Kratovil Conference on Real Estate Law & Practice
The Kratovil Conference on Real Estate Law & Practice (the "Kratovil") was established in 1994 to honor the memory of Robert Kratovil, the "Dean of the Chicago's real estate attorneys," who served as Chicago Title's Chief Underwriter before ending his career as a member of Law School's faculty.
The Kratovil Conference, an important part of the Center's mission of research and scholarship in the real estate field, brings together leading scholars, practitioners, and industry professionals to consider cutting-edge issues important to commercial real estate attorneys, their clients, and our society.
The event was put on pause due to the 2020 Covid-19 outbreak.
Previous Kratovil Conferences Heading link
2019
October 1, 2019
17th Kratovil Conference
A Knick of Time: The Demise of the State Action Barrier to Federal Takings Litigation after Knick v. Township of Scott
The 17th Kratovil Conference considered the implications for the real estate industry and its attorneys as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2019 decision, Knick v. Township of Scott. This decision opened the door to takings suits in federal courts by eliminating the state-action ripeness requirement, which forced most landowners to seek remedies for overly broad state and local land use regulations in often-unsympathetic state courts.
Because property owners no longer need to seek a state remedy before filing a takings claims in federal court, the question is: Will there be a flood of lawsuits filed in federal court challenging federal, state, and local regulations that restrict private land development? Presenters included attorneys who represented Knick and the Township of Scott, Pennsylvania, as well as advocates who filed amicus briefs on behalf of individuals whose rights would be affected by the decision.
2018
October 10, 2018
16th Kratovil Conference
An Inflection Point in Land Development? Private and Public Conditions Considered
Land development is central to the commercial real estate industry and its attorneys, as we continue to address the changing needs of society, but established conditions can impede progress.
Privately created restrictions on use and affirmative responsibilities—those covenants running with the land—structure condominiums and homeowner associations, retail shopping centers, and other real property in such a way that the rights and duties of owners and users stand in the way of the future needs of society. Likewise in the public sector, established land development conditions—exactions, impact fees, in-lieu fees—that may have once made sense may no longer support today’s land-use goals and policies.
The 16th Kratovil Conference invited scholars, practitioners, and industry professionals to examine how the past is holding back our future and consider changes needed for the future, propose the repurposing of old uses to meet current needs, and suggest practical responses to this inflection point.
2017
September 28, 2017
15th Kratovil Conference
Murr v. Wisconsin Produces Murky Results in Regulatory Takings Law
What does the recent U.S. Supreme Court regulatory-takings decision in Murr v. Wisconsin mean for the real estate industry, its attorneys, landowners, and local government? Before the opinion was issued, both sides in the Murr case had sought guidance on how to define the “property” that is the subject of a claimed regulatory taking. Now that the court has spoken, many argue that it continues the muddled analysis of the line of regulatory-takings cases that preceded it, rather than clarifying the tests to be applied. The conference featured advocates and practitioners exploring what this opinion means for the future of regulatory takings and the property rights of landowners.
2015
September 29, 2015
14th Kratovil Conference
Fracking, Energy Sources, Climate Change & Real Estate
Scholars and practitioners who work in the areas of energy law, land use, regulatory law, and real estate law attended the Kratovil Conference to consider the questions that are now coming into view about this controversial and hotly debated extraction process. Chief among them is the question of whether the supplies of natural gas produced by fracking are a real bridge, or merely a detour, on the road to development of sustainable/renewable sources of energy that mitigate climate change. In addition, what are the issues for real estate practitioners who find their clients affected by these developments?
2013
September 26, 2013
13th Kratovil Conference
Adaptation of the Built Environment to Achieve Resilience to Climate Change
Climate change is real. Climatic events—floods, storms, fires, droughts, and extreme heat—are already damaging our built environment and infrastructure.
The 13th Kratovil Conference takes an interdisciplinary look at some of the governmental, financial, insurance, and transactional real estate issues that will need to be addressed when we attempt to adapt the built environment and infrastructure to make them resilient and better able to withstand climatic events, thereby reducing the magnitude of the losses sustained.
2011
September 20, 2011
12th Kratovil Conference
The Quiet Revolution in Land Use Control
In 1971, the President’s Council on Environmental Quality published The Quiet Revolution in Land Use Control. The book described in detail the innovative land use laws in nine states which returned the control of land use to a state or regional level, largely at the expense of local zoning. This constituted the “quiet revolution.” The Kratovil Quiet Revolution Conference invited national scholars and experts in land use to analyze the lasting impact of The Quiet Revolution in several jurisdictions around the country and examine the future of land use policy.
2009
November 20, 2009
11th Kratovil Conference
Water as a Resource: Impact on Real Estate Onnership, Development, and Land Use Policy
The 11th Annual Kratovil Conference on Real Estate Law & Practice: Water as a Resource: Impact on Real Estate Ownership, Development, and Land Use Policy addressed the relationship between water shortages and the development, use, and ownership of real estate. Academics presented scholarship on issues such as the Great Lakes Compact, impact fees and land use solution to allocating scarce water, hydrological considerations (such as watershed location) in the allocation of water, smart growth and economic solutions to water allocation. In addition to individual presentations, the conference also featured an extensive industry and practitioner panel.
2007
October 19, 2007
10th Kratovil Conference
Commercial Lease Transactions: The Lifeblood of the Real Estate Industry
In 2007, the Kratovil Conference tackled “Commercial Lease Transactions: The Lifeblood of the Real Estate Industry,” based on the premise that landlords, tenants, lenders, and their attorneys were evaluating and negotiating commercial leases from a new perspective. Commercial leases have been described as the lifeblood of the transaction by those who develop, finance, own, lease, and occupy office buildings and shopping centers. Without signed leases and the promised income, projects do not go forward and existing projects go into default.
2006
September 29, 2006
9th Kratovil Conference
The Takings Clause Clarified by the U.S. Supreme Court: Lingle v. Chevron—Regulations, Exactions & Eminent Domain
While the Court’s unanimous opinion in Lingle eliminates the “furthers a legitimate state interest” (Agins first prong) for the run-of-the-mill regulatory takings challenge, the Court seems to leave it alone for Nollan-Dolan analysis purposes, where it has always been something of a presupposition before proceeding to nexus and proportionality. Since most “takings” cases filed and concluded (with each side winning a share) appear to be the exactions unconstitutional conditions cases, this is a relevant topic in today’s politically charged and highly publicized real estate development scenarios.
2004
May 21, 2004
8th Kratovil Conference
Real Estate in Bankruptcy: A Look Backward for a Better View Forward
Recognizing the 25th anniversary of the Bankrupcty Code, the Center for Real Estate Law focused the attention of the real estate bar and community on a statute that had a significant and, to some, surprising impact on commercial real estate of every kind. The 1978 Code made it easier for individuals and businesses to apply for its protections and to reorganize. lt also changed the balance between debtors and creditors.
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7th Kratovil Memorial Seminar
Analyzing Real Estate Loan Defaults in an Era of Securitization
1999
September 1999
6th Kratovil Memorial Seminar
Construction Laws in the 21st Century
1998
October 7, 1998
5th Kratovil Memorial Seminar
Real Estate in the 21st Century: Restatements, REITS, and Uniform Laws
1997
October 15, 1997
4th Kratovil Memorial Seminar
Reinventing America’s Master-Planned Communities
Master Planned Communities have become an integral part of American life. As we move toward the 21st century, it is critical to reflect upon how these communities have evolved and the problems that have begun to emerge, as well as to consider whether the time has come to reinvent and reposition America’s Master-Planned Communities, which control and affect the lives and property of countless Americans.