July 28, 2020 - At its recent July 2020 Meeting, the Executive Committee of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) authorized the appointment of five new drafting committees and five new study committees.
The new drafting committees are:
Drafting Committee on College Athlete Name, Image, and Likeness Issues. This drafting committee will draft a uniform or model law addressing college athlete name, image, and likeness issues. Issues to be considered may include a mechanism for providing college athletes with a meaningful opportunity to receive compensation for their NIL rights; parameters to protect college athletics and college athletes from misuse or abuse of NIL deals; whether the act should create a right of action for college athletes if their NIL rights are violated; a mechanism for certifying and regulating agents and third party professionals; and whether and to what extent the act should apply to high school, youth, and recreational sports.
Drafting Committee on Covenants Not to Compete. This drafting committee will draft a uniform or model law addressing covenants not to compete, including topics such as the extent to which noncompetes are enforceable against low-wage workers and others, notice and other procedural requirements, enforceability standards, choice of law issues, and remedies.
Drafting Committee on Debt Collection Default Judgments. This drafting committee will draft a uniform or model act or rule applicable to debt collection efforts by third party debt collectors or buyers based on default judgments.
Drafting Committee on Public Meetings During Emergencies. This drafting committee will draft a uniform or model act granting state and local agencies the authority to conduct meetings and hearings during emergencies using communication technology and alternative forms of voting, subject to minimum standards relating to technologies used, security, record retention, public access, the protection of the rights of parties to contested cases, training to establish competency to use remote communication technologies effectively, and other relevant requirements.
Drafting Committee to Update the Uniform Unincorporated Organization Acts. This drafting committee will develop amendments to the Uniform Partnership Act, the Uniform Limited Partnership Act, and the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, with understanding that the update does not include wholesale policy revisions.
The new study committees are:
Study Committee on Criminalization of Student Discipline. This study committee will study the need for and feasibility of a uniform or model act on the relationship of in-school disciplinary procedures to criminal law enforcement.
Study Committee on Cybercrime. This study committee will study the need for and feasibility of a uniform or model act on cybercrime. Issues to be addressed include the gaps and lack of uniformity in existing state criminal law schemes, the desirability of providing for civil remedies in addition to criminal penalties, and the extent to which existing state and federal statutes may be outdated due to technological developments.
Study Committee on Updating the Uniform Determination of Death Act. This study committee will study the need for and feasibility of updating the Uniform Determination of Death Act (1980), which has been enacted in 44 states. Issues to be considered include lack of uniformity in the medical standards used to determine death by neurologic criteria, the relevance of hormonal functions, and whether notice should be provided before a determination of death.
Study Committee on Family Court Emergency Procedures. This study committee will study the need for and feasibility of a uniform or model act addressing family court procedures in time of emergency. Issues to be addressed may include use of automatic continuances, suspension of statutes of limitation, prioritization of certain categories of disputes for in-person hearings, and utilization of technology, as well as considering the feasibility of incorporating provisions relating to existing uniform acts to ensure their effective operation during times of emergency.
Study Committee on Mortgage Modifications. This study committee will study the need for and feasibility of a uniform or model act addressing mortgage modification issues. Topics to be addressed include whether the modification of some of the terms of a mortgage loan requires the execution and recordation of an instrument modifying the currently recorded mortgage document, as well as the extent to which the mortgage retains its priority to secure repayment of the debt as modified.
Further information on the new drafting and study committees, as well as information on the Uniform Law Commission, can be found at the ULC's website at www.uniformlaws.org.
Drafting committees, composed of commissioners, with participation from observers, advisors and reporter-drafters, meet throughout the year. Tentative drafts are not submitted to the entire Commission until they have received extensive committee consideration.
Proposed acts are subjected to rigorous examination and debate before they become eligible for designation as ULC products. The final decision on whether an act is ready for promulgation to the states is made near the close of an annual meeting, on a vote by states basis, with an affirmative vote of twenty or more states necessary for final approval.
The Uniform Law Commission, now in its 129th year, provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law. The organization comprises more than 300 lawyers, judges, and law professors, appointed by the states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to research, draft and promote enactment of uniform state laws in areas of state law where uniformity is desirable and practical. Since its inception in 1892, the group has promulgated more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, and the Uniform Partnership Act.
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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, www.uniformlaws.org
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Katie Robinson
Legislative Program Director
Chicago IL
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