Daily Update - Tuesday, May 17 | American Law Institute

2022 Annual Meeting

Daily Update - Tuesday, May 17

What Happened Today at the Annual Meeting – Tuesday Edition

Today’s Meeting began with a presentation of the Distinguished Service Award to Steven O. Weise of Proskauer. Learn more about Weise and the award here.

The first project session of the day was Consumer Contracts. Council member Diane P. Wood joined Reporters Oren Bar-Gill, Omri Ben-Shahar, and Florencia Marotta-Wurgler on the dais, where they presented Tentative Draft No. 2. This draft contains the entire project.

Actions Taken*

A motion to amend the Restatement by adding a new § 2 on interpretation and construction, and then renumbering subsequent Sections passed.

A motion to amend § 2. Adoption of Standard Contract Terms failed.

A motion to amend § 3. Modification of Standard Contract Terms failed.

A motion to remove entirely § 6. Deception failed.

A motion to amend § 9(a) was withdrawn following the suggested revisions discussed during the project session by the membership.

A motion to amend § 9(b) was withdrawn, after the Reporters agreed to address the concerns raised by the motion in § 9 Comments.

A motion to remove any new language added to § 1 on reasonableness, §1(c), and current § 2, from inclusion in the Boskey Motion did not pass. Membership voted to approve Tentative Draft No. 2, subject to the approved motion to add a new § 2, discussion at the Meeting and the usual editorial prerogative.

The afternoon continued with Model Penal Code: Sexual Assault and Related Offenses, where Reporter Stephen Schulhofer was joined by Council member Lee H. Rosenthal to present Tentative Draft No. 6.

Actions Taken*

A motion to amend the definition of “consent” passed.

A motion to remove entirely a definition of “consent” failed.

A motion to amend a portion of § 213.9(2)(a)(ii) failed.

A motion to amend § 213.9(5) failed.

A submitted motion to amend the definition of “coercion” to include “psychological threat of legal pressure” was agreed to by the Reporter and received no opposition from ALI members.

A motion to amend §§ 213.9(3) and (4) was split to consider separate motions:

The first part of the motion to make §§ 213.9(3) and (4) registrable failed.
The second part of the motion to change the grading of 213.9(4) to a felony of the third degree with a ten-year maximum sentence failed.

A motion to amend § 213.11A. Registration for Law-Enforcement Purposes to add a new subsection (e) passed.

A motion to amend § 213.11H. Access to Registry Information was split to consider separate motions:

The first part of the motion to edit (a)(ii) failed.
The second part of the motion to add a new subsection (a)(iv) and renumber existing (a)(iv) to (a)(v) failed.
The third part of the motion to add a new subsection (a)(vi) failed.
The fourth part of the motion to add a new subsection (b) and (b)(i) failed.

An additional series of motions on § 213.11 was agreed to by the Reporter and received no opposition from ALI members, and subsequently passed:

213.11 to add a new subsection (5);
213.11A to add a new subsection (4);
213.11D to add a new subsection (5); and
213.11D to delete subsection (1)(g).

A motion to withdraw in its entirely the revised Article 213 of the Model Penal Code from publication was discussed; members were instructed that in order to support the motion they should reject the motion to approve the draft. Membership voted to approve Tentative Draft No. 6, subject to the amendments that were approved at the Meeting and the usual editorial prerogative.

The last project of the day was Corporate Governance. Reporter Edward B. Rock and Associate Reporters Jill Fisch and Marcel Kahan were joined by Council Member John B. Bellinger. This was the first time this project was presented to the membership at an Annual Meeting. Tentative Draft No. 1 contains Sections from Chapter 1, Definitions; Chapter 2, The Objective of a Corporation; Chapter 4, Duty of Care and the Business Judgment Rule; and Chapter 5, Duty of Loyalty.

Actions Taken*

Members voted to approve §§ 1.10, 1.23, 1.24, and 2.01 of Tentative Draft No. 1. Part Two of this project session is scheduled to reconvene tomorrow morning.

At the Annual Dinner, Raymond J. Lohier Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit presented the Henry J. Friendly Medal to U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

Judge Lohier praised Attorney General Garland’s generosity and long service to the administration of justice when presenting the award. In his acceptance of the award, Attorney General Garland reflected on his time as Judge Friendly’s law clerk, and how he has carried lessons learned at that time throughout his career. He also addressed the recent tragedy in Buffalo, N.Y., and reiterated the Department of Justice’s dedication to conducting a thorough and expeditious investigation.

In addition to the presentation of the Henry J. Friendly Medal to Attorney General Garland, the Annual Dinner featured an after-dinner keynote discussion between ALI Council member John B. Bellinger III of Arnold & Porter and Diane Orentlicher of American University, Washington College of Law about the international and domestic law issues relating to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and discussed the possibility of an indictment of Russian President Putin, for international war crimes.

Videos of events will be available soon.

*All approvals by membership at the Annual Meeting are subject to the discussion at the Meeting and usual editorial prerogative.