Back From D.C.

I have been in Washington, D.C. since Sunday attending the 85th Annual Meeting of the American Law Institute.  Thanks to Howard Vogel, Judge Cissy Daughtrey, Chief Justice Mickey Barker, Bill Wagner, and Lucian Pera I was elected to membership in the ALI in the Fall of 2006. 

We heard from Justice Ginsberg Monday morning; the rest of the day was left to a debate on a tentative draft of certain aspects of the law of aggregate litigation.  On Tuesday we dealt with the law of nonprofit organizations and unjust enrichment. 

There were no  pure tort projects on the agenda for this meeting.  I belong to the Members Consultative Group for two projects, Liability for Physical and Emotional Harm and Economic Torts and Related Wrongs.  Here is a description of the drafting process.

I truly enjoy these meetings.  People take the meetings very seriously and the amount of preparation of some of the participants is truly amazing.  It is a wonderful opportunity to learn.

I am compelled to tell you (as fellow lovers of tort law) is that I had the opportunity to speak with Oscar Gray again yesterday.  Professor Gray from Maryland is one of the world’s leading authorities on tort law (Harper, James and Gray on Torts (3d ed., vols. 1-6, 2006-2008) (with Fowler V. Harper and Fleming James, Jr.).  I first met Professor Gray almost a decade ago in Philadelphia – he remains a perfect gentleman.

Now, back to the real world.  I hope that I am able to take a portion of what I learned and use it to the benefit of my clients.