American Law Institute

RWU law students had the opportunity to hear firsthand about the work of the American Law Institute from its President, Rod Perkins, and three members of the faculty who are active members of the institute.  The ALI is a national group of approximately 3,000 practitioners, judges and academics who debate and then promulgate important proposals for law reform, most typically in the form of “Restatements of the Law,” (although other projects include proposed statutes, like the influential Model Penal Code and the equally path-breaking Uniform Commercial Code).  Professor David Rice discussed his work in the area of computer software sales, Colleen Murphy on the Restitution Restatement, and I discussed my work as Advisor to the third Restatement of Torts.

Rod candidly discussed some of the issues that face the ALI, including the challenges for a group of generalists who must evaluate proposals in increasingly specialized areas of the law, the problem created by some practitioners who “can’t leave their clients at the door,” and in what circumstances it is appropriate to adopt a law reform that is not a majority rule.  The program wrapped up with Q & A with students. Click here if you would like to watch the program.