State Senator Eric Koch (R-Bedford) has been appointed to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Law by Senate President Pro Tempore David Long.

The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, also known as the Uniform Law Commission, now in its 127th 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, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, 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.

• ULC strengthens the federal system by providing rules and procedures that are consistent from state to state but that also reflect the diverse experience of the states.
• ULC statutes are representative of state experience, because the organization is made up of representatives from each state, appointed by state government.
• ULC keeps state law up-to-date by addressing important and timely legal issues.
• ULC’s efforts reduce the need for individuals and businesses to deal with different laws as they move and do business in different states.
• ULC’s work facilitates economic development and provides a legal platform for foreign entities to deal with U.S. citizens and businesses.
• ULC Commissioners donate thousands of hours of their time and legal and drafting expertise every year as a public service, and receive no salary or compensation for their work.
• ULC’s deliberative and uniquely open drafting process draws on the expertise of commissioners, but also utilizes input from legal experts, and advisors and observers representing the views of other legal organizations or interests that will be subject to the proposed laws.
• ULC is a state-supported organization that represents true value for the states, providing services that most states could not otherwise afford or duplicate.

The Uniform Law Commission (ULC) has worked for the uniformity of state laws since 1892. It is a non-profit unincorporated association, comprised of state commissions on uniform laws from each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each jurisdiction determines the method of appointment and the number of commissioners actually appointed. Most jurisdictions provide for their commission by statute.

There is only one fundamental requirement for the more than 300 uniform law commissioners: that they be members of the bar. While some commissioners serve as state legislators, most are practitioners, judges, and law professors. They serve for specific terms, and receive no salaries or fees for their work with the ULC.

The state uniform law commissioners come together as the Uniform Law Commission for one purpose—to study and review the law of the states to determine which areas of law should be uniform. The commissioners promote the principle of uniformity by drafting and proposing specific statutes in areas of the law where uniformity between the states is desirable. The ULC can only propose—no uniform law is effective until a state legislature adopts it.

The ULC is a working organization. The uniform law commissioners participate in drafting specific acts; they discuss, consider, and amend drafts of other commissioners; they decide whether to recommend an act as a uniform or a model act; and they work toward enactment of ULC acts in their home jurisdictions.

Senator Koch is an attorney with the law firm of The Koch Law Firm, with offices in Bedford and Bloomington. He serves Senate District 44, which includes all or parts of Bartholomew, Brown, Jackson, Lawrence, and Monroe Counties.

With over 35 years of experience, he is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Ratings by his clients have earned him the Martindale-Hubbell Client Distinction Award for responsiveness, quality of service, communications ability, and overall value and the Martindale-Hubbell Client Champion Gold Award.

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