Law Commons^™

Enforcing Judgments Across State And National Boundaries: Inbound Foreign Judgments And Outbound Texas Judgments, James P. George

James P. George

Litigation between parties in different states has been common since the success of the railroads and telegraph in the late nineteenth century. International litigation--suits involving parties from different countries--is now routine. In spite of that routine, lawyers continue to face enforcement obstacles when suing a defendant from another state or country. Similarly, defendants perceive unfairness from judgments rendered far away. Those enforcement obstacles and instances of unfairness have been lessened by uniform enforcement statutes and a few treaties, but the rules remain elusive.

This Article provides a cursory outline for most foreign-judgment enforcement issues that Texas attorneys will face. It …

Choice Of Law: A Guide For Texas Attorneys, James P. George

James P. George

This Article is a follow-up to an earlier article, Choice of Law Outline for Texas Courts, 18 Tex. Tech L.Rev. 785 (1987), which attempted to illustrate the proper Texas choice of law analysis under the then-recently-adopted “most significant relationship test.” The prior Article was intended for Texas judges, and considered only what ought to occur in a Texas state or federal court. This successor Article is for Texas practitioners, but goes beyond the Texas courtroom. It focuses on the choice of law process in Texas state and federal courts, but is broad enough to acquaint the reader with choice of …

Access To Justice, Costs, And Legal Aid, James P. George

James P. George

If the ideal of justice is not pervasive in the United States, the issue of justice is-not so much in its rendition, but in its penetration of news, politics and entertainment. Current media issues include the death penalty--erroneous convictions and the lack of lawyers for appeals; tort reform--conflicting data on medical malpractice litigation and a perceived abuse of class actions; and the judiciary itself--judicial selection, political attacks on so-called "activist judges," and the sometimes hidden issue of court budgets. Within this fascination, the multiple problems in accessing justice are lost.

This article is excerpted from a report done for the …

Shaffer V. Heitner: A New Attitude Toward State Court Jurisdiction, Paul George

James P. George

Mr. Justice Frankfurter's observation is equally suited to the overruling of the century-old case, Pennoyer v. Neff, by the recent decision in Shaffer v. Heitner Shaffer ended not only Pennoyer's reign, but also a jurisdictional perspective which rested on the distinction between in personam and in rem jurisdiction and the concept of a state's sovereignty over property within its borders. The basis of the Pennoyer doctrine was the concept that a state had authority over all persons and property within its territory, and no authority whatsoever outside its territorial limits. Modifying previous theory slightly, Pennoyer became the …

Conflict Of Law (1987), James Paul George, Fred C. Pedersen

James P. George

Conflicts of law occur when foreign elements appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents in sister states or foreign countries, and lawsuits from other jurisdictions are all foreign elements that may create problems in judicial jurisdiction, choice of law, or the recognition of foreign judgments. This Article reviews Texas conflict of laws during the Survey period from late 1985 through 1986. The Survey includes cases from Texas state and federal courts, and non-Texas cases affecting Texas practice. Excluded are cases involving federal/state conflicts, criminal law, intrastate matters such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue, and conflicts in time, such as …

Conflict Of Laws, James P. George, Susan T. Phillips

James P. George

States' and nations' laws collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents outside the forum, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This Article reviews Texas conflict cases from Texas state and federal courts during the Survey-period from November 1, 2011 through October 31, 2013. The Article excludes cases involving federal-state conflicts; intrastate issues, such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue; and conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state. State and federal cases are discussed together …

Conflict Of Laws (2003), James P. George, Anna K. Teller

James P. George

States' and nations' laws collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents outside the forum, parallel lawsuits, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This article reviews Texas conflicts cases from Texas state and federal courts during the Survey period from October 1, 2001, through November 1, 2002. The article excludes cases involving federal-state conflicts, intrastate issues such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue, and conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state.

State and federal cases …

International Parallel Litigation - A Survey Of Current Conventions And Model Laws, James P. George

James P. George

Parallel litigation is difficult to define and sometimes means what the speaker wants it to mean. It may be limited to identical lawsuits with exactly the same parties and the same claims. It may also mean any instance of two or more lawsuits that may result in claim preclusion for some or all of the parties. It includes concepts of reactive and repetitive litigation, related litigation, and derivative litigation. Whatever it is thought to encompass, it incurs criticism as being vexing and harassing, wasteful of the parties' and courts' resources, and inclined to produce inconsistent results and possibly inter-governmental discord. …

Reimposable Discounts And Medieval Contract Penalties, James P. George

James P. George

Penalty damages in contract -- contrary to Anglo-American law since the late Middle Ages -- ironically are common as reimposed discounts in modern consumer contracts. The reimposable discount is a late-twentieth-century sales scheme that combines legal puffery with illegal penalties. These pitches are used to sell furniture, appliances, cell phones, cars, to rent apartments, and to promote elective eye surgery. The offers are tempting and often heavily marketed in the media.

The common premise is that if the buyer acts now, the seller will discount the good or service by reducing the price, or by postponing the first payment and …

Conflict Of Laws (2007), James P. George, Anna K. Teller

James P. George

State and national laws collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents outside the forum, parallel lawsuits, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This article reviews Texas conflicts cases from state and federal courts during the Survey period from October 1, 2005, through November 30, 2006. The article excludes cases involving federal-state conflicts, intrastate issues, such as subject-matter jurisdiction and venue, and conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state. State and federal cases are discussed …

Conflict Of Laws (1986), James Paul George, Fred C. Pedersen

James P. George

Conflicts of law occur when foreign elements appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident plaintiffs or defendants, incidents in other state or countries, and lawsuits outside of Texas are all foreign elements that may create conflicts problems with judicial jurisdiction, choice of law, or the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. This Article will review Texas conflicts of law during the Survey period from late 1984 through 1985. The Survey includes cases from Texas state and federal courts, and non-Texas cases affecting Texas practice.

During the Survey period, judicial jurisdiction continued its uncertain theoretical expansion, with Texas courts raising important questions. Foreign …

Conflict Of Laws (2005), James P. George, Anna K. Teller

James P. George

States' and nations' laws collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents outside the forum, parallel lawsuits, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This article reviews Texas conflicts cases from Texas state and federal courts during the Survey period from October 1, 2003 through November 31, 2004. The article excludes cases involving federal-state conflicts; intrastate issues such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue; and conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state. State and federal cases …

Conflict Of Laws (2012), James P. George, Stephanie K. Marshall, Lisa A. Goodman

James P. George

States' and nations' laws collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Non-resident litigants, incidents outside the forum, parallel lawsuits, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This Article reviews Texas conflict cases from state and federal courts in Texas during the Survey period from November 1, 2010 through October 31, 2011. The Article excludes cases involving (1) federal-state conflicts; (2) intrastate issues, such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue; and (3) conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state. …

Jurisdictional Implications In The Reduced Funding Of Lower Federal Courts, James P. George

James P. George

This article argues two related propositions. First, if Congress were to eliminate all funding for lower federal courts, its constitutional authority to regulate those courts would become as meaningless as the empty courthouses. Second, Congress breaches its duty to furnish a forum at a point short of full defunding, and with that breach, Congress's regulatory power over private civil disputes otherwise litigable in state courts--preempted and removable state law claims--becomes constitutionally invalid. The first fact setting of full defunding is hypothetical; the second has been underway for several years.

Choice Of Law Outline For Texas Courts, James P. George

James P. George

Several recent Texas choice of law cases have misapplied the most-significant-relationship test, the basic Texas choice of law test adopted from the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws. The misapplications (none from the Texas Supreme Court) predominantly turn on the courts' improperly focusing on a single element of the seven-factor most-significant-relationship test, thereby thwarting its function as a balancing test for competing interests. Texas courts are not alone in this misunderstanding of choice of law tests. In recent years most states have moved away from the old rigid choice of law rules--easily applied, but often unfair--to the newer rules based …

Conflict Of Laws (1988), Sharon N. Freytag, Don D. Bush, James Paul George

James P. George

Conflicts of law occur when foreign elements appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents in sister states or foreign countries, and lawsuits from other jurisdictions represent foreign elements that may create problems in judicial jurisdiction, choice of law, or recognition of foreign judgments, respectively. This Article reviews Texas conflicts of law during the Survey period from late 1986 through 1987. The survey includes cases from Texas state and federal courts and non-Texas cases affecting Texas practice. Excluded are cases involving federal/state conflicts, criminal law, intrastate matters such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue, except when they relate to the personal …

Conflict Of Laws (2004), James P. George, Anna K. Teller

James P. George

States' and nations' laws collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents outside the forum, parallel lawsuits, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This article reviews Texas conflicts cases from Texas state and federal courts during the Survey period from October 1, 2002, through November 1, 2003. The article excludes cases involving federalstate conflicts, intrastate issues such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue, and conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state. State and federal cases …

Conflict Of Laws (2009), Stephanie K. Marshall, Wm Frank Carroll, James P. George

James P. George

States' and nations' laws collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents outside the forum, parallel lawsuits, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This article reviews Texas conflicts cases from Texas state and federal courts during the Survey period from October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. The article excludes cases involving federal-state conflicts, intrastate issues such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue, and conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state. State and federal cases …

Conflict Of Laws (2010), James P. George, Wm Frank Carroll, Stephanie K. Marshall

James P. George

States' and nations' laws collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents outside the forum, parallel lawsuits, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This Article reviews Texas conflict cases from Texas state and federal courts during the Survey period from November 1, 2008, through October 31, 2009. The Article excludes cases involving federal-state conflicts; intrastate issues, such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue; and conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state. State and federal cases …

Conflict Of Laws (1990), Sharon N. Freytag, James P. George, Michelle E. Mccoy

James P. George

Conflicts of laws occur when foreign elements appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents in sister states or foreign countries, and lawsuits from other jurisdictions represent foreign elements that may create problems of judicial jurisdiction, choice of law, or recognition of foreign judgments, respectively. This Article reviews Texas conflicts of law during the Survey period from late 1988 through 1989, discussing cases from Texas state and federal courts. The Article excludes cases involving federal-state conflicts, criminal law, intrastate matters such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue, and conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within …

Conflict Of Laws (2006), James P. George, Anna K. Teller

James P. George

States' and nations' laws collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents outside the forum, parallel lawsuits, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This Article reviews Texas conflicts cases from Texas state and federal courts during the Survey period from October 1, 2004 through November 31, 2005. The Article excludes cases involving federal-state conflicts, intrastate issues such as subject-matter jurisdiction and venue, and conflicts in time such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state. State and federal cases are …

Conflicts Of Law (1989), Sharon N. Freytag, Don D. Bush, James Paul George

James P. George

Conflicts of law occur when foreign elements appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents in sister states or foreign countries, and lawsuits from other jurisdictions represent foreign elements that may create problems in judicial jurisdiction, choice of law, or recognition of foreign judgments, respectively. This Article reviews Texas conflicts of law during the Survey period from late 1987 through 1988. The survey includes cases from Texas state and federal courts. Excluded are cases involving federal state conflicts, criminal law, intrastate matters such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue, and conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent …

Parallel Litigation, James P. George

James P. George

Parallel litigation--a dispute generating multiple lawsuits--is not a new phenomenon and is not limited to celebrities or sensational controversies. Besides the publicity-generating lawsuits noted above, divorce actions have a long history of parallel lawsuits and conflicting judgments. Recent years have seen an expansion both in the incidence and the subject matter of parallel lawsuits, perhaps fueled by the traditional motivations of home-court advantage and differing laws, along with the expansion of personal jurisdiction rules in the past fifty years.

In spite of this increase, the vocabulary remains imprecise and ambiguous. Parallel litigation would seem to mean identical or mirror image …

Defining Filartiga: Characterizing International Torture Claims In United States Courts, James Paul George

James P. George

Since the Nuremburg trials and the attendant worldwide reaction to Nazi attrocities, the world has taken an increasing interest in preventing government torture. Whenever legal fictions such as national borders and other sovereignty concepts have acted as barriers to torture prevention, the world has responded, slowly and incrementally, with new legal fictions to overcome those barriers. A recent case in a United States federal court, Filartiga v. Pena-Irala, is a significant new increment toward the prevention of torture and more generally the international protection of human rights. Filartiga holds that torture, long prohibited by virtually all nations' laws and …

False Conflicts And Faulty Analyses: Judicial Misuse Of Governmental Interests In The Second Restatement Of Conflict Of Laws, James P. George

James P. George

The Second Restatement of Conflict of Laws has the irony of dominating the field while bewildering its users. The result is a set of choice-of-law decisions so lacking in uniformity that the Second Restatement's balancing test has become chimeric, taking on vastly different forms in different courts. Erratic applications may be partly due to its code-like function, which can require the application of two or more black letter sections, each with multiple analytical steps. Critics also point to the political and academic compromises that pervaded the American Law Institute's drafting process for this project, leading to ambiguity in some sections. …

Conflict Of Laws (2008), James P. George, Stephanie K. Marshall

James P. George

States' and nations' laws collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents outside the forum, parallel lawsuits, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This article reviews Texas conflicts cases from Texas state and federal courts during the Survey period from October 1, 2006, through September 30, 2007. The article excludes cases involving federal-state conflicts, intrastate issues such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue, and conflicts in time, such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state. State and federal cases …

Conflict Of Laws (2011), James P. George, Stephanie K. Marshall

James P. George

The laws of states and nations collide when foreign factors appear in a lawsuit. Nonresident litigants, incidents outside the forum, parallel lawsuits, and judgments from other jurisdictions can create problems with personal jurisdiction, choice of law, and the recognition of foreign judgments. This Article reviews Texas conflict cases from Texas state and federal courts during the Survey period from November 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010. The Article excludes cases involving federal-state conflicts; intrastate issues such as subject matter jurisdiction and venue; and conflicts in time such as the applicability of prior or subsequent law within a state. State and …