Also known as: governing laws · choice of law · applicable law
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The body of legal rules that a court or other decision maker must apply to resolve a dispute or interpret an instrument. The governing law may be selected by the parties in a contract or will or determined by statutory or common law choice of law rules when the parties have not made an effective selection.
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Grace Gupta sues her former employer after discovering internal memos prepared by in-house counsel. The employer withholds the memos claiming work-product protection. The court applies the governing law to determine whether the memos qualify for protection because they were prepared in anticipation of litigation.
Glenn Gross executes a will leaving his estate to his niece. After his niece moves away he executes a revocation believing she no longer needs the inheritance. The niece later returns and the court applies the governing law to decide whether the revocation is ineffective because it rested on a false assumption about an objective fact.
Gina Griffin, a New York resident, sues a Pennsylvania driver in federal court in New York for injuries sustained in a Pennsylvania accident. The federal court applies the governing law by following New York choice of law rules to decide which state's substantive tort rules control the case.
Genesis Pharmaceuticals, incorporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in New Jersey, is sued in the District of New Jersey. The court applies the governing law to deem the company a resident of that district because it is subject to personal jurisdiction there for the action.
George Garcia's will creates a class gift to his descendants without specifying shares. When the gift takes effect the court applies the governing law of intestate succession to distribute the property among living class members in the shares they would have received if George had died intestate owning the property.
Great Lakes Steel defaults on a mortgage. The lender conducts a regularly held foreclosure sale that yields a low price. The borrower challenges the sale. The court applies the governing law and upholds the sale because the price is not grossly inadequate.
A federal court sitting in diversity applies the choice of law rules of the state in which it sits. Those state rules are treated as substantive under Erie and therefore control the selection of governing law for the underlying claims.
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A revocation is presumptively ineffective if the testator made it in an unsuccessful attempt to achieve a different disposition or because of a false assumption of law or fact that is recited in the revoking instrument or proved by clear and convincing evidence. The presumption is rebutted only if keeping the revocation in effect better matches the testator's probable intent.
…in other words, that “prohibiting the free exercise [of religion]” includes requiring any individual to observe a generally applicable law that requires (or forbids) the performance of an act that his religious belief forbids (or requires). As a textual matter, we do not think the words must be given that meaning. It is no…
…duty and liability is to be determined in federal courts as a matter of general law. The trial judge refused to rule that the applicable law precluded recovery. The jury brought in a verdict of $30,000; and the judgment entered thereon was affirmed by the Circuit Court of Appeals, which held, 90 F.2d 603, 604, that it was…
…has long been required in federal criminal trials. It is also true that this requirement is almost universally found in the governing laws of the States. And as long as a particular jurisdiction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt, then the Due Process Clause commands that every trial in that jurisdiction must adhere to…
…those creeds." 494 U. S., at 887 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). The only instances where a neutral, generally applicable law had failed to pass constitutional muster, the Smith Court noted, were cases in which other constitutional protections were at stake. Id. , at 881-882. In Wisconsin v. Yoder , 406 U. S.…
…Id., at 95. Concededly the Herron case was decided before Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins , but even when Swift v. Tyson was governing law
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Under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(c)(2) an entity resides, for venue purposes, in any district where it is subject to personal jurisdiction with respect to the action if it is a defendant, or in the district of its principal place of business if it is a plaintiff. The statute supplies the governing law for this determination.
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The property is distributed among living class members in the shares they would receive under the applicable law of intestate succession if the designated ancestor had died intestate owning the property at the time the interest takes effect in possession.
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A foreclosure sale price obtained in a regularly conducted proceeding does not render the foreclosure defective unless the price is grossly inadequate. The governing law therefore protects the sale from challenge on price alone absent that extreme showing.
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