Conflicts of Laws

Under §145 of the Second Restatement, the following contacts should be considered in the torts context when choosing the state with the most significant relationship to the litigation:

(i) the state that was the place of injury, (ii) the state that was the place where the conduct causing the injury occurred, (iii) the state of the parties' domicile, and (iv) the state where the relationship (if any) between the parties was centered.

Under §188 of the Second Restatement, the following contacts should be considered in the contracts context when choosing the state with the most significant relationship to the litigation:

(i) the state where the contract was negotiated and signed, (ii) The state where the contract was (or was to be) performed, (iii) the state of the parties' domicile, (iv) the state that was the location of the subject matter of the contract, and (v) the domicile, residence, nationality, place of incorporation, and place of business of the parties.

Which law will govern a litigation involving parties and events from multiple states?

A forum will follow its own procedural law but will apply the substantive law of the state chosen under its choice of law approach.

Judgments from foreign countries are often recognized and enforced in the United States as a matter of:

Comity (voluntary recognition)

What kind of judgment is entitled to recognition under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution?

Consent judgments are judgments on the merits and therefore entitled to full faith and credit. Penal judgments are an exception to the Full Faith and Credit Clause. Marriages are not judgments and therefore are not entitled to full faith and credit, and a judgment that a claim is time-barred by the statute of limitations is not on the merits and so is not entitled to full faith and credit.

Under the First Restatement (vested rights) approach for choice of law, the place of ____________________ provides the governing law for issues related to the validity and enforceability of a contract, whereas the place of ____________________ provides the governing law for issues related to the performance of a contract.

Contracting (where the contract was made); performance

The law of the ____________________ generally governs choice of law issues involving real property.

For questions related to real property, the law of the situs is almost always applied. This is true regardless of the choice of law approach adopted by the forum.

Under choice of law principles, the parties to a contract are ____________________ allowed to specify the law that governs their own contractual relationship.

Frequently. Parties to a contract are normally allowed to specify the law that governs their contractual relationship through a choice of law provision, provided none of the following exceptions apply: (i) the law chosen by the parties cannot contradict a fundamental policy of a state with a materially greater interest than the chosen state; (ii) the law chosen by the parties cannot contradict a policy of the most interested state unless the parties or transaction has a substantial relationship to the chosen state; or (iii) the contractual agreement to choose the governing law must not have been the product of fraud, mistake, or coercion.

What is a valid defense to the recognition and enforcement of a judgment under the Full Faith and Credit Clause?

If the judgment was obtained through extrinsic fraud, it would not be subject to enforcement in the rendering state and is therefore also not subject to enforcement in the recognizing state.

With respect to domicile, at any given time an individual may have:

Only one domicile. An individual may not have more than one domicile at any given time. An individual is domiciled in the state she considers to be her primary home, provided the individual has established a physical presence in the state in conjunction with her intention to be domiciled there.

What is the jurisdictional predicate required for a court to issue a valid divorce decree entitled to full faith and credit?

Only one of the spouses must be domiciled in the state granting the divorce in order for the divorce decree to be entitled to full faith and credit. Both spouses need not be present at the divorce proceedings, and personal jurisdiction over an absent spouse is not required.

The traditional approach is to treat statutes of limitation as ____________________, meaning the forum will typically apply ____________________.

Procedural; its own statute of limitations

jurisdictional predicate required for a valid child custody order?

Pursuant to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act ("UCCJEA"), a child custody determination may only be made in the child's home state, defined in the statute as the state where the child has lived for the last six months. The UCCJEA applies alternate provisions in the event there is no state that can be classified as the child's home state.

Which of the following guarantees that judgments rendered in one U.S. state will (subject to only a few exceptions) be recognized and enforced by all other U.S. states?

The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution requires that judgments rendered in one U.S. state be recognized and enforced by all other U.S. states, subject to only a few exceptions.

Which choice of law approach is also known as the "most significant relationship" approach?

The Second Restatement approach to choice of law is also known as the "most significant relationship" approach. The First Restatement approach is also known as the "vested rights" approach.

Which state's law will govern the inheritance of personal property in the case of intestacy (i.e., where there is no valid will)?

The devolution (transfer) of personal property is ordinarily governed by the law of the decedent's domicile at the date of death. That rule is virtually always followed in the case of intestacy and is usually followed in cases where there is a valid will.

Which state's law will govern with respect to the inheritance of real property in a will?

The law of the situs (where the land is located) will govern the inheritance of real property, in both the context of wills and intestacy.

In a federal civil action based on diversity jurisdiction, the federal court will apply which choice of law approach?

Under the Erie Doctrine, a federal court sitting in diversity jurisdiction must employ the same choice of law approach as that used by the state courts of the forum state.

Under the First Restatement (vested rights) approach for choice of law, which state's law will govern in most tort cases?

Under the First Restatement (vested rights) approach, the court will choose the law of the state which was the place of the wrong. For almost all torts, the law of the place of the wrong is defined as the place of injury.

Under the Second Restatement (most significant relationship) approach for choice of law, what is the presumption (or default rule) for most tort cases?

Under the Second Restatement approach, the presumption or default rule is that the law of the place of injury will govern in most tort cases, unless another state can be demonstrated to have a more significant relationship to the litigation at issue.

A divorce issued by a court that lacks personal jurisdiction over an absent spouse would be referred to as:

ex parte divorce

A state court judgment is entitled to full faith and credit if it is:

final, on the merits, and based on upon a proper assertion of jurisdiction.

What is required for a person to change her state of domicile?

physical presence in the state and the intent to remain in the state permanently or for an indefinite period.

Under the FFC, recognition of judgments is required between:

state and federal courts and between federal courts.

The modern trend is to treat statutes of limitation as ____________________, meaning the forum will typically apply ____________________.

substantive; the statute of limitations of the state chosen by the forum's choice of law approach