It’s safe to say that York student Neil Wilson never expected that his real estate law professor’s idea for an essay topic would land him $3000, wrote Canadian Lawyer Magazine July 5:

The Osgoode Hall Law School student’s essay, “Part performance: An invaluable tool in the practice of real estate law”, recently won the 2010 TitlePLUS essay contest. Sponsored by the Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company (LAWPRO), the contest promotes and recognizes outstanding legal scholarship in the practice of real estate law.

Wilson’s winning entry examines an aspect of real estate law wherein an oral agreement for the sale of land, which would otherwise be unenforceable, may be enforced if steps have been taken towards its performance. After considerable research and analysis, he concludes “the current lack of certainty leaves the issue open to arguments on both sides, and accordingly an appreciation of the doctrine of part performance will be invaluable to both vendors’ and purchasers’ counsel.”

Wilson gives much of the credit for his essay to his real estate law professor [Paul Perell]. The essay was originally written for that class, and had he not listened to the advice of his professor, he might have ended up writing an entirely different essay altogether. “I actually wrote the essay for my real estate class at Osgoode, and I had chosen another topic and gone to speak to my professor about it,” says Wilson. “He said that he didn’t think it was a very workable topic, and he’s the one who suggested the topic that I ultimately wrote about. There was a lot more to work with, and that’s what led me to write about it.”

The complete article is available on Canadian Lawyer Magazine.

Republished courtesy of YFile– York University’s daily e-bulletin.