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Georgetown Law Library

Commercial Law Research Guide

This guide is for students conducting introductory research in the area of commercial law in the United States.

Contents

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Uniform Commercial Code

Commercial Law in the United States is largely governed by the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). The UCC is a model code which is jointly created and revised by two non-governmental organizations, the American Law Institute (ALI) and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL). Therefore, the UCC is not law in and of itself, and only has the force of law when it is adopted by individual jurisdictions. Every U.S. state and the District of Columbia have adopted at least part of the UCC (though it has not been adopted as federal law). Each jurisdiction, however, may make its own modifications (Louisiana has never adopted Article 2), and may organize its version of the UCC differently. So to find the applicable commercial law in any jurisdiction, it helps to be familiar with the UCC. This guide is largely designed to help users navigate the UCC and related materials.

The UCC is divided into the following articles:

Article 1: General Provisions
Article 2: Sales
Article 2A: Leases
Article 3: Commercial Paper
Article 4: Bank Deposits and Collections
Article 4A: Funds Transfers
Article 5: Letters of Credit
Article 6: Bulk Transfers
Article 7: Warehouse Receipts, Bills of Lading and Other Documents of Title
Article 8: Investment Securities
Article 9: Secured Transactions; Sales of Accounts and Chattel Paper
Article10: Effective Date and Repealer
Article 11: Effective Date and Transition Provisions

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