Steve Weise is a partner in the corporate department of Proskauer Rose LLP, practicing in its Los Angeles office. He practices in a wide range of commercial law. He spends much of his time on matters arising under the Uniform Commercial Code, especially under Article 9 – Secured Transactions and is a nationally-recognized expert in these matters. Steve is also authoritative on third-party opinion letters and contract law matters, especially online contracting, plain English drafting, contract drafting, and boilerplate.
Steve is a member of the Permanent Editorial Board for the Uniform Commercial Code and the Council of the American Law Institute. For thirty years, Steve has been on many Uniform Commercial Code drafting committees, including the comprehensive revision of UCC Article 9 in 1999 and the 2022 UCC Amendments addressing digital assets as collateral. He was instrumental as an Adviser in the preparation of the recently-completed American Law Institute Restatement of the Law, Consumer Contracts and is active in many other Restatement projects. Steve is the former chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Business Law and its Legal Opinions Committee. He has long been a member of the board of the Working Group on Legal Opinions.
Steve is a Lecturer in Law at the UCLA Law School, where he teaches Uniform Commercial Code – Secured Transactions. Steve has written over a hundred articles and presented at over 500 continuing education programs on these subjects.
Education
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University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, J.D.
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Yale University, B.A.
Admissions & Qualifications
- California
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court, California, Central District
Memberships
American Bar Association (Advisor to The Uniform UCC Article 9 Drafting Committee, Representative to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Working Group on Secured Transactions, Former Chair of Business Law Section, Former Chair of Committee on Legal Opinions, Former Chair of Committee on Personal Property Secured Financing), House of Delegates
Los Angeles County Bar Association
Uniform Commercial Code Permanent Editorial Board
American Law Institute (Council; Uniform Commercial Code Article 9 Drafting Committee)
TriBar Opinion Committee
California State Bar (Former Chair of Executive Committee of the Business Law Section, Committee of the Uniform Commercial Code)
Awards & Recognition
Distinguisehd Service Award, American Law Insitute 2022
Chambers USA: California: Banking & Finance 2010-2023, Senior Statesperson 2023
US Legal 500: Finance: Bank Lending (National) 2010
Best Lawyers "Los Angeles Equipment Finance Lawyer of the Year" 2015
Best Lawyers in America, Lawyer of the Year 2019, 2024
Best Lawyers in America 1995-2024
Southern California Super Lawyers 2004-2018
Lifetime Achievement Award, California State Bar Business Law Section
Chair’s Award, American Bar Association Business Law Section