Conflict of Laws Flashcards
Recognizing sister state judgments
(1) full faith and credit and (2) no valid defenses
Full faith and credit requirements
(1) Jurisdiction (personal and subject matter), (2) decided on the merits, and (3) finality
Foreign Judgment recognition
Principles of comity - did the foreign court have discretion and were the procedures fair
Universal paragraph 1 statement for COL answer
“The issue presented is which state’s law will govern the outcome of this litigation. The governing law will be selected by the forum court using the ______ approach.”
Vested Rights Approach (1st Restatement) - Paragraph 2
“Under this approach, the court will apply the law of that state mandated by the applicable vesting rule. That rule is selected according to the relevant substantive law.”
Vested Rights Approach (1st Restatement) - Paragraph 3
Categorize the substantive area of law, state the applicable vesting rule, apply the vesting rule to determine the governing law, and determine the result.
Interest Analysis Approach - Paragraph 2
“Under this approach, the court will consider which states have a legitimate interest in the outcome of the litigation. The forum court will apply its own law as long as it has a legitimate interest. If the forum state has no legitimate interest, it will apply the law of another interested state.”
Interest Analysis Approach - Paragraph 3
Discuss which states have legitimate interests, characterize the type of conflict (false conflict vs. true conflict)
Interest Analysis Approach - Paragraph 3
Discuss which states have legitimate interests, characterize the type of conflict (false conflict vs. true conflict), choose the governing law based on the type of conflict (false conflict = law of interested state, true conflict = forum law), and apply the governing law to determine the result.
Most Significant Relationship Approach (2nd Restatement) - Paragraph 2
“Under this approach, the court will apply the law of the state which is most significantly related to the outcome of the litigation. To determine this, the court will consider connecting facts and policy principles.”
Most Significant Relationship Approach (2nd Restatement) - Paragraph 3
Discuss connecting facts, discuss policy principles, choose governing law based on most significant relationship, and apply the governing law to determine result.
Substantive Area - Torts - Vesting Rule Approach
Vesting rule - where the injury occurred
Substantive Area - Torts - Most Significant Relationship Approach
factual - place of injury, conduct causing injury, where the parties are at home, where the relationship is centered
policy - the relevant policies of the states
Torts - Interest Analysis and Most Significant Relationship Exception
Apply the law of the common place of domicile when:
(1) the rule at issue is a loss distribution rule and
(2) the parties share a common domicile
Substantive Area - Contracts - Vesting Rule Approach
If about formation – law of the place of contracting
If about performance – place of performance
