Professor Neil Cohen Appointed to NYS Commission on Uniform State Laws
The Law School’s 1901 Distinguished Research Professor of Law Neil Cohen, renowned for his scholarship and expertise in the field of contract and commercial law in general and commercial law harmonization in particular, has been appointed to the New York State Commission on Uniform State Laws by Governor Kathy Hochul.
The appointment, announced Friday, is a proud distinction for both Brooklyn Law School and Cohen, who retired from full-time teaching in May 2022 after nearly four decades as a professor at the Law School and as a teacher, scholar, and participant in domestic and global harmonization projects.
“Governor Hochul could not have made a wiser choice in appointing Neil Cohen to the Commission,” President and Joseph Crea Dean David D. Meyer said. “For 40 years, Professor Cohen has been one of the nation’s top scholars of commercial law and has been at the forefront of law reform at the state, national, and international levels. The people of New York will benefit enormously from his expertise and leadership.”
The commission’s purpose is to examine various statutes and fields of law and to consult and cooperate with similar commissions in other states with a view to promoting uniform legislation throughout the United States whenever practicable. The commission can then recommend legislation to achieve its objectives. Each of the commission’s five members are appointed by the governor.
Throughout his career, Cohen has been a key participant in major domestic and international law reform projects regarding commercial transactions. These accomplishments earned him numerous accolades, including the American Law Institute’s John Minor Wisdom Award and the Homer Kripke Achievement Award of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers.
Among his many leadership roles in the field, Cohen served as a delegate to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), has served on Working Groups of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) and the Hague Conference on Private International Law, and undertook scholarly work as the reporter for both the American Law Institute’s (ALI’s) Restatement of the Law of Suretyship and Guaranty (1996) and the Revised Article 1 of the Uniform Commercial Code (2001).
Prior to his retirement from the Law School, Cohen’s peers gathered for a symposium held in his honor, titled Commercial Law Harmonization: Past as Prologue. There, the longtime professor and scholar once again displayed his ability to ignite important, forward-thinking discussions. “After a half century of commercial law harmonization, both domestically and internationally, what have we learned and what should we do next?” Cohen asked the participants.
The symposium moderator Ted Janger, the David M. Barse Professor of Law, applauded Cohen’s gift for both writing and bringing teams together.
“Statutory harmonization requires consensus,” Janger told Brooklyn Law Notes in a 2023 article about the symposium. “Consensus sometimes minimizes the scope of what can be done. This can be frustrating, but knowing the bounds of the possible is an essential skill… Neil Cohen is not only a consummate draftsman, but brilliant as a consensus builder.”