National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws
Encyclopedia
Commissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
s appointed by each state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
. The purpose of the organization is to discuss and debate in which areas of law there should be uniformity among the states and territories and to draft acts accordingly. The results of these discussions are proposed to the various jurisdictions as model legislation or uniform act
Uniform Act
In the United States, a Uniform Act is a proposed state law drafted by the U.S. Uniform Law Commission and approved by its sponsor, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws ....
s. NCCUSL is best known for its work on the landmark Uniform Commercial Code
Uniform Commercial Code
The Uniform Commercial Code , first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been promulgated in conjunction with efforts to harmonize the law of sales and other commercial transactions in all 50 states within the United States of America.The goal of harmonizing state law is...
(UCC), drafted in conjunction with the American Law Institute
American Law Institute
The American Law Institute was established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of American common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. The ALI drafts, approves, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, model codes, and other proposals for law...
. NCCUSL headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois.
The NCCUSL sponsors the U.S. Uniform Law Commission (ULC), and is commonly referred to by that name due to confusion with the similarly named National Conference of State Legislatures
National Conference of State Legislatures
The National Conference of State Legislatures is a bipartisan non-governmental organization established in 1975 to serve the members and staff of state legislatures of the United States...
(NCSL), a separate organization composed of every U.S. state legislator and legislative staff member, who are automatically NCSL members. By contrast, the NCCUSL has a more limited membership of approximately 300. All of its members are lawyers who also serve as legislators, state and federal judges, or legal scholars. Each is appointed to the Commission by the government of their respective state or territory.
The current Conference President is Michael Houghton of Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
, the Chair of the Conference's Executive Committeee is Harriet Lansing of Michigan, and the Chair of the Scope and Program Committee is Richard Cassidy of Vermont. Robert Stein (academic)
Robert Stein (academic)
Robert A. Stein is Everett Fraser Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota. A noted scholar of estate planning, Stein was previously William Pattee Professor and Dean at the University of Minnesota Law School, from which he received his law degree in 1961...
of Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
is the immediate past President.
History
The uniform law movement began in the latter half of the 19th century. The Alabama State Bar Association recognized as early as 1881 that wide variations in law between separate states often created confusion. In 1889 the New York Bar Association appointed a special committee on uniformity of laws. In 1890 the New York Legislature authorized the then-Governor of New York, Roswell Flower, to appoint three commissioners "to examine certain subjects of national importance that seemed to show conflict among the laws of the several commonwealths, to ascertain the best means to effect an assimilation or uniformity in the laws of the states and territories, and especially whether it would be advisable for the State of New York to invite the other states of the Union to send representatives to a convention to draft uniform laws to be submitted for approval and adoption by the several states." The American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
held its 12th Annual Meeting the same year and adopted a resolution recommending each state provide for commissioners to confer with the commissioners of other states on the uniformity of legislation on certain subjects.
In August 1892, the first session of the Conference was held at the Grand Union Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. The gathering took place before the annual summer meeting of the American Bar Association, a tradition which continues to this day. The gathering brought together delegates from seven states: Delaware, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. They titled themselves the "Conference of the State Boards of Commissioners on Promoting Uniformity of Law in the U.S." By 1912, every state was participating in the Conference. The United States Virgin Islands
United States Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
was the last jurisdiction to join, appointing its first commissioner in 1988.
In each year of service, the ULC has steadily increased its contribution to state and territorial law. It quickly became known as a distinguished body of lawyers. In 1912 Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
became a member. Several commissioners later became Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States: Louis Brandeis
Louis Brandeis
Louis Dembitz Brandeis ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish immigrant parents who raised him in a secular mode...
, Wiley Blount Rutledge
Wiley Blount Rutledge
Wiley Blount Rutledge, Jr. was an American educator, lawyer, and justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.-Early life:...
, and William H. Rehnquist. Several noted legal scholars have also been members, e.g. John Wigmore, Samuel Williston
Samuel Williston
Samuel Williston was an American lawyer and law professor.Early in Williston's career, from 1888 to 1889 he worked as the private secretary to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray. In the summer of 1889, he helped to collate laws from various U.S...
, Roscoe Pound
Roscoe Pound
Nathan Roscoe Pound was a distinguished American legal scholar and educator. He was Dean of Harvard Law School from 1916 to 1936...
, and John Bogart. The distinguished membership of the ULC has helped to ensure the quality of its work and made it enormously influential.
In 1940 the Conference moved to dispel confusion in U.S. commercial law with a comprehensive solution. This project led the ULC to partner with the American Law Institute to create the Uniform Commercial Code
Uniform Commercial Code
The Uniform Commercial Code , first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been promulgated in conjunction with efforts to harmonize the law of sales and other commercial transactions in all 50 states within the United States of America.The goal of harmonizing state law is...
(UCC). The Code took ten years to complete. After another 14 years it had been enacted in every state. It remains the signature product of the Conference.
Since its organization, the Conference has drafted more than 200 uniform laws on numerous subjects and in various fields of law, setting patterns for uniformity across the nation. Today the Conference is recognized primarily for its work in commercial law, family law, the law of probate and estates, the law of business organizations, health law, and conflicts of law; it rarely drafts regulatory law. Uniform acts include the Uniform Probate Code, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, the Uniform Partnership Act, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, the Uniform Limited Partnership Act, and the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.
Procedure for drafting and promulgating proposed uniform laws
"It must be emphasized that the Conference can only propose—no uniform law is effective until a state legislature adopts it."It takes years for the Conference to create a uniform act
Uniform Act
In the United States, a Uniform Act is a proposed state law drafted by the U.S. Uniform Law Commission and approved by its sponsor, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws ....
or model act
Model act
In the United States a model act is statutory text, typically drafted by the Uniform Law Commission , that is meant to serve as a guide for subsequent legislation...
. The Scope and Program Committee, which initiates the agenda of the Conference, investigates each proposed act and then reports to the Executive Committee with its recommendations. If the Executive Committee approves a recommendation a drafting committee of commissioners is appointed. Drafting committees meet throughout the year. Tentative drafts are not submitted to the entire Conference until they have received extensive committee review and consideration.
Draft acts are then submitted for initial debate of the entire Conference at its annual meeting. Each act must be considered section by section at no less than two annual meetings by all commissioners sitting as a Committee of the Whole. The commissioners offer amendments and corrections to the text. It is rare for a draft act to leave an annual meeting in the same form as it was initially presented.
Once the Committee of the Whole approves an act it is presented for a vote by the states. Each of the 53 state and territory delegations caucuses its members and casts one vote. The proposed act must be approved by no less than 20 jurisdictions and by a majority of the states and territories present before it can be officially adopted as a uniform or model act.
At this point the act is officially promulgated for consideration by the states and territories. Legislatures are urged to adopt uniform acts exactly as written to "promote uniformity in the law among the jurisdictions adopting the act." Model acts are designed to serve as a guideline for legislation that states and territories can borrow from or adapt to suit their individual needs and conditions.
Once an act is adopted by the Conference, it is presented to the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association for its endorsement. Upon its endorsement, the Legislative Council of the Conference advocates the adoption of the act in the various states and territories.
The work of the Conference simplifies the legal life of businesses and individuals by providing rules and procedures that are consistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Representing both state and territorial government and the legal profession, it has sought to bring uniformity to the divergent legal traditions of 53 sovereign jurisdictions, and has done so with significant success.
Financial Support
The major portion of financial support for the Conference comes from state and territorial government appropriations. Expenses are apportioned among the member jurisdictions by means of an annual assessment based on population.The Conference's minimal budget is sufficient because most of its legal expertise is donated by the commissioners. The only compensation they receive is the satisfaction derived from solving important legal problems. Commissioners devote thousands of hours—amounting in some cases to millions of dollars worth of time—to the development of uniform and model acts. No jurisdiction could afford the cost of this legal expertise on its own.
Notable U.S. Uniform Law Commissioners
- John Bogart, law professor
- Louis BrandeisLouis BrandeisLouis Dembitz Brandeis ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish immigrant parents who raised him in a secular mode...
, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesAssociate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States... - John W. DavisJohn W. DavisJohn William Davis was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served as a United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and US Ambassador to the UK under President Woodrow Wilson...
, Solicitor GeneralUnited States Solicitor GeneralThe United States Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States. The current Solicitor General, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 2011 and sworn in on June...
, Ambassador to the United KingdomUnited States Ambassador to the United KingdomThe office of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom was traditionally, and still is very much so today due to the Special Relationship, the most prestigious position in the United States Foreign Service...
, DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
1924 presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 1924The United States presidential election of 1924 was won by incumbent President Calvin Coolidge, the Republican candidate.Coolidge was vice-president under Warren G. Harding and became president in 1923 when Harding died in office. Coolidge was given credit for a booming economy at home and no...
nominee - Robinson O. EverettRobinson O. EverettRobinson O. Everett was an American lawyer, judge and a professor of law at Duke University.Everett was born in Durham, North Carolina, to a family of lawyers: his grandfather and both of his parents being noted North Carolina attorneys...
, prominent attorney, jurist, and law professor - Ernst FreundErnst FreundErnst Freund was a noted American legal scholar. He received a Dr. Jur. from the University of Heidelberg ; a Ph. D. in political science from Columbia University He was professor of political science at the University of Chicago and professor of law at Chicago . He was John P...
, law professor - Anne Gorsuch, Administrator of the Environmental Protection AgencyAdministrator of the Environmental Protection AgencyThe Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is the head of the United States federal government's Environmental Protection Agency, and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation's Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, as well as numerous other environmental statutes. The Administrator is...
- Judd GreggJudd GreggJudd Alan Gregg is a former Governor of New Hampshire and former United States Senator from New Hampshire, who served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. He is a member of the Republican Party and was a businessman and attorney in Nashua before entering politics...
, United States SenatorUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each... - Albert E. Jenner, Jr.Albert E. Jenner, Jr.Albert Ernest Jenner, Jr. was an American lawyer and one of the name partners at the law firm of Jenner & Block. He served as assistant counsel to the Warren Commission; as a member of the U.S...
, prominent Chicago attorney with the firm of Jenner & BlockJenner & BlockJenner & Block is a U.S. law firm with offices in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. Approximately 450 attorneys serve a wide range of clients in corporate litigation, business transactions, and in the public sector. Jerold S. Solovy was the longtime Chair of the firm, but on Sept... - James M. LandisJames M. LandisJames McCauley Landis was an American academic, government official and legal adviser.-Biography:Landis was born in Tokyo, Japan, where his parents were teachers at a missionary school...
, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Civil Aeronautics Board - John H. LangbeinJohn H. LangbeinJohn H. Langbein is the Sterling Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale Law School. He is an expert in the fields of trusts and estates, comparative law, and Anglo-American legal history....
, law professor - Karl N. LlewellynKarl N. LlewellynKarl Nickerson Llewellyn was a prominent American jurisprudential scholar associated with the school of legal realism. The Journal of Legal Studies has identified Llewellyn as one of the twenty most cited American legal scholars of the 20th century.-Biography:He was born on May 22, 1893 in Seattle...
, American jurist and Chief Reporter for the Uniform Commercial CodeUniform Commercial CodeThe Uniform Commercial Code , first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been promulgated in conjunction with efforts to harmonize the law of sales and other commercial transactions in all 50 states within the United States of America.The goal of harmonizing state law is... - James C. NanceJames C. NanceJames C. "Jim" Nance was a community newspaper chain publisher and state legislative leader in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Nance served as Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate and was a key sponsor and Legislative Chairman of the U.S...
, Speaker of the Oklahoma House of RepresentativesSpeaker of the Oklahoma House of RepresentativesThe Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Oklahoma Legislature, the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The Speaker exercises administrative and procedural functions in the House, but most importantly remains a representative of his...
, President pro tempore of the Oklahoma SenatePresident pro tempore of the Oklahoma SenateThe President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate is the second-highest-ranking official of the Oklahoma Senate and the highest-ranking State Senator. The Oklahoma Constitution states the Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma serves ex officio as President of the Senate, and is the highest-ranking... - Theodore B. Olson, Solicitor General of the United States
- Roscoe PoundRoscoe PoundNathan Roscoe Pound was a distinguished American legal scholar and educator. He was Dean of Harvard Law School from 1916 to 1936...
, law professor - Robert G. PughRobert G. PughRobert Gahagan Pugh, Sr., known as Bob Pugh , was a prominent attorney in Shreveport, Louisiana, who, as his local bar association president in 1970–1971, initiated the first prepaid legal services plan in the United States...
, prominent Louisiana attorney - William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United StatesChief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
- Wiley Blount RutledgeWiley Blount RutledgeWiley Blount Rutledge, Jr. was an American educator, lawyer, and justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.-Early life:...
, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesAssociate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States... - John G. SargentJohn G. SargentJohn Garibaldi Sargent was an American lawyer and statesman.-Biography:He graduated from Tufts College in 1887, and earned a master's degree from the same institution in 1912. He studied law in the interim and was admitted to the Vermont bar in 1890...
, United States Attorney GeneralUnited States Attorney GeneralThe United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government... - David H. Souter, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesAssociate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...
- Robert Stein (academic)Robert Stein (academic)Robert A. Stein is Everett Fraser Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota. A noted scholar of estate planning, Stein was previously William Pattee Professor and Dean at the University of Minnesota Law School, from which he received his law degree in 1961...
, law professor, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar AssociationThe American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation... - Martha Lee WaltersMartha Lee WaltersMartha Lee Walters is an American labor attorney and judge in the state of Oregon. As of 2008, she is the 98th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. She became the first female justice on the state's highest court in three years when she was appointed in 2006...
, prominent attorney and Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme CourtOregon Supreme CourtThe Oregon Supreme Court is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. The OSC holds court at the Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem, Oregon, near the capitol... - Caspar W. Weinberger, Secretary of DefenseUnited States Secretary of DefenseThe Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
- John Wigmore, law professor
- Samuel WillistonSamuel WillistonSamuel Williston was an American lawyer and law professor.Early in Williston's career, from 1888 to 1889 he worked as the private secretary to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray. In the summer of 1889, he helped to collate laws from various U.S...
, law professor - Woodrow WilsonWoodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
, President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
See also
- List of Uniform Acts (United States)
- uniform actUniform ActIn the United States, a Uniform Act is a proposed state law drafted by the U.S. Uniform Law Commission and approved by its sponsor, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws ....
- model actModel actIn the United States a model act is statutory text, typically drafted by the Uniform Law Commission , that is meant to serve as a guide for subsequent legislation...
- Uniform Commercial CodeUniform Commercial CodeThe Uniform Commercial Code , first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been promulgated in conjunction with efforts to harmonize the law of sales and other commercial transactions in all 50 states within the United States of America.The goal of harmonizing state law is...
- American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar AssociationThe American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
- American Law InstituteAmerican Law InstituteThe American Law Institute was established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of American common law and its adaptation to changing social needs. The ALI drafts, approves, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, model codes, and other proposals for law...