Among its other activities the ALI publishes restatements of law and model codes, including principles of the laws of family dissolution.

There is no other association in the United States like The American Law Institute. It was founded in 1923 following a study by a group of prominent American judges, lawyers, and teachers, who sought to address the uncertain and complex nature of early 20th-century American law. According to the "Committee on the Establishment of a Permanent Organization for the Improvement of the Law," part of the law’s uncertainty stemmed from the lack of agreement on fundamental principles of the common-law system, while the law’s complexity was attributed to the numerous variations within different jurisdictions.

The Committee recommended that a perpetual society be formed to improve the law and the administration of justice in a scholarly and scientific manner. Thus was established our unique organization dedicated to legal research and reform. Its early leaders included such luminaries as Judges Benjamin Cardozo and Learned Hand.