Center for Real Estate Studies

Harlan Scholars Program

CRES will host information sessions to go over program details and real estate course offerings during the Spring 2013 semester.  Please check back at the beginning of the Spring term for exact dates and locations. 

In addition to our Spring info sessions, you are always welcome to schedule an individual meeting at any time of the year.  Please contact Associate Director, Erin Bond at Erin.Bond@nyls.edu for more details. 

 

 

CRES Harlan Scholars
Program Description
Academic Year - 2012-2013

Available for Download as a pdf here.

The Center for Real Estate Studies provides Harlan Scholars and other students at NYLS a unique educational opportunity to examine a broad array of real estate issues in the private markets and the public sector.  The Center includes an extensive selection of classroom courses, advanced seminars and independent study projects, externships in governmental offices and real estate firms as well as other opportunities to participate in or attend lectures, seminars, and CLE programs.

 

Specialized courses in the curriculum offer the ability to study real estate law in depth.  Most students would begin their study of real estate with the basic "gateway" course-- Real Estate Transactions & Finance (taught by Professors Berman, Korngold and Tracht).  In addition, students may select from a wide range of upper-level real estate electives (described below). These electives are taught by full-time faculty and adjuncts who are experienced practitioners at some of the City's best law firms.

 

At the Center, students pursue a course of study specializing in either the private practice or public regulation of Real Estate.  The study of real estate in private practice can include real estate finance (e.g., mortgages, mezzanine loans and other non-traditional techniques); secondary mortgage market and mortgage-backed securitizations; bonds financing; mixed-use construction and development; real estate leasing; acquisitions and dispositions of real property; condominium, coop and community association law; insurance; construction and broker law; mortgage foreclosures, workouts and restructurings; and governmental tax incentives and other entitlement programs.

 

Students interested in social justice and public policy issues may focus on such topics as environmental sustainability, urban sprawl, gentrification and its effect on local communities, the preservation and creation ofhistorical landmarks, parks and other open "green spaces," affordable housing, land use, zoning, and eminent domain.

 

While the Center offers two primary tracks of study, each student has the flexibility to pursue his/her own individualized course of study.  For example, students may focus on real estate in the context of another substantive area of law such as corporate and securities law, bankruptcy, tax and ERISA, trusts and estates, secured transactions, or environmental law.

The Center for Real Estate Studies welcomes interested students to explore the option of joint affiliation with CRES and another academic center at New York Law School.  Please note that some coordination with both Center directors will be required. 

For Harlan Scholars who would like to specialize further in real estate, the Center also offers the CRES Associates Program - A Professional Pathway to Real Estate Law. For further information on this program, please visit: www.nyls.edu/CRESAssociates.

 

REAL ESTATE CURRICULUM

Required Curriculum:

 

The required first-year course in Property provides a foundation fo rthe advanced study of real estate in NYLS.  In addition to first-year Property, Harlan Scholars affiliated with the Center for Real Estate Studies are required to take the following courses:

 

(1) Real Estate Transactions & Finance (2nd year);

                              

(2) Two advanced upper-class electives dealing primarily with real estate, environmental law, the public regulation of real estate, or urban affairs [see list below] (2nd or 3rd year);

                   

(3) Two of the following: Corporations; Wills, Trusts & Future Interests; Federal Income Tax; Individual; Secured  Transactions; Bankruptcy; or Securities Regulation (2nd and 3rd year); and

                              

(4) Real Estate Center Capstone Project (3rd year).  Harlan Scholars affiliating with CRES can fulfill the Capstone Project requirement by completing one of the following: 

  • Law Review Note focused on a real estate issue.
  • CRES Capstone Seminar - a 2-credit Project-Based Learning Course with limited enrollment of 10 students. The theme of the course changes each year and is structured to permit the in-depth study of real estate topics with important legal, policy, social and/or political consequences.  Detailed information about the Capstone seminar will be available in course registration materials and posted on the CRES website (www.nyls.edu/CRESHarlans).
  • Any other Project-Based Learning Course taught by a member of the Real Estate Faculty.
  • Real Estate Externship Placement and co-requisite Real Estate Externship Seminar.
  • Independent Study focused on a real estate issue.  (Preference will go to interested Evening Division students.)

 

 

[Note: if any of these courses are not offered in the evening schedule, alternate arrangements will be made for Harlan Scholars in the Evening Division.]

 Elective Courses Dealing Primarily with Real Estate:

Drafting: Real Estate Documents
Ethical Issues in Transactional Practice
Legal Research: Real Estate
RE: Advanced Real Estate Transactions & Finance
RE: Advanced Topics
RE: Brokerage Law
RE: Capital Markets
RE: Capstone Course
RE: Commercial Leasing Law
RE: Construction Law
RE: Corporate Real Estate
RE: Co-ops & Condos Law
Real Estate Development
Real Estate Externship Placement & Seminar
RE: Financial & Economic Analysis of Real Estate (Permission req’d for JDs.)
RE: Ground Leasing Law & Practice
RE: International Real Estate
RE: Landlord & Tenant Law
RE: Shopping Center Leases – Law & Practice
RE: Title Insurance, Law of
Real Estate Transactional Skills
Real Estate Transactions & Finance
Real Estate Transactions in a Global Marketplace (London Summer Abroad)
RE: Tax Issues in Real Estate Transactions
RE: Valuations & Appraisals
RE: Workouts, Foreclosure & Bankruptcy

Elective Courses Dealing Primarily with Environmental Law and Real Estate:


Environmental Law & Policy
RE: Brownfields Redevelopment
RE: Climate Change Issues in Real Estate & Business Transactions
RE: Conservation Law & Policy
RE: Environmental Issues in Real Estate & Business Transactions
RE: Preservation Law
RE: Sustainable Development, Law of

Elective Courses Dealing Primarily with Issues of Significance to Public Policy, the Regulation of Real Estate and/or Urban Areas:


NYC Land Use Law
NYC Law Seminar
RE: Affordable Housing and Community Development
RE: Land Use Regulation
RE: Public/Private Joint Ventures
Real Estate Development
Role of the Governmental Attorney

              


Elective Courses in other Specialties that are "Highly Recommended":

For stuedents interested in the private practice of real estate, the Center highly recommeneds the following courses; Corporations; Wills, Trusts & Future Interests; Federal Income Tax:  Individual; Secured Transactions; Bankruptcy; and Securities Regulation

 

Non-Classroom Educational Work

Harlan Scholars are offered an opportunity to participate in the Center's non-classroom activities, such as public lectures, workshops, and CLE programs.  Check out our Events page for details.

 

LEGAL WRITING

Harlan Scholars affiliated with the Center for Real Estate Studies will be members of the New York Law School Law Review and will comply with all of the relevant requirements of that program.

 

PARICIPATION IN MASTER CLASSES, SYMPOSIA & OTHER EVENTS

 

Harlan Scholars are invited to, and required to attend, all Breakfast Forums, Master Classes, symposia, public lectures and other special events hosted by the Center of Real Estate Studies.  Students with scheduling conflicts should notify the Center Director.

 

REAL ESTATE EXTERNSHIP PLACEMENTS & SEMINAR

The Center will assist students in securing appropriate externships, as available. In the past three academic years, students have been employed at a variety of organizations, including Wilf & Silverman, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, NYC Law Department, Lower Manhattan Development Corp., Grad & Weimar, Finkelstein Newman, and Thor Equities.  CRES Harlans pursuing a real estate externship placement are required to register for and complete the Real Estate Externship Seminar (1-credit) in the same semester as their placement

 

FACULTY

For a list of the full-time and adjunct faculty affiliated with the Center, please visit:

http://www.nyls.edu/centers/harlan_scholar_centers/center_for_real_estate_studies/affiliated_faculty.