Also known as: conflict of laws · PIL
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The portion of each state's law that resolves disputes with significant contacts to more than one jurisdiction by determining the effect given to foreign law and judgments. It identifies which local law governs the rights and liabilities of the parties when events or parties cross state or national lines.
Preston Pratt, a New York resident, sues a Delaware corporation in federal court in New York over a contract formed in Pennsylvania. The federal judge must follow New York's choice-of-law rules to decide whether New York or Pennsylvania substantive law governs the claim.
Patricia Patel, domiciled in Ohio, brings a diversity action in a federal district court in Ohio arising from an accident in Indiana. The court applies Ohio's conflict-of-laws rules rather than any independent federal rule to select the governing substantive law.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Peak Performance, a Florida company, and a German buyer include a London forum-selection clause in their contract. The court upholds the clause and applies English law to the dispute even though performance occurred partly in the United States.
Paul Peterson, insured by Patriot Insurance, dies in Minnesota after an accident in Wisconsin. His widow sues in Minnesota federal court. The court weighs contacts with both states under Minnesota choice-of-law principles to decide which state's law measures damages.
Progressive Healthcare purchases equipment from Paragon Construction that fails in Texas after manufacture in New Jersey. The buyer sues in Texas state court. The court applies Texas choice-of-law rules to determine whether New Jersey or Texas law governs the warranty and tort claims.
Parker Phillips, a Michigan franchisee, sues Burger King in Florida federal court over a contract dispute. The court first confirms personal jurisdiction under Florida long-arm rules, then uses Florida choice-of-law rules to select the substantive law that governs the franchise agreement.
Private international law addresses choice-of-law and jurisdictional questions in disputes between private parties that cross borders. Public international law governs relations between sovereign states themselves.
It covers judicial jurisdiction, recognition of foreign judgments, and choice-of-law rules that select which state's or country's substantive law applies to a dispute with multistate contacts.
Yes. Under Klaxon, a federal court applies the conflict-of-laws rules of the state in which it sits because those rules are treated as substantive for Erie purposes.
Yes. The Due Process and Full Faith and Credit Clauses impose outer boundaries on a state's power to apply its own law or to refuse recognition of sister-state judgments.
…is a customary elliptical way of referring to jurisdiction over the interests of persons in a thing." Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 56, Introductory Note (1971) (hereafter Restatement). This recognition leads to the conclusion that in order to justify an exercise of jurisdiction in rem , the basis for jurisdiction…