Examples & Explanations for Conflict of Laws

"The world does not need another lofty theory for how to resolve disputes with ingredients in more than one state. But there is room in the market for a user-friendly guide to Conflict of Laws. I first took Conflicts because my dad said it was fun. He was right. Conflicts should be fun. Parts of it are even easy. But way too many students feel like the law student in Les Misâerables whose mind went blank while reading about Conflict of Laws. Part of the problem is that most Conflicts books do not keep it real. They don't give enough examples of how the different rules apply. Even worse, when they do give examples, they give them for the purpose of showing how hard-or even impossible-it is to apply the rules. This book takes a different approach. Its chapters begin with no- nonsense summaries of the applicable law. Its aim is not to score scholarly points but to show what is easy and hard about the material. It then provides examples of fact patterns that test your understanding of the rules. Explanations show how the law applies to the facts and explore difficulties and uncertainties that arise in specific situations. This book includes the basic material covered in standard Conflict of Laws courses. It begins with an overview (Chapter 1) that describes the topics and introduces the jargon. It covers domicile, personal jurisdiction, and forum selection (Part I); choice of law approaches (Parts II-VI); constitutional limits on choice of law (Part VII); rules for enforcing judgments (Part VIII); and proof of foreign law (Part IX). The book's organization follows the sequence in most casebooks, but you can read the different parts in any order"--