Conflict of Laws Posts
Party Autonomy and the Challenge of Choice of Law
This essay argues that party autonomy does not have one comprehensive justification, but that it might be justified by a set of distinct if overlapping arguments that point to vital ideas often overlooked in the contemporary conversation. If choice of law doctrine embraces party autonomy, it might be in part because its shapers instinctively and inchoately recognize those considerations.
Improving (and Avoiding) Interstate Interpretive Encounters
This paper addresses situations in which a state court may have legitimate reasons to resist applying sister-state methodology to a sister-state statute and considers the potential role of the federal courts in modeling and encouraging compliance with the general duty to apply sister-state methodology.
Choice of Law for Immovable Property Issues: New Directions In The European Union And The United States
In both the European Union and the United States, it is a dynamic period for private international law regarding immovable property issues. The predominant approach has been that these issues are governed by the lex rei sitae. However, this article shows that on both sides of the Atlantic there is a trend toward reducing the scope of the lex rei sitae rule, exploring the reasons for and the challenges posed by this trend.
Choosing Parentage Laws in Multistate Conduct Cases
This paper explores choosing parentage laws in multistate conduct cases in varying contexts, including cases involving parentage for childcare and nonchildcare purposes.
Project Updates from the 2022 ALI Annual Meeting
Learn more about the actions taken at this year’s ALI Annual Meeting, held last month, where the membership met to discuss and vote on twelve ALI project drafts.
Conflict of Laws at the 2022 ALI Annual Meeting
Reporter Kermit Roosevelt III outlines the overall goals of the Restatement of the Law Third, Conflict of Laws project and Tentative Draft No. 3 in this video.
January 2022 Council Meeting Updates
At its meeting on January 20 and 21, 2022, the ALI Council reviewed and discussed Council Drafts of nine projects.
October 2021 Council Meeting Updates
At its meeting on October 21 and 22, 2021, the Council reviewed and discussed Council Drafts and approved drafts and portions of drafts.
Simplifying Choice of Law Interest Analysis
Modern choice of law doctrine invites judges to consider the interests that states have in applying their law to a dispute. But modern choice of law doctrine has never provided judges with a rubric by which to conduct this interest analysis. This paper attempts to fill that void by proposing an extremely simple rubric by which judges can determine whether a state has an interest in applying its law to a horizontal choice of law dispute.
Actions Taken at the 2021 Annual Meeting (June Session)
The second segment of this year’s virtual Annual Meeting adjourned this week. Below is a summary of the actions taken on June 7 and 8.