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Newsmakers Rensselaer
at Hartford Professor HARTFORD, CONN – William J. Luddy, Jr., J.D., Professor, Lally School of Management and Technology, Rensselaer at Hartford, and a member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), recently participated in the UNCITRAL Working Group on E-Commerce at the United Nations headquarters in New York. This Working Group has been consulting on the development of a new international instrument that would enable electronic commercial transactions and examining ways in which many international treaties could be harmonized to enhance global e-commerce. UNCITRAL, established by the UN General Assembly in 1966, is the core legal body of the United Nations in the field of international trade law. Its mandate is to further the progressive harmonization and unification of the law of international trade. Its best known and most widely adopted treaty is the "UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods," the CISG. "These efforts have the potential for increasing legal certainty in international transactions while reducing transaction costs for companies in all countries," Professor Luddy noted. "Not only are there opportunities for enhanced global supply chain networks but the benefits would be available to small and medium sized firms in developed and developing countries that might not be likely to fully participate in global commerce," he added. He also noted his personal belief that in the long run, the work of UNCITRAL in this field, and others, will lead not only to significant economic development but to increased global security and stability. "When we consider the lessons of the last 60 years and the economic inter-development in Europe, it’s not hard to envision a similar evolution brought about by these efforts in the field of global e-commerce. It’s a ‘change the world’ opportunity." Professor Luddy has worked in the field of global e-commerce and IT policy development for a number of years and participates with the State Department’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law. In addition to his 28 years on the Rensselaer faculty, he has practiced law and taught in a wide range of fields, including Internet and e-commerce law, intellectual property, corporate governance, corporate development and ventures, antitrust and regulatory law, international commercial supply agreements and global strategic alliances. He co-authored Legal Aspects of Computer Use (Prentice-Hall), is a member of the Board of Editors of the Connecticut Bar Journal, and co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Legal Studies in Business. Professor Luddy holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law, an M.S. degree in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a B.S. degree in Finance from Fairfield University. He is admitted to practice before the Connecticut and Federal courts.
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