Also known as: choice of law rule · choice-of-law rules · choice of law rules · conflicts rule · choice of law provision
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A rule that selects the substantive law of a particular jurisdiction to govern a dispute with multistate contacts. The rule identifies the state or country whose local law supplies the rights and duties of the parties after evaluating the relationship of each interested jurisdiction to the issue, the parties, and the transaction or occurrence.
Charlotte Chung, a citizen of State A, sues Cobalt Energy, a State B corporation, in federal court in State A for breach of a contract negotiated partly in both states. The federal judge must consult State A choice-of-law rules to decide whether State A or State B substantive contract law governs the claim.
Carmen Choi, domiciled in State X, sells a parcel of land located in State Y to Crystal Dynamics. When the buyer later disputes the scope of an easement reserved in the deed, the court applies the choice-of-law factors that weigh the interests of States X and Y in the particular property issue.
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Chloe Chen files a products-liability action in federal court in State P against Crown Pharmaceuticals. After the case is transferred for convenience to federal court in State Q, the transferee court continues to apply State P choice-of-law rules to determine which state's tort law controls.
Colin Chambers, a resident of State M, conveys an interest in real property situated in State N. A later dispute over the conveyance's validity requires the forum court to apply the totality of State N law, including State N choice-of-law rules, to replicate the result a State N court would reach.
Camila Cervantes brings an action under the Alien Tort Statute alleging injury suffered abroad. The court must determine whether any applicable choice-of-law rule selects foreign substantive law to govern the claim of liability.
Catherine Carter, a shareholder of a Delaware corporation, challenges a voting-rights provision in the company's charter. The court applies Delaware law to the dispute under the internal-affairs choice-of-law principle.
The federal court must follow the choice-of-law rules of the state in which it sits. Those rules are treated as substantive under Erie, so the federal court applies the same conflict rules a state court in the same district would use.
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The transferee court must apply the choice-of-law rules that the transferor court would have applied. The transfer does not change the substantive law that would have governed the case.
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Courts evaluate the most significant relationship of each state to the thing and the parties under the factors listed in section 6, with special weight given to protecting justified expectations in property transactions.
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The forum applies the full law of the situs state, including the situs state's own choice-of-law rules, so that the outcome matches what a court sitting in the situs state would reach.
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…law with the "fundamental substantive social policies" of another State may be accommodated through application of the forum's choice-of-law rules.[^maj-19] Similarly, a defendant claiming substantial inconvenience may seek a change of venue.[^maj-20] Nevertheless, minimum requirements inherent in the concept of "fair play and…