In this issue:
Six Projects Slated for Discussion at 2009 Annual Meeting
At its meeting in Philadelphia on December 4 and 5, the ALI Council approved three additional drafts for discussion by the membership at the Institute’s Annual Meeting on May 18-20, 2009, in Washington, DC, making a total of six projects on the agenda. Membership approval of Proposed Final Drafts for Principles of Aggregate Litigation and Principles of Software Contracts will clear the way for publication of the official texts of those projects. Also on the schedule will be Tentative Drafts for the Principles of Nonprofit Organizations, the Restatement Third, Torts: Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm, and the Restatement Third, Employment Law. Reporter Kevin Reitz’s most recent submission on the Model Penal Code: Sentencing will come before the members as a Discussion Draft. More information about the 2009 Annual Meeting will be coming to you later this month.
A Reminder about 2009 Annual Meeting Drafts:
This year, to conserve the earth’s and the Institute’s resources, we are asking members to opt in to receive print copies of drafts for the Annual Meeting. You can still receive print copies of any draft you wish, but you must let us know. The opt-in procedure will be as quick and simple as we can make it. More information on opting in to follow soon …
Director Halts Data-Mining Project
The ALI has halted work on the project that had tentatively been titled Principles of the Law of Government Access to and Use of Personal Digital Information. Although the project, which began in 2005, has resulted in an interesting paper cataloging the government's data-mining efforts and raising some of the critical privacy issues posed by those efforts, Director Lance Liebman concluded that the work has not advanced sufficiently toward draft proposals for improving the law. Meanwhile, developments in the real world and studies by other organizations suggest the Institute should find other law-reform targets within the general area of the tension between liberty and security. Lance expressed the Institute's thanks to Fred Cate, Professor at the University of Indiana, for his work as Reporter. Lance and the ALI regret that this effort will not proceed further.
Your Institute at Work: The Nominating Committee
New ALI members may be surprised to learn that the Institute's Nominating Committee does not recommend candidates for ALI membership—that’s the function of the Membership Committee. The Nominating Committee, which next meets on February 9, is charged with recommending candidates to serve on the Council, on standing committees, or as officers.
The Nominating Committee encourages ALI members to suggest names of members who would be able and diverse additions to the Council. More information, including a statement on suggesting potential candidates for Council, is on the Institute’s website.
Was It a Success? 10 Years Later, Admirers and Critics of the Products-Liability Restatement Weigh In...
 On November 13 and 14, a symposium at Brooklyn Law School commemorated the 10th Anniversary of the Restatement Third, Torts: Products Liability. Anita Bernstein and Restatement co-Reporter Aaron Twerski, both professors at the Law School, organized the event to consider the question: was the Restatement a success?
A diverse ensemble of panelists addressed current hot-button topics in products liability. Those present had the rare opportunity to hear some of the nation’s preeminent products-liability scholars share their views on the Restatement’s efficacy and receive feedback from the project’s Reporters, Aaron Twerski and James Henderson. The open forum fostered vigorous dialogue between the panelists and the audience.
So many of the symposium speakers had participated in the Institute’s work on the Restatement that ALI Deputy Director Elena Cappella, who was a panelist, called the occasion “a happy reunion.” A full account of the event by Brooklyn Law Review symposium editor Hayley Moore, with additional photos, is posted on ALI’s website. A list of the speakers and agenda and a video recording are both accessible on the Law School’s website. Several of the speakers’ papers will appear in a special issue of the Brooklyn Law Review to be published in Spring 2009. |
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