[meteorite-list] William & Mary Law School Students Learn about Property Law, With An Asteroid Twist

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2011 09:35:59 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201107151635.p6FGZxgn004189_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2011/william--mary-law-school-students-learn-about-property-law,-with-an-asteroid-twist-123.php

William & Mary Law School Students Learn about Property Law, with
an Asteroid Twist

by Ami Dodson
William & Mary
July 15, 2011

Two William & Mary Law School students received some unusual training
last year: they were able to assist a major law firm with a property
rights case involving meteorites. Lillian McManus '12 and Brittany Law
'12 will be able to add "space law" to the list of practice areas with
which they have experience.

It all started on January 18, 2010, when the Lorton Meteorite fell out
of the sky and into the examining room of Williamsburg Square Family
Practice, which is located in Lorton, Virginia. The rock was small, only
2x3 inches, but clearly from outer space. Doctors Marc Gallini and Frank
Ciampi chose to donate the meteorite to the Smithsonian National Museum
of Natural History. The landlords of the building, however, claimed that
the meteorite should belong to them, and legal arguments ensued.

The doctors retained the services of Keith R. Marino, BA '89, JD '94, a
William & Mary alum who is a partner at Arent Fox LLP in Washington, DC,
to help resolve the dispute. Marino contacted his old property
professor, Associate Dean Ronald Rosenberg, and asked if he had any students
who might want to provide some legal research on a particularly novel issue.

"I tasked the students with researching the law of ownership rights for
meteorites in Virginia," recalls Rosenberg. "There wasn't any."

So the students put together a memo about the history of ownership of
real property in Virginia with analogous case law. Marino says the
students' work was very helpful. "They were able to provide us with
excellent background sources and strong case precedent for our position."

The students concluded that because the meteorite fell directly out of
the sky, it was akin to lost or abandoned property. "In these cases,"
they wrote, "the property rights rest with the finder against all but
the 'true owner.' Because a meteorite, unlike a dropped piece of jewelry
or wallet, has no 'true owner,' rights rest with the finder, or in this
case the tenant."

Their work was presumably persuasive. The landlords dropped their claims
and the doctors were able to donate the Lorton Meteorite to the
Smithsonian. For the rock, the Smithsonian paid the doctors $10,000,
which was donated to Doctors Without Borders for their continued relief
work in Haiti. And the students, along with anyone else, are able to
visit the little meteorite in the Mason-Clarke Meteorite Vault in the
Smithsonian's Mineral Room.
Received on Fri 15 Jul 2011 12:35:59 PM PDT