Conflict of Laws-- Choice of Law Flashcards
(21 cards)
when may a choice of law question arise?
when two conditions are satisfied:
1) the lawsuit involves factual connections with multiple states
2) the multiple states will have different laws leading to different results
What is the core question regarding conflict of laws
which state’s law will govern
the governing law is selected by the FORUM COURT according to its CHOICE OF LAW APPROACH
What are some of the exceptions?
1) diversity cases in federal court– choice of law approach of state in which it sits
2) transferror court– choice of law approach of the transferror court
What happens in a diversity case?
diversity cases in federal court– a federal court sitting in diversity applies the choice of law approach of the state in which it sits
what happens in a transferred diversity case?
when a diversity case is transferred within the federal system, the federal court applies the choice of law approach of the TRANSFEROR COURT.
what is the key to choice of law in NY state?
NY focuses on policies and interests rather than facts.
e.g.
1) why does Ontario have a guest statute?
to protect insurers from possibility of collusion
2) why doensn’t NY have a guest statute?
because it thinks injured parties should be compensated
3) are the policy interests in the states competing laws triggered in this case?
Ontario: No
New York: Yes
then apply new york, because there is a false conflict– only one state has a legitimate interest
in the case of a true conflict– two states have a legitimate interest:
NY law should apply, as long as NY interest is LEGITIMATE
What about choice of law in TORTS cases?
“The case involves a choice of law question relating to torts. The New York court will therefore apply the Neumeier rules to determine the governing law.”
In Torts cases:
1) if the parties are domiciled in the same state, apply the law of the common domicile
EXCEPTION: If the rule at issue is strictly about conduct regulation then the law of the place of injury applies
2) if the parties are domiciled in separate states, apply the law of the place of injury
EXCEPTION: if the state of the place of injury has no legitimate interest, then the law of an interested state should be applied instead. If NY is interested, apply NY law.
What about multiparty torts cases?
Rule: Neumeier must be applied separately for each plaintiff, vis-a-vis each defendant.
What about CONTRACTS cases?
Rule: a choice of law provision in a contract will be enforced if VALID and EXPRESSED.
If the choice of law provision is valid, forego the choice of law analysis. If it is not valid, do the choice of law analysis– the court will choose the governing law based on interest analysis.
when in doubt on the bar, find the contract provision in valid and do the choice of law analysis
Why would the choice of law provision in a contract be invalid?
1) the provision was included without true mutual assent
2) the law selected has no reasonable relationship to the contract.
What are the exceptions to this rule?
If contract is over $250k, parties may choose NY law.
if contract is over $1mil, parties may choose NY law and NY forum
What about AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CONTRACTS?
In NY all issues regarding the rights and duties under an automobile insurance policy are governed by the state where the policy was written.
What about PROPERTY?
Inmovable (real) property– apply the law of the situs
movable (personal) property–
Rule #1–if the case involves an inter vivos transaction, apply the law of the situs at the time of transaction.
Rule #2– if the case involves a matter relating to inheritance, apply the law of the decedent’s domicile at date of death
What about FAMILY LAW?
If a marriage is valid where performed, it will be reocognized as valid everywhere
What about temporary relocations for marriage?
This is an exception to the general rule. When domiciliaries of one state temporarily relocate to another state to perform a marriage that violates a prohibitory rule in their home state, he state of domicile will not recognize the marriage.
Divorce?
forum will apply its own rules
to acquire jurisdiction, at least one of the parties must be domiciled in the state, therefore the state has an interest in applying its own law
Legitimacy
legitimacy of a child is governed by the mother’s domicile at time of the child’s birth
the validity of subsequent acts of legitimization are governed by the law of the father’s domicile
What are the defenses to choice of law?
- Public policy– a forum court will not apply a law that is against its own fundamental public policy
- Procedural rules, e.g SOL
Exception #1: borrowing statutes – applies the shorter of two SOL, except when P is from NY
Exception #2 Application of the full statute (substantive + procedural) if a foreign law is being applied and there is both a substantive and a procedural componenet
Domicile by operation of law
Category #1: Children, newborns are assigned the domicile of their parents
Category #2: In case of divorce, children are assigned the domicile of their custodial parent
Domicile of mental incompetents
Rule#An individual who is mentally incompetent is assigned the domicile of his/her custodial parents
Rule #2 If an individual becomes incompetent after acquiring a domicile by choice, he/she maintains the chosen domicile.
Domicile by choice
an individual with domicile capacity acquires domicile when two conditions are satisfied:
1) physical presence in a state
2) intent to remain there indefinitely
remember, even fleeting presence counts
intent matters over motive
you keep your old domicile until your new domicile is perfected
