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Elected Member

Professor
Keith
A.
Rowley

Location
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Affiliation
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law
Education
Baylor University, BA
Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, MPP
University of Texas School of Law, JD

Keith A. Rowley graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Baylor University in economics and political science. After earning his M.P.P. from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, he returned to Baylor to teach economics and public policy. He earned his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, where he served as an executive editor of the Texas Law Review and as a judicial intern to then-Texas Supreme Court Justice Lloyd A. Doggett. Following a clerkship with Judge Thomas M. Reavley of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, he practiced law in Houston for five years, with an emphasis on commercial litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts.

Prior to joining the William S. Boyd School of Law faculty in 2001, Keith taught at Mississippi College School of Law and Emory University School of Law. He spent the 2007-08 academic year as the Charles E. Tweedy, Jr. Visiting Chairholder at the University of Alabama School of Law.

Elected to the ALI in 2008, Keith immediately immersed himself in the 2010 Amendments to UCC Article 9, and also participated in the Principles of Software Contracts.  He has since been very active in the Consumer Contracts and Liability Insurance restatement projects.

In late 2014, Keith was appointed a Uniform Law Commissioner for Nevada, in which capacity he has served on the drafting committees for the Uniform Regulation of Virtual Currency Businesses Act, the Uniform Supplemental Commercial Law for the URVCBA, and the Amended Tribal Secured Transactions Act, and study committees on transfer and recording of consumer debt and identity management in electonic commerce.  He chairs the recently-appointed study committee on restrictive covenants in employment agreements and is also a member of the ULC's Academic Partnerships committee.

Keith is an Academic Fellow to the ABA Business Law Section’s Consumer Financial Services Committee, chairs a task force on the Restatement of the Law of Consumer Contracts, and previously co-edited the Annual Survey of Consumer Financial Services Law for The Business Lawyer.

Keith previously chaired the Association of American Law Schools' Section on Commercial and Related Consumer Law, the AALS’ Section on Contracts, and the ABA Business Law Section’s Uniform Commercial Code Committee’s Sale of Goods Subcommittee, and was the UCC Committee’s inaugural Developments Reporter.

Member News

Traynor on Liberty, Law, and Democracy

In his essay "Liberty, Law, and Democracy: Are There Grounds for Realistic Optimism?" Michael Traynor, former President of The American Law Institute, reflects on the challenges facing American democracy amid political polarization and institutional strain. He examines threats to the balance between liberty and law, citing dysfunction across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, while drawing on historical context and recent scholarship to frame these concerns.

Despite his sober assessment, Traynor maintains a guarded optimism rooted in America’s resilience, civic traditions, and individual potential to effect change. He highlights positive actions within the legal community, nonprofit organizations, and among engaged citizens, while outlining five practical steps Americans can take to strengthen democracy: improving civic education, demanding accountability, fostering open debate, participating in elections and local governance, and resisting simplistic solutions.

Traynor concludes that democracy is “stubborn work,” incremental, imperfect, and ongoing, but expresses confidence that Americans have the resolve to preserve it.

Read the full article The New Nationalist

Michael Traynor is senior counsel at Cobalt LLP in Berkeley California. He served as ALI President from 2000 to 2008, and as Chair of the Council from 2008 to 2011. He is also a recipient of ALI's Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Traynor is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.   He received the John P. Frank Outstanding Lawyer Award from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is an honorary life trustee of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and of Earthjustice and a past President (1973) of the Bar Association of San Francisco.