The Project Team

Lord John Thomas is first Vice-President of the ELI. He was a practising barrister in England and Wales until 1996, a Judge of the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales (1996–2013) and then Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales (2013–2017). He was President of the European Network of Councils of the Judiciary (ENCJ) (2008–2010). He is Chairman of the Welsh Government’s Commission on Justice in Wales, Chairman of the UK Financial Markets Law Committee, Chancellor of Aberystwyth University (from January 2018), an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and a Fellow of the Universities of Bangor, Cardiff and Swansea. He is one of ELI’s Founding Members. 

Steven O. Weise is a partner in the Corporate Department at Proskauer Rose, Los Angeles. He practices in all areas of commercial law. Steven’s experience in financing is extensive, especially in those secured by personal property, including structured financing. He also handles matters involving California real property anti-deficiency laws, workouts, guarantees, sales of goods, equipment leasing, commercial paper and checks, letters of credit, and investment securities. Steven’s experience covers e-commerce, contract law (including “plain English” drafting), legal opinions, and consumer credit law compliance matters. In addition, Steven lectures widely on commercial law topics and legal opinion letters and is the author of over 100 articles on these topics.

Christiane Wendehorst is President of the ELI and Professor of Law at the University of Vienna. She is a member of the American Law Institute, the Academia Europea, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the International Academy of Comparative Law and several international research groups. Wendehorst is one of the Founding Members of the ELI and has previously served as Treasurer and Vice-President. Her contact details can be found here.

Neil B. Cohen is the Jeffrey D. Forchelli Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School and teaches courses in domestic and international commercial law, contracts, and conflict of laws. For over two decades, Professor Cohen has been a key participant in major domestic and international law reform projects with respect to commercial transactions. He served as Reporter for Revised Article 1 of the Uniform Commercial Code and for ALI’s Restatement of the Law of Suretyship and Guaranty. Professor Cohen currently serves as the Director of Research of the Permanent Editorial Board for the Uniform Commercial Code. In addition, he has been a member of several drafting committees for revising various articles of the Uniform Commercial Code, including the two most recent revisions of Article 9 (Secured Transactions).