However, some legal experts and the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, along with some conservative commentators,[2] have voiced concern about ALI rewriting the law.

Andrews and his supporters proposed that the Corpus Juris would be systematically compiled with the assistance of leading experts in each field of American law.

However, Andrews ran into staunch resistance from the very legal academics whom he needed to rally behind him to make such a project possible, especially John Henry Wigmore, dean of Northwestern University School of Law.

What seems to have finally united the ABA and the AALS behind the foundation of ALI in 1923 was the shared perception that "Andrews and his Academy of Jurisprudence should not be entrusted with the task of classifying and restating American law".

According to ALI's Certificate of Incorporation, its purpose is "to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to encourage and carry on scholarly and scientific legal work".

[8] The basic approach and format of all American Law Institute publications is similar:[9] The final product thus reflects the review and criticism of experienced members of the bench, bar, and academia.

Although Restatements are not binding authority in and of themselves, they are highly persuasive because they are formulated over several years with extensive input from law professors, practicing attorneys, and judges.

Adopted by the institute membership in 1962 after twelve years of drafting and development, the code's purpose was to stimulate and assist legislatures in making an effort to update and standardize the penal law of the United States.

ALI recently completed the Sentencing revision,[14][15] and is still working on the sexual assault and related offenses project that is re-examining Article 213 of the Model Penal Code.

[16] Membership in the American Law Institute is limited to 3,000 elected members who are judges, lawyers, and legal scholars from different practice areas.