Bar Exam Conflict of Laws 2

Question 1

Under the UCC and Second Restatement, parties to a commercial contract may generally choose governing law only if:

Accepted Answer

The chosen state has a reasonable relationship to the transaction or parties

Answer

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.

Question 2

A state need NOT give full faith and credit to a sister-state judgment if:

Accepted Answer

The rendering court lacked personal or subject matter jurisdiction

Answer

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.

Question 3

In choice of law for disputes involving real property, courts traditionally apply:

Accepted Answer

The law of the place where the property is located (lex situs)

Answer

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.

Question 4

The 'public policy' exception in conflict of laws permits a forum court to:

Accepted Answer

Refuse to apply another state's law that violates a fundamental policy of the forum

Answer

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.

Question 5

Under the First Restatement, the validity of a contract is determined by the law of:

Accepted Answer

The place where the contract was made (lex loci contractus)

Answer

The First Restatement §332 provides that the law of the place of contracting governs the formation and validity of a contract.

Bar Exam Practice Test

Bar Exam Practice Test

Bar Exam Conflict of Laws 2