Reason Not to Go to Law School #18

Blackacre.

I’ve commented before on the depressing state of lawyer humor, but Blackacre deserves its own entry.  If you’re not aware, Blackacre is a placeholder name when discussing property questions, and the ownership of Blackacre is typically unclear or in dispute, creating the question “Who owns Blackacre?”

If you go to law school, not only will you encounter the profoundly unfunny meme of “I own Blackacre,” but you will also encounter someone who thinks this is both hilarious and creative.  It’s neither.  Yet, there’s still a I Own Blackacre Facebook group with over 6400 members.  Here’s just a sampling of how incredibly unfunny Blackacre jokes are:

Rebecca S. (New England): “I got two family members to deed Blackacre to me in FSA [fee simple absolute].  Unfortunately, neither owned Blackacre, so I could only take a conveyance.”

Anthony W. (Massachusetts): “I don’t know how any of your can own own something, that I adversely possessed…and then blew-up!”

In 1628, Edward Coke made use the term Blackacre in a property treatise.  In 1629 all jokes about Blackacre ceased being funny.  It’s played out, get over it already and stop trying to make your sad little world appear amusing.