Geoff Hazard, during a discussion of the Restatement (Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers, said,

I think gray-area Illustrations are dangerous....I would strongly urge the Reporters to give what I call “bookends,” one that is clearly, “You can’t do that,” the other one clearly, “You can do this,” and not try to go beyond that in nuance. You are just asking for trouble if you try to do that.

Throughout his fifteen-year tenure as Director of the American Law Institute (ALI), from 1984 to 1999, and thereafter as a member of the Council, Geoff consistently has given such incisive, cogent, and succinct advice at annual meetings, meetings of the Council, and meetings of Advisers and Members Consultative Groups, as well as in his critical consultations with Reporters and in the editing of their drafts to make them worthy of consideration. Among his many contributions to law reform, ethics, teaching, and scholarship, he strengthened the ALI as a prized institution in the life of our country.

Two illustrious bookends in Geoff’s ALI career bear noting: First, before becoming Director, he was the Reporter for the Restatement (Second) of Judgments. Our then-Director, Herbert Wechsler, in his foreword to the first volume, stated that the “sole responsibility for the development and the completion of the work [was placed] upon Professor Hazard. That he has discharged that trust with high distinction will be evident to all who study the succeeding pages of these volumes.” Second, after retiring as Director, Geoff, together with ALI Co-Reporter Michele Taruffo and UNIDROIT Co-Reporter Rolf Stürner, and with the able assistance of Professor Antonio Gidi, completed the ALI/UNIDROIT Principles of Transnational Civil Procedure to widespread acclaim. They and their colleagues synthesized the best elements of procedural law from the common law system and the civil law system, creating principles that promise to bring reason and order to international commercial litigation.

Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr.: Director Exemplar of the American Law Institute