Merrill and Smith's Property: Principles and Policies (2007) is designed for a "building block" Property course that serves as a foundation for student's remaining years in law school and beyond.

The book presents the subject through vivid cases, including most of those beloved by generations of property teachers. But in contrast to other casebooks, which present property as a hodge-podge of issues, it seeks to organize the material in an integrated way, starting with the idea of property as the right to exclude and systematically developing elaborations, exceptions, and counterfoils to this idea. Issues of contemporary relevance such as intellectual property and regulatory takings are given relatively pervasive and expansive treatment. The emphasis throughout is on fundamental principles and policy questions.