Joint Program of Sections on Civil Procedure, Commercial and Related Consumer Law and Federal Courts

Association of American Law Schools.Centennial Annual Meeting.
January 5-9, 2000.Washington, DC

Sunday, January 9, 2000 9:00-10:45 a.m.	Marriott Ballroom Salon II Marriott Wardman Park Hotel Lobby Level
Joint Program of Sections on Civil Procedure, Commercial and Related Consumer Law and Federal Courts
Doug Rendleman, Washington & Lee University, and Chair, Section on Civil Procedure
Veryl Victoria Miles, Catholic University of America, and Chair, Section on Commercial and Related Consumer Law
Thomas D. Rowe, Jr., Duke University, and Chair, Section on Federal Courts
Louis F. Del Duca, Pennsylvania State University, Program Chair

The UCC, SEC, ALI and Federal Rules Simplification Experience (Is It Time for a Model Set of Drafting Principles?)

Moderator:
	Louis F. Del Duca, Pennsylvania State University

Speakers:
	Neil B. Cohen, Brooklyn Law School Martin Dunn, Associate Director, Division of Corporation Finance, Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C. Michael Greenwald, Deputy Director, American Law Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Honorable Robert E. Keeton, Judge, U.S. District Court, Boston, Massachusetts

Commentators:
	Annetta Cheek, Chair, Plain English Network, National Partnership for Reinventing Government, Washington, D.C. Peter M. Goodloe, Assistant Counsel, Legislative Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. Carol Ann T. Mooney, Notre Dame Law School Doug Rendleman, Washington & Lee University

The public and private sectors are both using plain English simplification in more and more of their documents. Noteworthy are the following:

To achieve a more user-friendly and more readily understandable text, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and The American Law Institute use these techniques in their newly promulgated Revised U.C.C. Article 9 on Secured Transactions.
The President issued an order in 1998 requiring agencies to write rules and other materials meant for the public in plain language. The National Partnership for Reinventing Government works to fulfill this federal initiative through its Plain English Network.
SEC rules now require issuers to write the front and back cover pages and the summary and risk factors sections of prospectuses in plain English.
The United States Supreme Court has recently approved new simplified Appellate Rules of Civil Procedure, developed in cooperation with the Subcommittee on Style of the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States. More work is in progress to simplify the Federal Civil and Criminal Rules of Procedure and Bankruptcy Rules.
The American Law Institute has recently appointed a Style Committee.

Panelists will initially address their specific plain English project. They will also discuss the impact that these accomplishments may have on law school curriculums and teaching, and in developing model drafting principles.

Schedule Registration Housing