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IU McKinney 3L Daniel Willard was invited to attend a drafting committee meeting of the Uniform Law Commission in Chicago the weekend of March 18. This particular meeting was of the committee overseeing the Limited Liability Company (LLC) Protected Series Act.

It’s unusual for interns to be invited to attend these meetings, and this marks the first time that a student from IU McKinney has been a part of such an endeavor. Willard is currently an extern at the Indiana Legislative Services Agency (LSA). Willard was in Professor Frank Sullivan’s Law and Administration of Justice course in Fall 2015, and expressed an interest to Sullivan in learning more about the LSA after the agency was mentioned during class. Sullivan pointed Willard in the direction of John Stieff, the director of LSA’s Office of Code Revision. Stieff is a member of the Uniform Law Commission, as is Professor Sullivan. Willard’s first assignment was to help Stieff edit the language for one of the drafts of the LLC Protected Series Act. The act, in the works for about three years, is somewhat controversial in that while making it easier for a company to protect its assets, the law may make it more difficult for plaintiffs and creditors to satisfy judgments against the company. Stieff was invited to attend the draft meeting and sought the OK from his fellow committee members for Willard to attend, as well. They agreed. Professor Cynthia Baker, director of the IU McKinney Program on Law and State Government, arranged for the funding that helped Willard attend.

“I’m extremely grateful to Professor Baker for her encouragement and work that made this opportunity possible,” Willard said. The committee spent three days reviewing the latest draft’s substance from start to finish. The goals of the committee were to decide on the best approach to problems specific to Series LLCs and to find provisions of the act that could have unintended consequences if a state enacts it as law.

The Uniform Law Commission (ULC) is a non-profit that was established in the 1890s with a goal of providing states with non-partisan and well-drafted legislation that offers clarity to state statutory law. Commissioners come from every state and from all areas of the law and legal community.

“The Protected Series Act is a hot topic right now.  Indiana just passed its own series act this spring, and many states are considering them in order to keep competitive with their neighbors who have series statutes,” Willard said. The committee met for about 20 hours over the course of those three days in March, and about 25 lawyers from throughout the legal community weighed in on the draft. Originally planned to be considered for publication by the ULC at its annual meeting in July, the ULC has decided to extend the drafting process for another year to continue to improve the act.

Willard is an Indiana native who began law school at the University of Houston before returning to Indianapolis to join his spouse, Sheila Willard, a 1L at IU McKinney. The couple wanted to be close to family while they both attended law school for the 2015-2016 academic year.

“Legislative drafting is an area of law I hope to pursue,” Willard said, “and it was a tremendous experience to be able to attend the meetings.”

Stieff explained, “Daniel Willard has been an outstanding extern in the Office of Code Revision. His attendance at the LLC Protected Series Act Drafting Committee meeting was a unique learning opportunity.  He had an opportunity to see first-hand the crafting of legislation by some of the best legal practitioners and law professors in the nation.”