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American Law Institute Council records, 1924-2003 (inclusive)

Extent:
21 linear feet
Abstract:
The American Law Institute (ALI) was founded in 1923 in response to a perceived uncertainty and complexity in American law. Former Penn Law Dean William Draper Lewis was the Institute's first director, running the organization's operations out of his campus office. The ALI was conceived as a representative gathering of the American Bar (including Judges, Lawyers, and Law Professors) for the stated mission "to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice and to encourage and carry on scholarly and scientific legal work." The collection, 1924-2003, includes minutes, correspondence, reports, and related records regarding the activity of the American Law Institute Council.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]

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American Law Institute Uniform Commercial Code records, 1935-2003 (inclusive)

Extent:
55 linear feet (55 boxes)
Abstract:
The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) was the result of a joint project between the American Law Institute (ALI) and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Law (NCCUSL). Work on the UCC began in 1945 in response to a perceived need by members of both ALI and NCCUSL to consolidate a number of uniform laws, previously enacted by NCCUSL, related to commercial transactions. NCCUSL was established in 1891 for the purpose of codifying state law by creating uniform laws and model acts. ALI was founded in 1923 in response to a perceived uncertainty and complexity in American Law. The Institute had previously developed a codification of particular areas of the law, known as the Restatement of the Law. Thus, cooperation between ALI and NCCUSL on the UCC presented a likely partnership. The first version of the UCC was approved in 1951. Over the next few years, the states responded to, analyzed, and amended the UCC. In 1961, the Permanent Editorial Board was established to review...(see more)

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]

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American Law Institute Model Penal Code records, 1942-1985 (inclusive)

Extent:
11 linear feet
Abstract:
The Model Penal Code, first completed in 1962 and revised and expanded over the next 20 years, played a role in the revision and codification of criminal law. The Chief Reporter on the project was Herbert Wechsler. A Criminal Law Advisory Committee was established to provide the reportorial staff with guidance in the drafting of the Code. A Proposed Official Draft was published in 1962. This version generated wide response among legislatures and courts, prompting a revision and expansion of the code's commentaries that began in 1976. A final version of the Model Penal Code, with revised commentaries, was published in 1985. The Code influenced the areas of jurisdiction, double jeopardy, responsibility, criminal attempts, theft, abortion, obscenity, sentencing, and capital punishment. The collection, 1942-1985, includes correspondence, meeting materials, proceedings, drafts, reports, reference materials, published versions, citations, and related records regarding the drafting of the...(see more)

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]

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Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act records, 1937-1941 (inclusive)

Extent:
14 items
Abstract:
In 1936, The American Law Institute and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Law jointly undertook a project to draft a statute that established a common policy for dealing with contributions among people who have been found guilty of committing a wrong. The statute, promulgated in 1939, was called the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act. The collection, 1937-1941, includes drafts and correspondence related to the joint ALI-NCCUSL project to draft a model statute concerned with contributions among tortfeasors.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]

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American Law Institute Annual Meeting records, 1923-2005 (inclusive)

Extent:
18 linear feet
Abstract:
The American Law Institute (ALI) was founded in 1923 in response to a perceived uncertainty and complexity in American law. Former Penn Law Dean William Draper Lewis was the Institute's first director, running the organization's operations out of his campus office. The ALI was conceived as a representative gathering of the American Bar (including Judges, Lawyers, and Law Professors) for the stated mission "to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice and to encourage and carry on scholarly and scientific legal work." To that end, the ALI has held annual meetings since its inception to adopt its restatements and other codification projects, discuss drafts, analyze pending legislation and aspects of the law, set policy, and initialize new projects. The collection, 1923-1995, includes correspondence, addresses and remarks, reports on codification projects and other ALI-related...(see more)

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]

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American Law Institute Executive Office records, 1923-1999 (inclusive)

Extent:
55.25 linear feet
Abstract:
The Executive Office of the American Law Institute (ALI) performs the organization's major administrative functions, including fundraising, negotiating publication of ALI materials, and coordinating ALI projects. With most of the Reporters located at institutions all over the world, the office also serves as the central depository for the collection of records related to ALI projects. The collection, 1923-1999, primarily includes letters written by and received from staff in the ALI's Executive Office, including the Director and Deputy Director. For more detailed information about the scope and content of this collection, please consult the individual series.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]

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American Law Institute First Restatement of the Law records, 1923-1965 (inclusive)

Extent:
45.5 linear feet (43 boxes)
Abstract:
The American Law Institute (ALI) was founded in 1923 in response to a perceived uncertainty and complexity in American law. Former Penn Law Dean William Draper Lewis was the Institute's first director, running the organization's operations out of his campus office. The ALI was conceived as a representative gathering of the American Bar (including Judges, Lawyers, and Law Professors) for the stated mission "to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice and to encourage and carry on scholarly and scientific legal work." The ALI worked on the First Restatement of the Law from 1923-1944. The project attempted to clarify nine broad subject areas of law: Agency, Conflict of Laws, Contracts, Judgments, Property, Restitution, Security, Torts, and Trusts. Two other subject areas, Business Associations and Sales of Land, were explored but never officially adopted by the ALI. The final draft...(see more)

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]

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American Law Institute Statement of Essential Human Rights Project records, 1924-2008 (inclusive)

Extent:
4.5 linear feet
Abstract:
In the midst of World War II, the American Law Institute convened a committee in 1941 to study the international community's position regarding human rights law. The committee's charge was to develop a Statement of Essential Human Rights. William Draper Lewis, then Director of the American Law Institute, was chair of the committee and the project's most outspoken advocate, touring the world to deliver speeches on the importance of a code of basic human rights. International in scope and in participation, the committee included representatives from Britain, Canada, China, France, pre-Nazi Germany, Italy, India, Latin America, Poland, Soviet Russia, Spain, and Syria. A version of the Statement of Essential Human Rights was finalized in 1945. The collection, 1929-1987 and undated, includes research material, constitutions, letters, conference and meeting material, drafts, publications, the writings of William Draper Lewis, and other records related to the drafting of the Statement of...(see more)

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]

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Model Code of Evidence records, 1939-1954 (inclusive)

Extent:
2.25 linear feet
Abstract:
In the course of establishing what would become the First Restatement of the Law, the American Law Institute (ALI) considered including a clarification of the Law of Evidence. However, due to perceived deficiencies in the law, the American Law Institute resolved to begin a project that would provide a thorough reworking of the existing law of evidence. In 1939, the ALI secured funding to develop such a project. Edmund M. Morgan served as Reporter, and John H. Wigmore served as Chief Consultant. The resulting body of law was the Model Code of Evidence, adopted by the ALI in May 1942. The collection, 1939-1954, includes correspondence, meeting minutes, drafts, memoranda, commentary, outside publications, and related material concerning the drafting and adoption of the Model Code of Evidence, an effort to standardize common-law evidence rules.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]

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American Law Institute Restatement in the Courts volumes, 1937-1976 (inclusive)

Extent:
2 linear feet (18 items)
Abstract:
In 1934, the American Law Institute (ALI) started publishing volumes entitled The Restatement in the Courts, a supplemental tool that provided references to court decisions that had cited the ALI's Restatements of the Law. The collection, 1937-1976, includes editions of The Restatement in the Courts and undated indices.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Biddle Law Library [Contact Us]