Tim Schnabel Named Executive Director of Uniform Law Commission
Former Attorney in State Department Office of Legal Adviser
May 16, 2019 – Tim Schnabel has been named the Executive Director of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), a national law group headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ULC comprises more than 350 practicing attorneys, judges, law professors, legislators and other state officials – all lawyers – appointed by every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to draft and promote enactment of uniform laws that are designed to solve problems common to all the states. The appointment is effective July 1, 2019.
"Tim's considerable depth and expertise as a lawyer make him uniquely qualified to serve as Executive Director of the ULC," said Anita Ramasastry, ULC President. "In recent years, Tim has worked closely with the ULC on our legal harmonization projects as an attorney in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. State Department. He is familiar with our methods of work, our core mission, and our goal of producing well-crafted legislation. Tim is not only able, but fully committed to furthering our mission on every possible front."
As Executive Director of the ULC, Mr. Schnabel will supervise the staff; oversee the work of study and drafting committees; conduct fundraising; serve as liaison to other organizations, such as the American Law Institute (ALI) and the American Bar Association (ABA); engage in outreach to other organizations; and participate in and advise on international efforts.
Mr. Schnabel served as an attorney in the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser from 2008 through 2018. In that role, he served as the head of the U.S. delegation and lead negotiator for several multilateral treaties aimed at legal harmonization, including the Singapore Mediation Convention and the Mauritius Transparency Convention. He also led U.S. efforts in developing model laws and other multilateral instruments related to cross-border insolvency, secured transactions, arbitration, and financial markets law. Earlier in his tenure at the State Department, he advised policymakers on legal issues related to international trade, intellectual property, aviation, food assistance, and business and human rights.
Prior to joining the State Department, Mr. Schnabel practiced law at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP in Washington DC and clerked for the Honorable Janice Rogers Brown on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Most recently, he worked on a startup developing new technologies for alternative dispute resolution. Mr. Schnabel received his J.D. from Yale Law School and his B.A. and M.A. from Case Western Reserve University. He is a licensed attorney in Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Now in its 128th year, the ULC has provided states with over 250 uniform acts that help bring clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law. After receiving the ULC's seal of approval, a uniform act is officially promulgated for consideration by the states, and legislatures are urged to adopt it. Since its inception in 1892, the ULC has been responsible for such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Unclaimed Property Act, the Uniform Probate Code, the Uniform Partnership Act, the Uniform Securities Act, the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, and the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, former U.S. Supreme Court Justices Louis Brandeis and David Souter, and former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist all served as uniform law commissioners.
At the upcoming 128th Annual Meeting of the Uniform Law Commission, July 12-18, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska, acts scheduled for final approval include the Electronic Wills Act, the Tort Law Relating to Drones Act, the Operation of Automated Vehicles Act, and the Registration of Canadian Money Judgments Act. In the near future, the ULC will continue its work on projects dealing with alternatives to money bail, regulation of crowdfunding efforts, addressing the unregulated transfers of adopted children, studying issues around telehealth, and an examination of the Uniform Commercial Code to accommodate emerging technological developments.
Further information on any of these projects can be found at the ULC's website at www.uniformlaws.org.
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Contact: Katie Robinson, ULC Communications Officer, krobinson@...
Uniform Law Commission / 111 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 1010 / Chicago, IL 60602 / 312-450-6600
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Katie Robinson
Legislative Program Director
Chicago IL
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