Is the Code Exploding or Imploding? (Center for Business Law conference)
Cosponsored by the Massachusetts Bar Association
Thursday, February 16, 2012
New England Law | Boston
Is the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) meeting today’s finance and technology needs? A Center for Business Law conference, Is the Code Exploding or Imploding?, featured leading national authorities on current issues bearing upon the scope of the UCC’s Article 2 (Sales) and the application of Article 9 (Secured Transactions), especially as the latter relates to the foreclosure crisis. The panelists also discussed related bodies of law, including the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law of Software Contracts.
“In recent years, after failed attempts to adopt a revised Article 2, some students of the UCC doubt whether it can adequately serve current and future societal needs,” says Professor Gary Monserud. “In view of the explosion of issues arising from advancing technology and controversies about financing, some wonder whether it might in some sense ‘blow up.’ We were pleased to offer the Northeast region this exploration of the issues that have brought us to this point.”
"This conference brought together students, academics, and practitioners to explore current issues about the scope of the code," said MBA Business Law Section Council Chair Francis C. Morrissey. "Both new practitioners as well as seasoned lawyers with extensive experience with the UCC found the conference extremely valuable."
- For more information please e-mail jessica.m.alfano@nesl.edu.
Article 2 panel
Attempts to revise Article 2, contracts for the development and transfer of software, bankruptcy claims, and defining electricity as a “good.”
Speakers:
Jean Braucher, Roger C. Henderson Professor of Law, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law
William H. Henning, Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Alabama School of Law
Maureen A. O’Rourke, dean, Boston University School of Law
David J. Reier, partner, Corporate Department, Posternak, Blankstein & Lund LLP, Boston
Article 9 panel
Recent amendments to Article 9, recent commentary issued by the Permanent Editorial Board for the Uniform Commercial Code, and the intersection of Articles 9 and 3 with real property law pertaining to foreclosures.
Speakers:
Neil B. Cohen, Jeffrey D. Forchelli Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School
Thomas A. Cox, attorney, of Portland, Maine, credited with exposing the foreclosure “robo signing” scandal
Ingrid Michelsen Hillinger, professor of law, Boston College Law School
Edwin E. Smith, partner, Bingham McCutchen LLP, Boston, and co-chair, Financial Services Area