The American Law Institute is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and improve the law. The ALI drafts, discusses, revises, and publishes Restatements of the Law, Model Codes, and Principles of Law that are enormously influential in the courts and legislatures, as well as in legal scholarship and education. By participating in the Institute’s work, its distinguished members have the opportunity to influence the development of the law in both existing and emerging areas, to work with other eminent lawyers, judges, and academics, to give back to a profession to which they are deeply dedicated, and to contribute to the public good. 

 

Under the terms of a custodial agreement between the Institute and the University, the archives were moved from the Institute to the Biddle Law Library in May 1994 and are currently maintained by the Library’s Archives Department. The collection contains records of the Institute since its inception in 1923, as well as the archives of American Law Institute-American Bar Association on Continuing Professional Education, an educational program administered by the Institute since 1947 to 2012. The collection consists of over 500 linear feet. The largest portion of material relates to the creation of the Restatements of the Law and the Uniform Commercial Code and contains drafts, meeting minutes, audio tapes, and correspondence. There is also material from all of the other codes and projects, including the minutes of the Council and the Executive Committee.

 

The collections below represent a small sampling of Biddle's holdings related to the American Law Institute. These selections include materials from the First Restatement, Executive Committee meeting minutes, Council meeting minutes, and a number of photographs. 

 

For more information about the American Law Institute, please visit their website. 

ALI Photographs

Photographs that document the various activities of the ALI, dated from 1923 to 2005. 

First Restatement of the Law

From 1923 to 1944, the American Law Institute worked on the First Restatement of the Law which attempted to clarify nine broad subject areas: agency, conflict of laws, contracts, judgements, property, restitution, security, torts, and trusts. The First Restatement of the Law Records contain drafts, correspondence, notes, and American Law Institute publications from 1923-1965. The following digital collection contains select material digitized from the American Law Institute's First Restatement of the Law collection.

Executive Committee meeting minutes (1926-1995)

Selected meeting minutes of the American Law Institute Executive Council, ranging from 1926-1995. Please note this is not a complete set of minutes. 

Council Meeting Minutes (1923-1995)

Selected meeting minutes of the American Law Institute Council, ranging from 1923-1995. Please note this is not a complete set of minutes. 

All ALI Collections

Browse all ALI collections, including photographs, the First Restatement of the Law, and Executive Committee and Council meeting minutes.