Uniform Law Commission (ULC) drafting committees consist of a chair, several ULC commissioners from various states, and a reporter (usually a law professor with expertise in the subject matter). Every ULC drafting committee is also assigned an ABA advisor, who represents the ABA as a whole, and frequently one or more ABA section advisors, who represent particular ABA entities. Other interested groups are also invited to send representatives, known as ‘observers”. ULC drafting meetings are open to the public, everyone at a drafting meeting is encouraged to participate fully in the discussion, and all of our drafts are available on the internet (www.nccusl.org). ULC drafting committees typically meet three times a year (two substantive drafting committee meetings and a presentation of the draft for line-by-line reading and debate at the ULC Annual Meeting) for at least two years.
Drafting Committee on Authentication and Preservation of State Electronic Legal Materials
Michele L. Timmons, Chair, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, 700 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55155
Barbara A. Bintliff, Reporter, University of Colorado School of Law, 424 Wolf Law Building, 401 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309-0401
Lucy Thompson, ABA Advisor, Science and Technology Section, 915 North Quaker Lane, Alexandria, VA 22302
Phyllis B. Pickett, ABA Section Advisor, Science and Technology Section, 301 N. Salisbury Street, Suite 401, Raleigh, NC 27603
This committee will prepare and act that provides guidance to states on authenticating and preserving state electronic legal materials.
Drafting Committee on a Certificate of Title Act for Boats
Esson Miller, Jr., Chair, Division of Legislative Services, 910 Capitol St., 2d Floor, Richmond, VA 23219
Stephen L. Sepinuck, Reporter, Gonzaga University School of Law, 721 N. Cincinnati, PO Box 3528, Spokane, WA 99220-3528
David McIntosh Williams, ABA Advisor, Business Law Section, Gorman & Williams, Ste 900, 36 S. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-3114
M. Michael Daly, ABA Section Advisor, Tort, Trial and Insurance Practice Section, Pierce Atwood LLP, 10 Weybosset St.,Floor 4, Providence, RI 02903-2818
This committee will draft an act establishing a certificate of title system for boats. Many states do not have certificate of title laws governing watercraft, and those that do have considerable differences in terms. The committee will coordinate its work with the United States Coast Guard and developments concerning the Coast Guard’s vessel identification and documentation systems. The committee will present a draft for initial consideration at the July 2010 Annual Meeting and is expected to present its act for final approval in July 2011.
Drafting Committee on Electronic Recordation of Custodial Interrogations
David A. Gibson, Chair, P.O. Box 1767, Brattleboro, VT 05302
Andrew Taslitz, Reporter, Howard University School of Law, 2900 Van Ness Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008
Paul Giannelli, ABA Advisor, Criminal Justice Section, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, 11075 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106
Anne Swern, ABA Section Advisor, Criminal Justice Section, Kings County District Attorney Office, 350 Jay St., Floor 19, Brooklyn, NY 11201-2904
This committee will draft an act addressing the issue of the use of audio and/or video electronic devices to record law enforcement officers’ interviews of criminal suspects who are in custody. The committee presented a draft for initial consideration at the July 2009 Annual Meeting and is expected to present its act for final approval in July 2010.
Drafting Committee on a Faithful Presidential Electors Act
Susan Kelly Nichols, Chair, North Carolina Department of Justice, P.O. Box 629, Raleigh, NC 27602-0629
Robert Bennett, Reporter, Northwestern University School of Law, 357 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611
John Hardin Young, ABA Advisor, Administrative Law Section, 300 M Street, SE, Suite 1102, Washington, DC 20006
This committee will draft an act providing a state statutory remedy in the event a state presidential elector fails to vote in accordance with the voters of his or her state. The committee presented a draft for initial consideration at the July 2009 Annual Meeting and is expected to present its act for final approval in July 2010.
Drafting Committee on the Uniform International Choice of Court Agreements Act
Rex Blackburn, Chair, P.O. Box 70 (83707), 1221 W. Idaho St., Boise, ID 83702
H. Kathleen Patchel, Co-Reporter, Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis, 5715 E. 56th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46226
Louise Ellen Teitz, Co-Reporter, Roger Williams University School of Law, Ten Metacom Avenue, Bristol, RI 02809
Guy Stanford Lipe, ABA Advisor, International Law Section, 1001 Fannin Street, Suite 2500, Houston, TX 77002
This drafting committee, at the request of the U.S. State Department, will draft uniform state legislation and appropriate declarations and understandings to assist in the implementation and ratification of the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. The committee presented a draft for initial consideration at the July 2009 Annual Meeting and is expected to present its act for final approval in July 2010.
Drafting Committee on Harmonization of Unincorporated Business Entity Acts
Harry J. Haynsworth, IV, Chair, 2200 IDS Center, 80 S. 8th St., Minneapolis, MN 55402
Carter G. Bishop, Co-Reporter, Suffolk University Law School, 120 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02108-4977
Daniel S. Kleinberger, Co-Reporter, William Mitchell College of Law, 875 Summit Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105
Robert R. Keatinge, ABA Advisor, Real Property Trusts and Estate Law Section, 555 17th St., Suite 3200, Denver, CO 80202-3979
Allan G. Donn, ABA Section Advisor, Business Law Section, One Commercial Place, Suite 1800, Norfolk, VA 23510
William J. Callison, ABA Section Advisor, 3200 Wells Fargo Center, 1700 Lincoln Street, Denver, CO 80203
William S. Forsberg, ABA Section Advisor, Real Property Trusts and Estate Law Section, 150 S. Fifth Street, Suite 2300, Minneapolis, MN 55402-4238
Barry B. Nekritz, ABA Section Advisor, Real Property Trusts and Estate Law Section, 8000 Sears Tower, 233 S. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606
Jim Wheaton, ABA Section Advisor, Business Law Section, 222 Central Park Ave., Suite 2000, Virginia Beach, VA 23462
This Committee will work to harmonize provisions of the various unincorporated business entity acts already promulgated by the ULC, such as the Uniform Partnership Act, the Uniform Limited Partnership Act, the Limited Liability Company Act, the Limited Cooperative Association Act, the Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act, and the soon to the promulgated Uniform Statutory Trust Entity Act. The committee will present a draft for initial consideration at the July 2010 Annual Meeting and is expected to present its act for final approval in July 2011.
Drafting Committee on a Uniform Insurable Interests Relating to Trusts Act
Roger C. Henderson, Chair, 5861 N. Paseo Niquel, Tucson, AZ 85718
Robert H. Jerry, II, Reporter, Frederic G. Levin College of Law, S.W. 2nd Ave. at S.W. 25th St., Gainesville, FL 32611
David S. Neufeld, ABA Advisor, Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, 555 US Highway 1 South, Suite 230, Iselin, NJ 08830
Donald O. Jansen, ABA Section Advisor, Section of Taxation, 1301 McKinney St., Suite 5100, Houston, TX 77010
This committee will draft an act to address concerns regarding the purchase of life insurance trusts by trustees as it relates to insurable interest law. Life insurance trusts are a standard estate planning tool because proceeds of an irrevocable life insurance trust are not subject to estate taxes. Recent case law has raised the possible need for uniform law on insurable interests. The scope of the project is narrow and might be drafted within the Uniform Trust Code or as a free-standing act. The committee presented a draft for initial consideration at the July 2009 Annual Meeting and is expected to present its act for final approval in July 2010.
Drafting Committee on a Military Services and Overseas Civilian Absentee Voters Act
Steve Wilborn, Chair, 306 Tower Drive, Shelbyville, KY 40065
Steven F. Huefner, Reporter, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University, 55 West 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210
John Dewitt Altenburg, ABA Advisor, GreenBerg Traurig LLP, 2101 L St. NW, Suite 1001, Washington, DC 20037-1526
John C. Keeney, ABA Advisor, Hogan & Hartson LLP, 555 13th St. NW, Suite 10w-206, Washington, DC 20004-1109
This committee will draft uniform state legislation that will simplify the process of absentee voting for United States military and overseas civilians by making the process more uniform, convenient, secure and efficient. The committee presented a draft for initial consideration at the July 2009 Annual Meeting and is expected to present its act for final approval in July 2010.
Drafting Committee to Revise the Model State Administrative Procedure Act
Francis Pavetti, Chair, 18 The Strand, Goshen Point, Waterford, CT 06385
Greg Ogden, Reporter, Pepperdine University School of Law, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90263
Ronald M. Levin, ABA Advisor, Administrative Law Section, Washington University School of Law, Campus Box 1120, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130
Rose Mary Bailly, ABA Section Advisor, State and Local Government Section, 80 New Scotland Rd., Albany, NY 12208
Larry Craddock, ABA Section Advisor, Judicial Division, 2601 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78705
Edwin L Felter, Jr., ABA Section Advisor, Judicial Division, 633 17th Street, Suite 1300, Denver, CO 80202
Julian Mann, III, ABA Section Advisor, National Conference of Administrative Law Judges, 1711 New Hope Church, Raleigh, NC 27609
Edward J. Schoenbaum, ABA Section Advisor, National Conference of Administrative Law Judges, 1108 S. Grand Ave. W, Springfield, IL 62704
This committee is revising the 1980 Model State Administrative Procedures Act, which provided procedures for promulgating administrative regulations and for adjudicating disputes before administrative bodies. A revision is necessary to update the act to recognize electronic communications and other state procedural innovations since the act was originally promulgated. Drafts on this topic have been considered at previous Annual Meetings and it is expected that the committee will present a draft for final approval in July 2010.
Drafting Committee to Revise the Uniform Law on Notarial Acts
Patricia Brumfield Fry, Chair, 4102 Cedar Crest Dr., Columbia, MO 65203
Arthur Gaudio, Reporter, Western New England College School of Law, 1215 Wilbraham Road, Springfield, MA 01119
James C. Wine, ABA Advisor, Real Property Trust and Estate Law Section, 700 Walnut St., Ste. 1600, Des Moines, IA 50309
David Ewan, ABA Section Advisor, Science and Technology Section, New Jersey Title Insurance Company, 400 Lanidex Plaza, 2nd Floor, Parsippany, NJ 07054
The purpose of this drafting committee is to revise the 1982 Uniform Law on Notarial Acts. The charge is limited to drafting revisions with respect to notary responsibilities, electronic recording, interstate recognition, and remedies. The committee presented a draft for initial consideration at the July 2009 Annual Meeting and is expected to present its act for final approval in July 2010.
Drafting Committee on an Oversight of Charitable Assets Act
K. King Burnett, Chair, P.O. Box 910, Salisbury, MD 21803-0910
Laura Brown Chisolm, Reporter, Case Western Reserve University School of Law, 11075 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH 44106
Betsy Buchalter Adler, ABA Advisor, Section of Taxation, 235 Montgomery St., Ste. 1220, San Francisco, CA 94104
Susan N. Gary, ABA Section Advisor, Real Property Estate and Trust Law Section, University of Oregon School of Law, 1515 Agate Street, Eugene, OR 97403
Lisa A. Runquist, ABA Section Advisor, Business Law Section, Runquist & Associates, 17554 Community Street, Northridge, CA 91325-3922
Cynthia Rowland, ABA Section Advisor, Business Law Section, One Ferry Building, Suite 200, San Francisco, CA 94111-4213
This committee will draft an act to address state oversight of charitable assets. The committee will focus on state attorneys general authority with regard to the protection of charitable assets, notice requirements, remedies, and principles to guide attorneys general in interstate and multi-state cases. The committee will present a draft for initial consideration at the July 2010 Annual Meeting and is expected to present its act for final approval in July 2011.
Drafting Committee on a Partition of Inherited Real Property Act
Robert L. McCurley, Chair, Alabama Law Institute, P.O. Box 861425, Tuscaloosa, AL 35486
Thomas W. Mitchell, Reporter, University of Wisconsin Law School, 975 Bascom Mall, Madison, WI 53706
Phyliss Craig-Taylor, ABA Advisor, Litigation Section, Charlotte School of Law, 1211 E. Moorehead St., Charlotte, NC 28204
Steven J. Eagle, ABA Section Advisor, Real Property Trust and Estate Law Section and State and Local Government Section, George Mason University School of Law, 3301 Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA 22201
The purpose of this committee is to draft a uniform act that will address the issue of tenancy-in-common land ownership. Tenancy in common is a type of joint ownership without right of survivorship. When there is no right of survivorship, the death of a tenant in common can trigger an action to partition the land to satisfy the deceased tenant’s heirs. In a partition, the land is sold to satisfy tenant in common interests, often in a sale that does not meet market value. This committee will draft a new law to protect vulnerable landowners by providing a buy-out option; balancing factors for judges on partition of real property; sale price minimums if dispossession occurs; and a waiting period of up to three years for strangers to title. The committee presented a draft for initial consideration at the July 2009 Annual Meeting and is expected to present its act for final approval in July 2010.
Drafting Committee on a Protection of Genetic Information in Employment and Insurance Act
D. Joe Willis, Chair, 549 SW Mill View Way, Suite 100, Bend, OR 97702
Ellen Deason, Reporter, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, 55 W. 12th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210
Peter J. Gillespie, ABA Advisor, Baker & McKenzie, 130 E. Randolph Street, Suite 3500, One Prudential Plaza, Chicago, IL 60601
Robyn S. Shapiro, ABA Advisor, Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section, 777 East Wisconsin Ave, Suite 2000, Milwaukee, WI 53202
This committee will draft uniform or model legislation on the use of genetic information in the context of employment and life, disability and long-term care insurance. The committee is currently drafting a free-standing act on the use of genetic information in employment that will focus in part on state law implementation of provisions similar to those in the federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. Drafts on the use of genetic information in employment have been considered at previous Annual Meetings and it is expected that the committee will present a draft for final approval in July 2010. After the Annual Meeting, determinations will be made concerning the portion of the project directed at the use of genetic information in life, disability and long-term care insurance.
Joint Review Committee for UCC Article 9
Edwin E. Smith, Chair, Bingham McCuthchen LLP, 1 Federal Street, 30th Floor, Boston, MA 02110
Steven L. Harris, Reporter, Chicago-Kent College of Law, 565 West Adams Street, Chicago, IL 60661
Carolan E. Berkley, ALI Member, 2600 One Commerce Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Gail K. Hillebrand, ALI Member, Consumers Union, 1535 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Charles W. Mooney, Jr., ALI Member, University of Pennsylvania Law School, 3400 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Harry C. Sigman, ALI Member, American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers, P.O. Box 67608, Los Angeles, CA 90067-0608
Steven O. Weise, ALI Member, Proskauer Rose LLP, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 3200, Los Angeles, CA 90067
Stephen L Sepinuck, ABA Advisor, Business Law Section, Gonzaga University School of Law, PO Box 3528,Spokane, WA 99220-3528
John Francis Hilson, ABA Section Advisor, Business Law Section, Paul Hastings, Floor 25, 515 S Flower St., Ste 2400, Los Angeles, CA 90071-2229
This joint ALI/ULC committee will draft specific revisions of UCC Article 9 to address specific issues that a study committee has already identified as needing statutory revision. The issues that the committee will address are those as to which ambiguities have been discovered in existing statutory language, where there have been substantial problems in practice in applying current statutory provisions, or as to which there have been significant judicial decisions or non-uniform amendments that suggest the need to consider statutory revisions. The committee presented a draft for initial consideration at the July 2009 Annual Meeting and is expected to present its act for final approval in July 2010. The draft also will be considered at the ALI Annual Meeting in May 2010.
Drafting Committee on Visitation and Custody Issues Affecting Military Personnel and Their Families
Paul M. Kurtz, Chair, University of Georgia School of Law, Athens, GA, 30602-6012
Maxine Eichner, Reporter, University of North Carolina School of Law, Ridge Road, Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, CB #3380, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
James Higdon, ABA Advisor, Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division, Higdon, Hardy & Zuflacht, LLP, 1200 Huebner Road, Suite 200, San Antonio, TX 78230-1201
Jean Crowe, ABA Section Advisor, Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division, 300 Deaderick Street, Nashville, TN 37201
Mark Eugene Sullivan, ABA Section Advisor, Family Law Section, 2626 Glenwood Avenue, Suite 195, Raleigh, NC 27608
This committee will prepare an act that provides standards and procedures for resolving visitation and custody issues affecting military personnel and their families, which may include resolution of matters in intrastate, interstate, and international contexts. The committee will have its first meeting in the spring of 2010 and is expected to present a draft for first reading at the 2011 Annual Meeting.
OTHER PROJECTS
Committee to Implement the UN E-Commerce Convention
Henry Deeb Gabriel, Jr., Chair, Elon University School of Law, 201 North Greene Street, Greensboro, NC 27401
D. Benjamin Beard, Reporter, University of Idaho College of Law, 6th & Rayburn, P.O. Box 442321, Moscow, ID 83844-2321
Thomas J Smedinghoff, ABA Advisor, Science and Technology Section, Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon, Floor 26, 225 W Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606-1349
Amelia H. Boss, ABA Section Advisor, Business Law Section, Drexel University School of Law, 3320 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Behnam Dayanim, ABA Section Advisor, Section of International Law, 875 15th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005
Richard L. Field, ABA Section Advisor, Section of Science and Technology, 755 Anderson Avenue, Suite #4A, Cliffside Park, NJ 07010
Howard Philip Walthall, Jr., ABA Section Advisor, Section of Intellectual Property Law, 420 20th Street N., Birmingham, AL 35203
The E-Commerce Convention impacts the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and the federal E-Sign legislation. This committee will recommend the most appropriate methods for implementing the Convention, including whether any federal or uniform state legislation is necessary, and then will work with the United States Departments of State and Commerce, and other interested entities, in preparing any necessary uniform state or federal legislation and in seeking to obtain United States Senate advice and consent to the Convention. This committee presented an interim report at the July 2009 Annual Meeting and is expected to present a final report in July 2010.
Joint Drafting Committee for Implementation of the UN Convention on Independent Guarantees and Stand-by Letters of Credit
Edwin E. Smith, Chair, 1 Federal St., 30th Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1726
Mireille France Blanchard, Canadian Chair, International Private Law Section, East Memorial Bldg., Room 5304, 284 Wellington, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8
Elias Mansur, Mexican Chair, Socrates 207, Polanco 11560 Mexico City, Mexico
James J. White, Reporter, University of Michigan Law School, 625 S. State St., Room 1035, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1215
Peter Winship, ABA Advisor, International Law Section, Southern Methodist University School of Law, P.O. Box 750116, Dallas, TX 75275
Luis F. Moreno, ABA Section Advisor, Real Property Trust and Estate Law Section, Haynes and Boone S.C., Blv. Manuel Avila Camacho, #40-1801, Lomas de Chapulta, Mexico City, Mexico 11000
James E. Byrne, ABA Section Advisor, Business Law Section, 20405 Ryecroft Court, P.O. Box 2235, Gaithersburg, MD 20886
Rueben C. Casarez, ALI Representative, Wells Fargo Bank, 1500 Waugh Dr., Houston, TX 77019
George A. Hisert, ALI Representative, Bingham McCutchen LLP, Three Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA 94111
This committee will work with the American Law Institute, the Uniform Law Conference of Canada and the Mexican Center for Uniform Laws to draft language to implement the UN Convention on Independent Guarantees and Stand-by Letters of Credit, and to assist Canada in developing letter-of-credit law consistent with UCC Article 5. The Convention is designed to facilitate the use of independent guarantees and stand-by letters of credit, in particular where only one or the other of these instruments may be traditionally in use. This committee presented a report at the July 2009 Annual Meeting and is expected to complete its work early in 2010.
Committee on the Hague Securities Convention
Carl S. Bjerre, University of Oregon School of Law, 1515 Agate Street, Eugene, OR 97403
Curtis R. Reitz, University of Pennsylvania Law School, 2401 Pennsylvania Ave., Unit 9c45, Philadelphia, PA 19130
This committee will work with the U.S. Department of State to assist in the implementation and ratification of the Hague Convention on Securities Held by Intermediaries and to ensure proper interface between the provisions of the Convention and of Articles 8 and 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code.
NEW DRAFTING COMMITTEES ESTABLISHED JANUARY 2010
In January 2010, the ULC Scope and Program Committee and the Executive Committee approved the establishment of the following two new drafting committees. ULC President Robert Stein intends to complete appointment of the chair and members of these committees by early March, 2010, and the process of obtaining the appointment of ABA Advisors and ABA Section Advisors has begun. Those interested in becoming observers to any of these drafting committees should contact ULC Executive Director John Sebert [john.sebert@nccusl.org; 312-450-6600]. These drafting committees may meet by conference call in the spring of 2010, but the first in-person meeting of these committees will not occur until the fall of 2010 or the first half of 2011.
Drafting Committee on a Marital and Premarital Agreements Act
This Committee will draft an act that provides standards and procedural requirements concerning the scope and enforceability of marital and premarital agreements between persons in legally recognized relationships. This project was jointly recommended by the JEBs on Family Law and Trusts and Estates Law.
Drafting Committee on a Manufactured Housing Act
The uncertainty about whether a manufactured home is characterized as “personal” or “real” property creates significant impediments to the financing of manufactured homes, particularly upon resale or attempts to re-finance, and also makes it difficult to securitize debt secured by manufactured homes. This Committee will draft an act on manufactured housing that will alleviate those problems and address at least the following issues: the appropriate characterization of manufactured housing as either personal property or real property, including in particular the point in time at which an interest in manufactured housing converts from a personal property interest to a real property interest; whether the fact that manufactured housing is located on leased land affects that characterization; the continued priority and appropriate characterization of security interests in manufactured housing after conversion; and appropriate transition provisions.