Also known as: choice of law analysis · choice-of-law analyses · choice of law · conflicts analysis
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A judicial process by which a court identifies which jurisdiction's substantive rules govern a dispute that implicates the laws of more than one state or nation. The analysis begins with the forum's own choice-of-law rules and then weighs contacts, policies, and the parties' expectations to select the applicable local law. In federal diversity cases the forum state's choice-of-law rules are treated as substantive and must be followed.
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Caleb Chang, a New York resident, sued Compass Logistics in federal court in New York over a shipping contract formed in New Jersey. The court first consulted New York's choice-of-law rules rather than federal rules to decide whether New York or New Jersey law governed the validity of the agreement. Because New York rules pointed to New Jersey law, the court applied New Jersey substantive standards to resolve the breach claim.
Catherine Carter granted a perpetual easement over land in State B to an Oregon nonprofit. When the current owner challenged the easement in an Oregon court, the court evaluated the contacts of the land, the parties, and the transaction under the most-significant-relationship factors. The analysis led the court to apply the law of State B as the situs of the immovable property.
Christine Castro executed a will before a Swiss notary while maintaining an apartment in Basel. After she moved to State B and died there, her sibling contested the will's formal validity. The probate court applied the choice-of-law statute and upheld the will because its execution satisfied the law of the place where the testator had a place of abode at the time of signing.
Connor Clark, a foreign seaman, was injured aboard a foreign vessel in a U.S. port. He sued the shipowner in federal court and sought to invoke U.S. maritime law. The court examined the vessel's flag, the place of the injury, and the parties' contacts to determine whether U.S. law or foreign law supplied the rule of decision.
Crown Pharmaceuticals sued several insurers in federal court alleging a conspiracy that affected policies sold in multiple states. The insurers argued that foreign law governed some claims. The court performed a choice-of-law analysis to decide whether U.S. antitrust rules or the law of another jurisdiction controlled the conduct at issue.
Copperfield Mining defaulted on a loan secured by equipment located partly in two states that had identical redemption statutes. The lender sought to enforce its security interest in federal court. The court aggregated the contacts from both states and treated them as located in a single jurisdiction for purposes of selecting the governing redemption law.
A federal court sitting in diversity must apply the choice-of-law rules of the state in which it sits. Those rules are treated as substantive under Erie and therefore bind the federal court when it selects the applicable state substantive law.
Supporting sources
The Restatement directs courts to apply the law of the state that has the most significant relationship to the thing and the parties. That determination rests on the policies of the interested states, protection of justified expectations, certainty and predictability, the policies underlying property law, and the needs of judicial administration.
…center of gravity' of the controversy, or the most convenient location for litigation. The issue is personal jurisdiction, not choice of law. It is resolved in this case by considering the acts of the [appellants]." Hanson v. Denckla , 357 U. S. 235, 254 (1958). Appellee suggests that by accepting positions as officers or…
…in the State of Florida and shall be governed and construed under and in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida. The choice of law designation does not require that all suits concerning this Agreement be filed in Florida." App. 72. See also n. 5, supra. The Court of Appeals reasoned that
…difference is in the bother and expense — not in the principle of the thing. The concept of domicile as a controlling factor in choice of law to govern many relations of the individual was well known to the framers of the Constitution. It was hardly contemplated that a person should be subject at once to two conflicting state…
…seamen only in accordance with the usual doctrine and practices of maritime law." 345 U. S., at 581. The broad principles of
…83 S.Ct. 1298, 10 L.Ed.2d 411 (1963) (statute of limitations at issue in a private anti-trust action). B. Background and choice of law
Supporting sources
A written will is valid if its execution complies with the law of the place where the will was executed or with the law of the place where the testator was domiciled, had a place of abode, or was a national at the time of execution or death. The statute therefore supplies multiple alternative connecting factors that can uphold the will.
Supporting sources
When two or more states maintain identical local-law rules on an issue, the contacts in those states are treated for choice-of-law purposes as if they were grouped in a single state. This aggregation simplifies the analysis without changing the substantive outcome.
Supporting sources