The American Law Institute (ALI) made minor revisions to the second tentative draft of the Restatement of Law, Consumer Contracts (the “Restatement of Consumer Contracts”).
The Restatements of the Law, a set of treatises which are designed to inform legal professionals about general principles of law, have been published by ALI for nearly a century. ALI approved the Restatement of Consumer Contracts, the newest addition to the series, at its 2022 annual meeting in May. It is designed to represent the current state of the law for contracts between businesses and consumers.
The recent updates have been primarily minor and technical in nature by adding caveats and exceptions, as well as greater clarifications and explanations.
ALI has set an August 1, 2022, deadline for comments on the changes for participants.
Since their development, the Restatements of Law have attempted to provide a uniformity to the understanding and application of law. Often their text is cited in judicial opinions and is heavily taught in law school curriculum. Many legal scholars and professionals have been critical of the Restatements of Law for lagging behind “real world” concerns, insulating the law from any type of aggressive reform, promoting an illusion that the law is more rational than it actually is, and maintaining an overall sense of elitism.