American Law Institute

The American Law Institute (ALI) was traditionally an independent, scholarly institution but now participates more in advocacy, proposing novel liability expansion.

The Problem

The American Law Institute (ALI) was traditionally an independent, scholarly institution but now participates more in advocacy, proposing novel liability expansion.

The ALI has proposed numerous restatements in recent years that go beyond simply restating an established area of common law but instead proposing rules to advance particular policy agendas.

Recent problematic proposed restatements include:
– Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts
– Restatement of Torts, Third: Concluding Provisions

ATRA’s Position

ALI’s mission appears to have shifted over the past decade from that of a scholarly institution that was safely above the fray in broader policy disputes, to that of an advocacy group proposing novel expansions in liability law.

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American Law Institute News and Press

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Trial Lawyers Just Rewrote Centuries-old Contract Law

This op-ed was originally published by the Washington Examiner. ...

Controversial Restatement Adopted by American Law Institute

Today, during its annual meeting, the American Law Institute (ALI) voted t...

ALI Oversteps With Expansive Restatement Of Contract Law

This op-ed was originally published by Law360. Once considered...

Search Resources

Search through all of ATRA's Amicus Briefs, Reports, and Other Resources around American Law Institute
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States
Status
Post Types
Date
Antero Resources Corp. v. Strudley
(Co., filed June 2014): Arguing that Colorado courts should be allowed to enter Lone Pine orders requiring plaintiffs in toxic tort and complicated pr...
Colorado
  • Court Ruled Against ATRA's Position iconCourt Ruled Against ATRA's Position
Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Ins. Co.
(Cal., filed June 2014): Arguing that an award of attorney fees should not be included in the calculation of the ratio of punitive to compensatory dam...
California
  • Court Granted Cert iconCourt Granted Cert
Nevada v. Wyeth
(Nev., filed August 2014):  Urging the Court to hear Wyeth’s appeal of the lower court’s decision allowing for outside counsel to represent the state ...
Nevada
  • Case Settled iconCase Settled
BP Exploration & Production Incorporated, et al. v. Lake Eugenie Land & Development, Incorporated, et al.,
No. 14-123 (U.S., filed September 2014):  Urging the United States Supreme Court to hear BP’s appeal of critical class action issues stemming from the...
SCOTUS
  • Court Denied Cert iconCourt Denied Cert
Dummitt v. Crane Co.
(N.Y., filed September 2014): Arguing that, Defendants are only responsible for harms caused by their own products and do not have a duty to warn abou...
New York
  • Court Ruled Against ATRA's Position iconCourt Ruled Against ATRA's Position
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. The Super. Ct. of S.F. Cnty.
(Cal., filed September 2014): Arguing that it is improper for California courts to exercise specific personal jurisdiction over a company that has no ...
California
  • Court Granted Cert iconCourt Granted Cert
Mobil Co. v. Johnson
(Fl. Distr. Ct. of Appeal of 4th Distr., filed October 2014): Arguing that in any toxic tort case, it is important to assess the dose received by the ...
Florida
  • Case Settled iconCase Settled
Nissan Motor Co. v. Maddox
(KY, filed in October 2014): Arguing that it is improper to award punitive damages to a plaintiff who was injured by a product that met government reg...
Kentucky
  • Court Ruled in Favor of ATRA's Position iconCourt Ruled in Favor of ATRA's Position
BP In Re Deepwater Horizon
(US Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, filed in December 2014): Arguing that claims administrators should be subject to the same standards of impartiality...
5th Circuit
  • Case Settled iconCase Settled
Rost v. Ford
(Penn., filed in January of 2015):  Arguing that a plaintiff in an asbestos action cannot satisfy the burden of establishing substantial-factor causat...
Pennsylvania
  • Court Ruled Against ATRA's Position iconCourt Ruled Against ATRA's Position



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