Conflict of Laws Flashcards
7 cards from real Bar Exam practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Conflict of Laws flashcards as text
Under the UCC and Second Restatement, parties to a commercial contract may generally choose governing law only if:
Answer: The chosen state has a reasonable relationship to the transaction or parties
Party autonomy in choice of law is respected so long as the chosen state bears a reasonable relationship to the parties or transaction; otherwise the clause may be disregarded.
A state need NOT give full faith and credit to a sister-state judgment if:
Answer: The rendering court lacked personal or subject matter jurisdiction
Full faith and credit does not require enforcement of a judgment rendered by a court that lacked subject matter or personal jurisdiction; jurisdictional defects are a recognized defense.
In choice of law for disputes involving real property, courts traditionally apply:
Answer: The law of the place where the property is located (lex situs)
The situs rule governs real property: the law of the state where the land is located controls questions of title, conveyance, and interests in land.
The 'public policy' exception in conflict of laws permits a forum court to:
Answer: Refuse to apply another state's law that violates a fundamental policy of the forum
Courts may decline to apply foreign law only when doing so would violate a strong, fundamental public policy of the forum, not merely because the result differs from forum law.
Under the First Restatement, the validity of a contract is determined by the law of:
Answer: The place where the contract was made (lex loci contractus)
The First Restatement §332 provides that the law of the place of contracting governs the formation and validity of a contract.
For conflict of laws purposes, a corporation's domicile is:
Answer: Its state of incorporation
A corporation is domiciled in its state of incorporation for conflict of laws purposes, which controls questions such as internal affairs and personal jurisdiction by domicile.
Under the 'better law' approach to conflict of laws (followed in some states), courts:
Answer: Evaluate and apply the law that produces the superior outcome based on policy and fairness considerations
The 'better law' approach, associated with Professor Robert Leflar, weighs five choice-influencing considerations including which state has the 'better rule of law.'