen, Modeling Law Review Impact Factors as an Exponential Distribution
Patrick Woods, Stop Counting (Or At Least Count Better)

11- 11:45
Benjamin Keele, Taking Lessons from Science to Improve Digital Legal Scholarship
[via remote participation]

12-12:45
Steven L. Winter, When Things Went Terribly, Terribly Wrong Part II

12:45-1:45
LUNCH

1:45 – 2:30
David Millon, Legal Scholarship and the Delaware Judiciary

2:45- 3:30
Frank Pasquale, Reviving Political Economy: A Case Study in Legal Academics’ Dialogue with the Social Sciences

3:45 – 4:30
James Grimmelmann, Scholars, Teachers, and Servants

4:30-4:45
Envoi

 

Accepted papers from scholars unable to attend:

Angela Mae Kupenda, Personal Essay–On the Receiving End of Influence: Helping Craft the Scholarship of My Students and How Their Work Influences Me

All papers will be posted at Jotwell.com

Posted in Jotwell, Talks & Conferences | Comments Off on Jotwell Conference Program & Registration

Peter Cook’s Coal Miner Sketch

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Michael Froomkin

Something reminded me of Peter Cook’s Coal Miner Sketch today. The first time I heard it I was literally gasping from not getting air due to laughing so hard.

I suppose I should warn the sensitive that there are occasional mentions of nudity.

(Here’s a different, later version. It’s funny too, and shorter. I think it may be closer to the version I first heard.)

Posted in Completely Different | Comments Off on Peter Cook’s Coal Miner Sketch

Four Levels of Empowerment

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Michael Froomkin
  1. Someone will show me what to do.
  2. I can make the rules work for me.
  3. I can get an exception to the rules.
  4. I can change the rules.

Sometimes I want to ask my students, “Which are you?” or “Which do you want to be?” But the one time I tried something of the kind, it didn’t go over all that well.

Even so, they’re probably good questions in many situations.

Apologies for sounding like Seth Godin.

Incidentally, there’s arguably a fifth level of empowerment — “I can destroy the system” — but that’s either a special case of #4, or out of scope for the law-abiding. And I suppose there’s a zeroth level too, something on the order of “I’ll sit here alone and starve,” 1 which could be clinical depression. OK, that was less Godin-like.

  1. Not to be confused with “I’ll just sit here alone in the dark,” which is the answer to the question “How many Jewish mothers does it take to change a lightbulb?” and is probably an example of level 2.[↩]
Posted in Law School | Comments Off on Four Levels of Empowerment