James J. Kelly, Jr.

Clinical Professor of Law

Office: 725 Howard Street
South Bend, IN 46617
Telephone: 574.631.7795
Fax: 574.631.6725
Email: J.Kelly@nd.edu

Jim Kelly is Clinical Professor of Law at the Notre Dame Law School, where he teaches, researches and practices community development law. Prior to joining the law school faculty in 2011, Jim was Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law and Visiting of Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law. At Baltimore, Jim directed and taught in the Community Development Clinic, while also teaching Professional Responsibility, Jurisprudence and Real Estate Finance. In Spring 2011, he taught Property and Legal Writing II at W&L.

Prof. Kelly earned his B.A. from the University of Virginia in 1987 and his J.D. from Columbia in 1994. Before going into teaching, Professor Kelly worked, as Executive Director of Save A Neighborhood, Inc. and Legal Consultant for Baltimore’s Project 5000, to assist the city government and community groups in acquiring clear title to vacant houses and vacant lots. He previously worked as a Staff Attorney for the Community Law Center, serving Baltimore nonprofits in their community revitalization efforts. From 1994 to 1999, he represented and counseled tenants and tenant groups for the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corp., where his work was funded by the Skadden Fellowship Foundation.

Prof. Kelly has published several law review articles on community control of land resources through title-clearing litigation and community land trusts. His scholarship has appeared in the Journal of Affordable Housing & Community Development Law, St. John’s Law Review, University of Cincinnati Law Review, Saint Louis University Public Law Review and DePaul Law Review.

Prof. Kelly started and runs the Community Development Project at the Notre Dame Legal Aid Clinic. This new NDLS clinic provides students with supervised legal practice experience representing nonprofits and small businesses in transactional matters, including corporate formation, tax exemption, risk management planning, regulatory compliance, and real estate transfers.

Articles and Essays

Maryland’s Affordable Housing Land Trusts Act, 19 J. Affordable Housing & Community Dev. Law ___ (forthcoming 2010)

Land Trusts that Conserve Communities, 59 DePaul L. Rev. 69 (2009).

Homes Affordable for Good: Ground Leases and Covenants as Long-Term Resale-Restriction Devices, 29 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 9 (2009) (symposium).

Bringing Clarity to Title Clearing: Tax Foreclosure and Due Process in the Digital Age, 77 U. Cin. L. Rev. 63 (2008).

"We Shall Not Be Moved": Urban Communities, Eminent Domain and the Socioeconomics of Just Compensation, 80 St. John’s L. Rev 923 (2006).

Refreshing the Heart of the City: Vacant Building Receivership as a Tool for Neighborhood Revitalization and Community Improvement, 13 J. Affordable Housing & Community Dev. Law 210 (2004).

Article 27 and Mexican Land Reform: The Legacy of Zapata’s Dream, 25 Colum. Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 541 (1994)

Other Publications

Taming Eminent Domain, Shelterforce (Spring 2008)

Project 5000: Assembling Insurable Title through Tax Foreclosure, Ground Notes (MSBA Newsletter, January 2003)

Project 5000 Tax Sale Foreclosure Legal Manual (2002)