Also known as: general common-law · common law
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A body of judge-made rules that federal courts applied in diversity cases without regard to the decisions of the state in which they sat. Federal courts selected the rule they deemed the best or most widely accepted among common law jurisdictions rather than following any single state's precedents.
Gregory Gates drove his truck through a residential neighborhood at high speed while intoxicated. He struck and killed a pedestrian. The victim's estate sued Gates for wrongful death in federal court under diversity jurisdiction. The court applied a general common law standard of criminal negligence drawn from widely accepted common law jurisdictions rather than the precedents of the state where the accident occurred.
Georgia Gibbs sued Gateway Bank in federal court for breach of a loan agreement exceeding twenty dollars. She demanded a jury trial. The court preserved her right to a jury under the general common law rules governing suits at common law and refused to re-examine any facts the jury found except according to those same common law standards.
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Gulfstream Aviation contracted with Greenleaf Farms to lease aircraft. After a payment dispute arose, Greenleaf sued in federal court sitting in diversity. The court applied a general common law rule on contract interpretation that it deemed the soundest rather than the rule followed by the courts of the state where the contract was formed.
Gabriel Gonzalez and his spouse petitioned to adopt a child in county court. The natural parent challenged jurisdiction. Because adoption was unknown at common law and therefore governed solely by statute, the court looked to the state's adoption statutes rather than any general common law rule to decide whether the petitioners met the residency requirement.
Gretchen Graham sued Galaxy Technologies in federal court under state law for wrongful termination. When the company sought to compel production of counseling records, Graham asserted a psychotherapist privilege. The court applied a general common law psychotherapist privilege that it deemed the soundest rather than the privilege rule of the state where the claim arose.
Gordon Gray left a ladder unsecured near a busy sidewalk. A passerby knocked it over and was injured. The passerby sued Gray for negligence in federal court under diversity jurisdiction. The court applied a general common law standard of care drawn from widely accepted precedents rather than the negligence rules of the state where the accident occurred.
Federal courts applying general common law selected the rule they viewed as the best or most widely followed among common law jurisdictions. They did not treat the decisions of the state where they sat as binding authority on questions of general common law.
General common law governed matters such as contract interpretation, tort duties, and certain commercial rules when no federal statute or constitutional provision controlled. Local matters such as real property rules remained governed by the law of the state where the property lay.
A party could obtain a more favorable substantive rule by choosing federal court, where judges applied general common law, rather than state court, where the state's own precedents controlled. This incentive disappeared once Erie required federal courts to follow state substantive law.
…weights of the respective interests involved, with the lessons and examples of medical and legal history, with the lenity of the common law, and with the demands of the profound problems of the present day. The decision leaves the State free to place increasing restrictions on abortion as the period of pregnancy lengthens, so…