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Full-Text Articles in Conflict of Laws

M/S Bremen V Zapata Off -Shore Company: Us Common Law Affirmation Of Party Autonomy, Ronald A. Brand Jan 2023

M/S Bremen V Zapata Off -Shore Company: Us Common Law Affirmation Of Party Autonomy, Ronald A. Brand

Book Chapters

In the 1972 decision in M/S Bremen v Zapata Off -Shore Company, the U.S. Supreme Court brought together the development of doctrines dealing with party autonomy in choice of court and forum non conveniens. Especially when considered alongside developments favoring arbitration clauses in U.S. courts, the case provides a rich study of conflicts of laws jurisprudence in the twentieth century. This chapter begins with a discussion of fundamental elements of the development of party autonomy in U.S. law and the historical context of the law prior to The Bremen. A brief mention of how one prominent political family …


Choice Of Law And The Preponderantly Multistate Rule: The Example Of Successor Corporation Products Liability, Diana Sclar Jan 2021

Choice Of Law And The Preponderantly Multistate Rule: The Example Of Successor Corporation Products Liability, Diana Sclar

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Most state rules of substantive law, whether legislative or judicial, ordinarily adjust rights and obligations among local parties with respect to local events. Conventional choice of law methodologies for adjudicating disputes with multistate connections all start from an explicit or implicit assumption of a choice between such locally oriented substantive rules. This article reveals, for the first time, that some state rules of substantive law ordinarily adjust rights and obligations with respect to parties and events connected to more than one state and only occasionally apply to wholly local matters. For these rules I use the term “nominally domestic rules …


Family Law Disputes Between International Couples In U.S. Courts, Rhonda Wasserman Oct 2020

Family Law Disputes Between International Couples In U.S. Courts, Rhonda Wasserman

Articles

Increasing mobility, migration, and growing numbers of international couples give rise to a host of family law issues. For instance, when marital partners are citizens of different countries, or live outside the country of which they are citizens, or move between countries, courts must first determine if they have jurisdiction to hear divorce or child custody actions. Given that countries around the world are governed by different legal regimes, such as the common law system, civil codes, religious law, and customary law, choice of law questions also complicate family litigation. This short article addresses the jurisdictional and other conflicts issues …


China's Rule Of Law From A Private International Law Perspective, King Fung Tsang Jul 2019

China's Rule Of Law From A Private International Law Perspective, King Fung Tsang

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.


Choice Of Law And Jurisdictional Policy In The Federal Courts, Tobias Barrington Wolff Jan 2017

Choice Of Law And Jurisdictional Policy In The Federal Courts, Tobias Barrington Wolff

All Faculty Scholarship

For seventy-five years, Klaxon v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing has provided a one-line answer to choice-of-law questions in federal diversity cases: Erie requires the federal court to employ the same law that a court of the state would select. The simplicity of the proposition likely accounts for the unqualified breadth with which federal courts now apply it. Choice of law doctrine is difficult, consensus in hard cases is elusive, and the anxiety that Erie produces over the demands of federalism tends to stifle any reexamination of core assumptions. The attraction of a simple answer is obvious. But Klaxon cannot bear the …


The Battle For The Soul Of International Shoe, Eric H. Schepard Aug 2013

The Battle For The Soul Of International Shoe, Eric H. Schepard

Eric H Schepard

In 2011, Justice Kennedy’s plurality opinion in J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. v. Nicastro repeatedly cited International Shoe v. Washington, a 1945 decision that transformed the law of personal jurisdiction. Kennedy believed that International Shoe broadly supported his position that a state may hear a suit arising from a within-state workplace injury to its citizen only if the foreign (out-of-state) corporate defendant specifically markets its products to that state. This article reexamines the jurisprudence of International Shoe’s author, Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone, to argue that Kennedy hijacked International Shoe’s half-buried legacy of judicial restraint. Scholars have suggested that Stone hoped …


In Defense Of The Substance-Procedure Dichotomy, Jennifer S. Hendricks Jan 2011

In Defense Of The Substance-Procedure Dichotomy, Jennifer S. Hendricks

Publications

John Hart Ely famously observed, "We were all brought up on sophisticated talk about the fluidity of the line between substance and procedure," but for most of Erie's history, the Supreme Court has answered the question "Does this state law govern in federal court? " with a "yes" or a "no." Beginning, however, with Gasperini v. Center for Humanities, and continuing with Semtek v. Lockheed Martin and the dissenting opinion in Shady Grove v. Allstate, a shifting coalition of justices has pursued a third path. Instead of declaring state law applicable or inapplicable, they have claimed for …


The Rome I Regulation Rules On Party Autonomy For Choice Of Law: A U.S. Perspective, Ronald A. Brand Jan 2011

The Rome I Regulation Rules On Party Autonomy For Choice Of Law: A U.S. Perspective, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

This chapter was presented at a conference in Dublin on the (then) new Rome I Regulation of the European Union in the fall of 2009. It contrasts the Rome I rules on party autonomy with those in the United States. In particular, it considers the rules in the Rome I Regulation that ostensibly protect consumers by discouraging party agreement on a pre-dispute basis to the law governing a consumer contract. These rules are compared with the absence of private international law restrictions on choice of forum and choice of law in the United States, even in consumer contracts. The result …


Aggregation And Choice Of Law, Edward H. Cooper Jan 2009

Aggregation And Choice Of Law, Edward H. Cooper

Articles

This is more a conversational gambit than an article. I address a question at the intersection of procedure and choice of law, speaking as a proceduralist rather than a choice-of-law scholar. The question - which may be two questions - addresses the potential interdependence of procedural aggregation devices and choice of law. One part of the question is whether aggregation can justifiably change the choice of law made for some part of an aggregated proceeding. The other part is whether choice-of-law principles can be adapted to facilitate procedurally desirable aggregation. Answers may be sought either in abstract theory or in …


The European Magnet And The U.S. Centrifuge: Ten Selected Private International Law Developments Of 2008, Ronald A. Brand Jan 2009

The European Magnet And The U.S. Centrifuge: Ten Selected Private International Law Developments Of 2008, Ronald A. Brand

Articles

This article considers ten developments in private international law that occurred in 2008. In doing so, it focuses on the way in which these developments demonstrate a parallel convergence of power for private international in the institutions of the European Community and dispersal of power for private international law in the United States. This process carries with it important implications for the future roles of both the European Union and the United States in the multilateral development of rules of private international law, with the EU moving toward an enhanced leadership role and the United States restricting its own ability …


The Myth (And Realities) Of Forum Shopping In Transnational Insolvency, John A. E. Pottow Jan 2007

The Myth (And Realities) Of Forum Shopping In Transnational Insolvency, John A. E. Pottow

Articles

A decade ago, in 1996, the landscape of transnational insolvencies was vastly different from today. The UNCITRAL Model Law had not been finished, the efforts at the E.U. Insolvency Treaty were jeopardized by mad cows, and no one had heard of Chapter 15. Now, all three universalist projects are up and running, putting universalism in a comfortable state of ascendancy. The paradigm has not been without critics, however, the most persistent and eloquent of which has been Professor Lynn LoPucki. LoPucki has periodically attacked universalism on a number of grounds. These grievances include a sovereigntist complaint of universalism's insensitivity to …


Greed And Pride In International Bankruptcy: The Problems Of And Proposed Solutions To 'Local Interests', John A. E. Pottow Jan 2006

Greed And Pride In International Bankruptcy: The Problems Of And Proposed Solutions To 'Local Interests', John A. E. Pottow

Articles

The collapses of Yukos, Parmalat, and other international juggernauts have focused scholarly attention on the failure of multinational enterprises. Even what one might consider "American" companies, such as Chicago-based United Airlines, have made clear in their restructuring plans that their operations have profound effects on the dozens of nations around the globe where they transact business. Government and quasi-government reform efforts to regulate these cross-border insolvencies have abounded, including among others, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency. UNCITRAL is also building on World Bank and INSOL efforts at promulgating a Legislative Guide for "best practices" bankruptcy codes. Scholars vary …


“The (Cisg) Road Less Travelled”: Case Comment On Grecon Dimter Inc. V. J.R. Normand Inc., Antonin I. Pribetic Dec 2005

“The (Cisg) Road Less Travelled”: Case Comment On Grecon Dimter Inc. V. J.R. Normand Inc., Antonin I. Pribetic

ExpressO

At first glance, the Supreme Court of Canada's recent decision in GreCon Dimter Inc. v. J.R. Normand Inc. appears to be a case upholding the primacy of international commercial arbitration, choice of forum and choice of law clauses. Upon closer scrutiny, however, the Supreme Court of Canada failed to consider the application of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) to the overall dispute. Interestingly, the same choice of forum and choice of law clauses were considered by the United States Court of Appeals a year earlier in GreCon Dimter, Incorporated v. Horner Flooring Company, …


Finding The Contract In Contracts For Law, Forum, And Arbitration, William John Woodward Aug 2005

Finding The Contract In Contracts For Law, Forum, And Arbitration, William John Woodward

ExpressO

Contract provisions specifying the law or forum (either judicial or arbitration) have begun appearing in litigated cases, as businesses have pressed many courts for their enforcement against consumers. In at least some of the cases, enforcement of a choice of law provision results in the displacement of the consumer’s home state protection by the lesser consumer protection of the State of the form drafter’s choosing. This phenomenon raises serious problems of federalism and local control of consumer protection. But while considerable scholarly attention has been lavished on so-called “mandatory arbitration” in this context, much less has attempted to improve our …


Procedural Incrementalism: A Model For International Bankruptcy, John A. E. Pottow Jan 2005

Procedural Incrementalism: A Model For International Bankruptcy, John A. E. Pottow

Articles

The headline-grabbing business failures of late have brought increased attention to the relatively unresolved area of multinational bankruptcies. Parmalat, Global Crossing, and United Airlines are among the few international juggernauts that have foundered. In the financial meltdowns of these cross-border institutions, assets and creditors are dispersed throughout commercial environments that rarely end neatly at national borders. There has been heated debate, both in scholarly literature and the practical battlefield, over how best to resolve these transnational insolvencies, and there is nothing yet approaching a consensus. Reform efforts of various stripes have almost uniformly failed to gain meaningful international support. At …


Choosing Law With An Eye On The Prize, Russell J. Weintraub Jan 1994

Choosing Law With An Eye On The Prize, Russell J. Weintraub

Michigan Journal of International Law

Review of Choice of Law and Multistate Justice by Friedrich K. Juenger


Interstate Consolidation: A Comparison Of The Ali Project With The Uniform Transfer Of Litigation Act (American Law Institute Complex Litigation Project: A Symposium, In Memoriam Donald Theodore Trautman), Edward H. Cooper Jan 1994

Interstate Consolidation: A Comparison Of The Ali Project With The Uniform Transfer Of Litigation Act (American Law Institute Complex Litigation Project: A Symposium, In Memoriam Donald Theodore Trautman), Edward H. Cooper

Articles

The Uniform Transfer of Litigation Act (UTLA) was undertaken for purposes simpler than the mass consolidation of multiparty, multiforum litigation. It seeks to create an effective tool that can be used to reduce some of the artificial barriers that tradition has erected around the sovereign separateness of the many different court systems in this country. The fact of separate sovereignty must be recognized, however, and to this end consent of both transferring and receiving courts is required. Within the consent requirement, transfer from the court system of one sovereign to the court system of another can improve on present practices …


Conflict Of Laws-Public Policy Used To Apply Forum Law To Joint Bank Accounts Of Foreign-Domiciliaries Wyatt V. Fulrath, Michigan Law Review Jan 1967

Conflict Of Laws-Public Policy Used To Apply Forum Law To Joint Bank Accounts Of Foreign-Domiciliaries Wyatt V. Fulrath, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The Duke and Duchess of Arion, nationals and domiciliaries of Spain, neither of whom had ever been to New York, deposited community property consisting of cash and securities in several New York banks. In establishing these accounts, the Duke and Duchess either expressly agreed in writing that the New York law of survivorship would apply to their accounts or signed standard bank survivorship forms which incorporated the survivorship laws of that state. After her husband's death, the Duchess made the entire amount on deposit in New York subject to her will. Following the Duchess' death and during probate of her …


An Inquiry Into The Utility Of "Domicile" As A Concept In Conflicts Analysis, Russell J. Weintraub Apr 1965

An Inquiry Into The Utility Of "Domicile" As A Concept In Conflicts Analysis, Russell J. Weintraub

Michigan Law Review

No attempt is made here to conduct an exhaustive case study of any one particular area in which the concept of "domicile" is used as a tool for analysis in the conflict of laws. A number of thorough and useful studies have been made in narrow areas and are cited at appropriate places in the body of this article. Instead, this article will review the use of "domicile" in analyzing certain typical conflicts problems, particularly its use as the contact or pointing word in choice of law rules concerning the testate and intestate distribution of movables, and, as is newly …


A Rule Is A Rule Because It Is The Rule: Intellectual Crisis In Conflict Of Laws, E. F. Roberts Jan 1964

A Rule Is A Rule Because It Is The Rule: Intellectual Crisis In Conflict Of Laws, E. F. Roberts

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Federal Courts - Choice Of Law Application Of Federal Law To Government Subcontract In Federal Diversity Case, H. C. Snyder Jr. Dec 1961

Federal Courts - Choice Of Law Application Of Federal Law To Government Subcontract In Federal Diversity Case, H. C. Snyder Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant obtained a government missile contract, and plaintiff was subcontracted to manufacture containers for the missiles. When certain changes in elements of the containers were ordered by the Government, plaintiff demanded an "equitable adjustment" from defendant pursuant to the terms of the subcontract. Defendant paid only the costs of effecting the necessary changes. Plaintiff instituted this suit in federal district court alleging diversity of citizenship and demanding that the adjustment include, as allowed by California law, compensation for overhead losses caused by a partial work stoppage during the delay in effecting the changes. The district court characterized the contract as …


Utility Of The Jurisdictional Principle In A Policy Centered Conflict Of Laws, Edwin W. Briggs Apr 1953

Utility Of The Jurisdictional Principle In A Policy Centered Conflict Of Laws, Edwin W. Briggs

Vanderbilt Law Review

Various recent studies' have confirmed the suspicion that courts continue to find it necessary to approve and rely heavily on the principle of "legislative jurisdiction" residing in some one state, even though they do not often admit it in so many words. Since the discussion of the problem by courts generally assumes that the single question in conflicts is choice of law, and since one of the most influential writers on the subject in recent times has denied the validity of the jurisdictional principle at the common law as a means of solving a conflicts problem, a study giving further …