Where should a complex legal case with several parties be tried? What constitutes a conflict of interest for an agent representing a large corporation? And what responsibilities does a nonprofit have in investing endowments?

Law professors at the University of California, Davis, are helping tackle these and other complex legal questions by participating in law reform projects of the prestigious American Law Institute. The projects form the basis of laws enacted across the country and become standards cited in judges' legal opinions, lawyers' briefs and scholarly articles.

"The American Law institute is, for law, the equivalent of the great honorary scholarly organizations like the National Academy of Sciences," said Dean Rex Perschbacher of the School of Law. "Election signifies not just standing, but active involvement in legal thought, analysis and reform."

With 10 of its 35 regular faculty members elected as institute members, the law school is believed to be among those with the highest proportion of faculty with ALI membership, said Kevin Johnson, associate dean for academic affairs and an ALI member.

In recent years, professors John Oakley, Joel Dobris and Robert Hillman have served in leadership and other important roles on four projects. And other faculty members have volunteered their service to other projects.

Formed in 1923 to clarify and simplify the law, the institute restates and updates tangles of law in a systematic way and develops model statutes. It has partnered with another organization to develop and monitor the Uniform Commercial Code -- viewed as one of the most important developments in American law.

Thirteen of UC Davis' current law professors and professors emeriti have been elected ALI members from among the country's top judges, lawyers and legal scholars. "We exist in a sweet spot where scholarship and law reform are both highly regarded," Dobris said of the law school.

'Heroic' work

The institute sought out Oakley's expertise to address a confusing area of law that governs whether a case can be heard in a state or federal court and by which federal court.

A member of the Davis faculty since 1975 and an ALI member since 1986, Oakley has served as a consultant or committee member with numerous organizations concerned with the administration of justice and has co-authored texts and case books on civil procedure and the federal courts.

"I figured it was the kind of invitation that you don't turn down," Oakley said. "There is no group of lawyers and legal scholars that has the influence and prestige of the American Law Institute."

Oakley's project concerned complex multi-party and multi-claim cases, removal of cases from state to federal court, and venue and transfer of cases within the federal system. The topics are important, Oakley said, because a change in court can lead to a change in the applicable law. Parties need clear standards governing the choice of the proper court, so that they can assess the strength of their case under the law that court will apply.

Lance Liebman, director of the institute, called Oakley's work -- spanning nine years -- "heroic."

As an institute reporter, Oakley wrote a prospectus identifying problems in the relevant law. He researched obscure laws, drafted revised statutes, refined his work through 13 drafts with comment from 21 advisers and a group of more than 150 consultants, and saw the project through to endorsement by the institute.

Liebman said the Federal Judicial Code Revision Project is now being considered by the Federal Judicial Conference for its recommendation to the U.S. Senate and House judiciary committees. Even now, the work is being cited in court briefs and legal opinions.

Providing scrutiny

Dobris and Hillman were invited to lend their expertise to projects by scrutinizing reporter drafts and suggesting revisions.

Dobris, who specializes in investing endowments and nonprofits, has done double duty. He was an adviser on a restatement of the prudent investor rule for trusts, which became a uniform act in 1994 and has since been enacted in about 40 states.

He is currently adviser to a project on the law of nonprofit organizations, which aims to create a systematic body of principles of the operation of nonprofit organizations.

"It's a chance to make the world better and to translate your ideas into action," said Dobris, who will go to a project meeting in Philadelphia in early June.

Hillman, a leading scholar in the fields of partnership and professional service firms, is serving as an adviser to the Third Restatement of the Law of Agency.

This field of law deals with any relationship in which one person represents another -- from a real estate agent or lawyer to an employee. The project is modernizing the concepts and structure of the law. And, for the first time, Hillman said, the restatement will also consider the obligations of the principal toward the agent representing him or her.

For the 'real world'

Borrowing words from U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, Hillman said law professors are expected to be provocative in their scholarship, but not in their restatements.

"We're looking for something quite different," he said. "Is it clear and an accurate reflection of the law? Does it make sense for the real world?"

Four other faculty members have offered their expertise as volunteer consultants, who act as a second panel of review on institute projects. Diane Amann and professors emeriti Carol Bruch, Edward Rabin and Richard Wydick, respectively, have been members of consultative groups on criminal sentencing, family dissolution, mortgages and the laws governing lawyers.

Hillman said service on ALI projects is a reminder of the practical impact of the grand issues of law about which he writes and teaches. "This is work that directly changes the substance of the law," he said. "It's not just the exchange of ideas. It's actually molding law."