Annual Meeting Daily Update – Monday, May 18
The Annual Meeting opened with the call to order by President David F. Levi, whose tenure as president concludes at the close of this week’s Meeting. ALI Director Diane P. Wood reflected on Levi’s service, highlighting how the Institute has continued to evolve in response to the needs of today’s legal profession while continuing to maintain its steadfast commitment to its mission under his leadership. The opening session also included reports and business, and included the nomination of new Council members, each approved by the membership.
The first project session on the agenda was Conflict of Laws. Council member Jeffrey S. Sutton joined Reporter Kermit Roosevelt and Associate Reporters Ann Estin, Laura Little, and Christopher Whytock to present Tentative Draft No. 6, which contains material from Chapter 7, Topic 4 (Trusts), Chapter 8 (Contracts), Chapter 10 (Agency), and Chapter 11 (Business Organizations).
Actions Taken*
Membership voted to approve Tentative Draft No. 6.
Today’s luncheon featured a discussion moderated by Allyson K. Duncan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Retired) with J. Michelle Childs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Paul W. Grimm of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (Retired) on the increasing threats against judges.
Membership reconvened after lunch for the presentation of the John Minor Wisdom Award to Carolyn Dineen King. Upon being presented with the award by Lee H. Rosenthal, King shared her journey to the Fifth Circuit, reflecting on the support and mentorship she received along the way. Learn more about King and the award here.
The next project session of the day was Torts: Remedies. Council member Laura Denvir Stith joined Reporters Douglas Laycock and Richard L. Hasen for the presentation of Tentative Draft No. 5, which contains Topic 3 of Chapter 1 on Compensatory Damages, as well as an addition to a previously approved Section—§ 6 on scope of liability—and one Section in Chapter 3—§ 59 on recovering personal property.
Actions Taken*
Members voted to approve Tentative Draft No. 5. This vote marks the final membership approval of this project. Read the press release.
The last project of the day was High-Volume Civil Adjudication. Reporter David Freeman Engstrom and Associate Reporter David Marcus were joined by Council Member Goodwin Liu. Tentative Draft No. 1 contains four Chapters from Part II on Procedure and Case Management in High-Volume Civil Adjudication: Chapter 3 on Notice and Service of Process; Chapter 4 on Pleading and Information Exchange; Chapter 5 on Hearings; and Chapter 7 on Entry and Enforcement of Judgments.
Actions Taken*
Members voted to approve Chapters 3 and 4 of Tentative Draft No. 1. Part Two of this project session is scheduled to reconvene tomorrow morning.
*All approvals by membership at the Annual Meeting are subject to the discussion at the Meeting and usual editorial prerogative.