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Erie’S Four Functions: Reframing Choice Of Law In Federal Courts, Allan Erbsen

Notre Dame Law Review

This Article seeks to mitigate decades of confusion about the Erie doctrine’s purposes, justifications, and content. The Article shows that “Erie” is a misleading label encompassing four distinct components. Jumbling these components under a single heading obscures their individual nuances. Analyzing each component separately helps to clarify questions and values that should animate judicial analysis. The Article thus reconceptualizes the Erie doctrine, offers a more precise account of how Erie operates, and provides a framework for rethinking several foundational aspects of Erie jurisprudence.

2013 marks Erie’s seventy-fifth anniversary. The years have not been kind to Erie and its progeny. Decades …