Since 2015, Scott Kafker has been serving as the chief justice of the Appeals Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. An active legal practitioner since 1986, Scott Kafker is a member of the American Law Institute (ALI).
Established in 1923, the ALI is an independent organization committed to producing scholarly works that clarify and simplify the country’s common law. In its mission, the ALI publishes Restatements of the Law, a series of publications influential not only in court and legislation but also in education and scholarship.
Before a restatement is published, it goes through an arduous process to ensure there will be no objection to its contents. An illustration of this process is the ALI’s restatement on liability insurance.
Already seven years in the making, the restatement was due for approval this year during the institute’s annual meeting. However, the ALI announced that it will be taking another year to work on all provisions before presenting the final draft at the 2018 annual meeting.
One of the reasons for the delay is the position of the insurance industry on several key issues. In past years, industry representatives tried to push back several provisions they thought negatively impacted their interests.
Despite the protracted and contentious process, which started in 2000, some provisions are still up for debate. Because of the 2018 deadline, the insurance industry has only one year left to argue its positions on several items. In any case, several courts have already cited the restatement in its current form, highlighting the influence ALI restatements have on court opinions.