Representatives To Other Organizations

From time to time, the College designates one or more Fellows to serve as Observers to drafting projects or Representatives to other initiatives by other organizations.  Such Fellows serve as vital connections, sharing perspectives and insights of College Fellows with those organizations, and apprising College Fellows of developments in the initiatives through Fellows Briefings and other means. 

International Association of Commercial Administrators (IACA) and Filing Office Operations and Search Logic Task Force (FOOSL) 
Paul Hodnefield (Corporate Service Company) & Darrell Pierce (Dykema Gossett PLLC) both are College Observers to IACA and Representatives to FOOSL, a joint task force of the American Bar Association Business Law Sections, Commercial Finance and Uniform Commercial Code Committees. IACA Model Administrative Rules (“MARS”) provide the framework for UCC operations at most state-level filing offices in the U.S. and also serve as a guide for those who search or file UCC records. FOOSL facilitates communication and understanding between filing offices and the lawyers who rely upon them. 

Joint Committee on Emerging Technology
Professor Kristen David Adams (Stetson University College of Law) is the College’s representative to this committee jointly sponsored by the American Law Institute and the Uniform Law Commission.  Its goal is to examine each article of the Uniform Commercial Code and consider possible revisions to address emerging technologies, including distributed ledger or “blockchain” technology. 

Joint Task Force on Security Interests in Equity Interests of LLCs
Larry Safran (Latham & Watkins, LLP) represents the College on the Joint Task Force.  The Task Force is jointly sponsored by three American Bar Association Business Law Committees: (i) LLCs, Partnerships and Unincorporated Entities, (ii) Commercial Finance, and (iii) Uniform Commercial Code. The group is working towards a model Security Agreement for limited liability company interests.

ULC Drafting Committee on Regulation of Virtual Currencies
ACCFL President-Elect Pamela Martinson (Sidley Austin LLP) is the College representative on this Drafting Committee.  In light of the rapid development of the virtual currency marketplace and interest in a common set of standards that would bring more certainty to regulation of participants in that marketplace, the ULC tasked the Committee with developing a draft uniform law on the regulation of virtual currencies by the next annual meeting of the ULC in July 2016. This ULC’s process will be influential in setting the standards for state regulation of virtual currency businesses.

UNCITRAL Working Group
Professor Neil B. Cohen (Brooklyn Law School) and Steven O. Weise (Proskauer, Los Angeles) represent the College as members of the Working Group. In the years since its establishment, UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) has been recognized as the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. A legal body with universal membership specializing in commercial law reform worldwide for over 40 years, UNCITRAL's business is the modernization and harmonization of rules on international business.  The numerous groups' goals are aimed toward final approval of a model law scheduled for the summer of 2016.

WGLO (Working Group on Legal Opinions)
Past College President Sylvia Fung Chin  (White & Case LLP) is the College’s representative to the Working Group on Legal Opinions. WGLO's mission is to bring together all constituencies concerned with giving and receiving legal opinions in order to foster a national opinion perspective, broaden the consensus that exists and provide a continuing forum for discussion of opinion issues. The Working Group on Legal Opinions provides a national forum for the discussion of important issues relating to closing opinions. Participants in the Working Group on Legal Opinions include opinion givers, opinion recipients, the ABA, state and local bars as well as rating agencies and law firm malpractice insurers.Twice each year, the Working Group on Legal Opinions brings together the heads of Law Firm Opinion Committees, representatives of Bar Associations and other attorney groups as well as representatives of opinion recipients and issuers to discuss current issues confronting the legal opinion bar. Emphasis is placed on risk management.