CONFLICT OF LAWS — BAR ONE-SHEET (ELEMENTS & MNEMONICS)
Lean issue-spotting checklist — elements and mnemonics only. Pair with the full Conflict of Laws Master Outline for depth, then practice timed essays with AI feedback at BarExamNextGen.
KEY PRINCIPLE #1 — DOMICILE
Domicile = Physical Presence + Intent to remain ("PP + Intent") — make it home indefinitely.
- Everyone has exactly ONE domicile; retained until a new one is acquired.
- Types: domicile by birth/origin, choice (presence + intent), operation of law (minors take parents'; historically married women).
- Domicile anchors: divorce jurisdiction, intestate succession of personalty, taxation, diversity citizenship.
KEY PRINCIPLE #2 — THE THREE CHOICE-OF-LAW APPROACHES
Three methods — "VIM": Vested rights, Interest analysis, Most-significant-relationship":
- Vested Rights (1st Restatement) — apply law of the place where the right vested; mechanical territorial rules. Tort = place of injury (lex loci delicti); Contract = place of making (or performance for performance issues).
- Governmental Interest Analysis — which state has a real interest in applying its law? True conflict (both interested) → apply forum law; false conflict (only one interested) → apply that state's law; unprovided-for → forum law.
- Most Significant Relationship (2d Restatement) — apply law of state with most significant relationship per §6 policy factors + contacts; majority/modern approach.
KEY PRINCIPLE #3 — TORTS (AREA-BY-AREA)
- 1st Restatement: lex loci delicti — law of place where the last event/injury occurred.
- 2d Restatement (most significant relationship) contacts — "PIDR": Place of injury, place of Injury-causing Conduct, Domicile/residence/place of business of parties, place Relationship centered.
- Interest analysis: weigh each state's policy (compensation vs. liability-limiting).
KEY PRINCIPLE #4 — CONTRACTS (AREA-BY-AREA)
- Party choice-of-law clause honored if (a) reasonable relationship to transaction AND (b) not contrary to a fundamental policy of a more-interested state.
- No clause — 1st Restatement: place of making (validity) / place of performance (performance).
- 2d Restatement contacts — "PNP-DP": Place of contracting, Negotiation, Performance, location of subject matter, Domicile/place of business of parties.
KEY PRINCIPLE #5 — PROPERTY, FAMILY & OTHER AREAS
- Real property → situs (law of state where land is located) for nearly all issues.
- Personal property — inter vivos: situs at time of transaction; succession: domicile of decedent at death.
- Marriage validity — valid where celebrated = valid everywhere (unless violates strong public policy of domicile).
- Divorce — forum applies its own law; jurisdiction by domicile.
- Corporations — internal affairs doctrine: law of state of incorporation.
KEY PRINCIPLE #6 — ESCAPE DEVICES & DEFENSES
Devices to avoid foreign law — "CROP-PD":
- Characterization (e.g., tort vs. contract);
- Renvoi — does reference include the other state's conflict rules? (generally rejected except real property/divorce);
- Substance vs. Procedure — forum always applies its own procedure (statutes of limitations traditionally procedural → forum's; modern borrowing statutes);
- Public Policy — forum may refuse foreign law that violates strong local policy;
- Depeçage — apply different states' laws to different issues.
KEY PRINCIPLE #7 — FULL FAITH & CREDIT: JUDGMENTS
Sister-state judgment entitled to FF&C if — "JFM": Jurisdiction + Final + on the Merits":
- Rendering court had personal + subject-matter jurisdiction;
- Judgment final;
- On the merits.
Then enforcing state must recognize (no re-litigation of merits even if wrong/contrary to its policy). Defenses limited to: lack of jurisdiction, fraud, no due process. Penal and tax judgments — historically not entitled (though enforced under modern doctrine). Divisible divorce: status recognized, but financial orders need personal jurisdiction. Foreign-country judgments → recognized by comity (not FF&C).
KEY PRINCIPLE #8 — ERIE & KLAXON
- Erie — federal court sitting in diversity applies state substantive law + federal procedural law.
- Klaxon — federal diversity court applies the choice-of-law rules of the forum state in which it sits (forum state's conflicts approach, not its own).
- Substance/procedure for Erie: outcome-determinative + twin aims (forum shopping, inequitable administration); Hanna — valid Federal Rule controls; transfer (Van Dusen) carries transferor's law.
- Substantive (state law): elements of claim, statute of limitations (modern), burden of proof, choice-of-law rules. Procedural (federal): pleading, discovery, evidence rules.
KEY PRINCIPLE #9 — SUBSTANCE vs. PROCEDURE (TRADITIONAL CONFLICTS)
Forum always applies its own procedure; foreign substance:
- Procedural (forum law): rules of evidence, manner of trial, available remedies' form, and traditionally statutes of limitations (forum's own) — subject to borrowing statutes that import a shorter foreign limitations period.
- ★ ONE-LINE ATTACK ORDER
Characterize the issue → choose the approach (vested rights / interest analysis / most-significant-relationship) → apply the area-specific rule → escape devices → constitutional limits (Due Process + Full Faith & Credit) → JUDGMENTS: FF&C recognition.