Intro

Question 1

Rendering jurisdiction

Answer 1

place where the judgment is originally entered

Question 2

Recognizing jurisdiction

Answer 2

place where recognition is being sought

Question 3

testing area 1: recognizing judgments

Answer 3

judgments will either be from a sister state or a foreign country.

different tests will apply depending on what the judgment is classified as.

Question 4

Sister state

Answer 4

if rendering court is a court in a sister state then the source of the obligation to recognize the judgment is constitutional (full faith and credit clause)

Question 5

questions to ask for a sister state judgment

Answer 5

1. are the requirements for the full faith and credit clause satisfied; and
2. are there any valid defenses?

Question 6

Requirements for Full Faith and Credit Clause to Apply

Answer 6

**1. Jurisdiction **
Rule: rendering state must have had PJ and SMJ
**2. On the Merits **
Rule: the judgment entered by the rendering state must have been on the merits.
3. Finality
Rule: the judgment entered by the rendering court must be a final judgment

These three requirements are evaluated by using the law of the rendering state. (But note that the law of the enforcing state governs the method of enforcement).

Question 7

Defenses to Full Faith and Credit

Answer 7

Valid defenses:
1. Penal Judgments
a penal judgment is one that punishes an offense againt the public. this means that the plaintiff in the suit which led to the judgment was the state.
2. Extrinsic Fraud
extrinsic fraud is fraud that could not be corrected during the regular course of proceedings leading to the judgment.

Question 8

Invalid defenses to Full Faith and Credit

Answer 8

1. Public policy
2. Mistake

Question 9

Questions to Ask for Foreign Judgments

Answer 9

Rule: under the principles of comity, a recognizing court will exercise discretion to decide whether the judgment should be exercised.

Courts discretion will be guided by similar principles as sister-state inquiry: was judgment final? on the merits? + additional questions:

(1) did foreign court have jurisdiction?
(2) were the procedures in the foreign country fair?

Question 10

test area two: choice of law

Answer 10

choice of law questions arise when two conditions are met:
1. lawsuit involves factual connections with multiple states; and
2. multiple states have different laws that will yield different results

Core question: which state’s law will govern?

Core answer: governing law is selected by the forum court according to its choice of law approach

Question 11

Exceptions:

Answer 11

1. Diversity Cases Filed in Federal Court
   * a federal court sitting in diversity applies the choice of law approach of the state in which it sits
2. Transferred Diversity Cases
   * proper venue – transferor court
   * improper venue or FSC clause violated - transferee court

Question 12

Restrictions on Choice of Law

Answer 12

1. Constitutional
   * rule: constitution imposes a limit only if a state’s law is chosen that has no significant contact with or legitimate interest in the litigation
2. Statutory
   * rule: if the forum state has a statute that directs a choice of law, then the forum court should apply that statute instead of the usual choice of law approach.

Question 13

overview of the analytical approaches

Answer 13

1. Vested Rights Approach
2. Most Significant Relationship Approach
3. Interest Analysis (governmental interest) Approach

Question 14

vested rights approach

Answer 14

in the vested rights approach (traditional approach), there are three steps:
1. characterizing the area of substantive law
2. determining the particular choice of law rule
3. localizing the rule to be applied

the forum will generally apply its own law in characterizing an issue, even if the state where the issue arose would apply a different characterization

Question 15

most significant relationship approach

Answer 15

seeks to identify the state having the most significant relationship with respect to the issue in the case and then apply that state’s law on the issue.

to do this, consider the connecting facts in the given case and whether the policy-oriented principles should be considered.

Question 16

interest analysis (governmental interest) approach

Answer 16

start from the assumption that the forum will apply its own law. then consider whether the forum has any interest in the litigation; if not, it is a “false conflict” situation and the forum will apply the law of the second state. a question arises when both the forum and the second state have interests; this is a “true conflict” situation.

Question 17

basic structure of a choice of law answer

Answer 17

Paragraph 1: state the issue and identify the choice of law approach
“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 [fill in the approach].

Paragraph 2: describe the choice of law approach
Here, you will plug in a stock paragraph depending on which of the three tested approaches is being applies. The three approaches are…

Paragraph 3: apply the choice of law approach
Here, you will consider the facts presented, apply the approach, and give a conclusion. Your conclusion should always include both the governing law and the result.

Question 18

approach 1: vested rights

Answer 18

**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.”

Paragraph 3:
1. Categorize the substantive area of law.
2. State the applicable vesting rule.
3. Apply the vesting rule to determine the governing law.
4. Apply the governing law to determine the result.

Ex: “this is a torts case. therefore, the applicable vesting rule is the place of injury. here, the injury occurred in michigan and thus michigan law applies. under michigan law, a non-paying passenger cannot recover against the driver, and so the claim is barred.

Question 19

approach 2: interest analysis

Answer 19

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 state.

Paragraph 3:
1. Discuss which states have legit interests
2. Characterize the type of conflict
* a false conflict arises when only one state has a legit interest; true conflict arises when two or more states have a legit interest.
3. Choose the governing law based on the type of conflict
* if a false conflict arises, apply the law of the interested state; true conflict arises and the forum state is interested, apply forum state
4. Apply the governing law to determine the result

“In this case only Illinois has a legit interest. it is interested in permitting recovery to compensate its injured resident (plaintiff). Michigan is not interested in applying its restriction against recovery simply because the accident occurred there. Rather, it would be interested in applying its restriction only if the defendant were a Michigan resident. But the defendant is from Illinois, so Michigan is not interested. The case is therefore a false conflict, and Illinois law should apply. Under Illinois law, P can recover.”

Question 20

Approach 3: most significant relationship approach

Answer 20

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.

Paragraph 3:
1. Discuss connecting facts
2. Discuss policy principles
3. Choose governing law based on most significant relationship
4. Apply the governing law to determine the result

Ex: “in this case, the factual connections are split. the accident occurred in michigan, and the injury was sustained there. but both the plaintiff and the defendant are from illinois. as matter of policy, il.linois seems to have a greater interest because the law at issue is a loss distribution rule and both parties share an illinois domicile. as a result, illinois appears to have the most significant relationship to the dispute and its law should apply. under illinois law, p will recover.

Question 21

policy oriented principles under the most significant relationship approach

Answer 21

(i) uniformity and predictability of result
(ii) basic principles underlying substantive law
(iii) expectations of parties
(iv) forum policies
(v) interests and policies of other jurisdictions
(vi) needs of interstate systems
(vii) ease of determination of forum law

U BE FINE