Choice of Law in the American Courts in 2019: Thirty-Third Annual Survey

Abstract

... This is the Thirty-Third Annual Survey of American Choice-of-Law Cases.1 It is written at the request of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Conflict of Laws,2 and is intended as a service to fellow teachers and to students of conflicts law, both inside and outside of the United States.3 Its purpose remains the same as it has been from the beginning: to inform, rather than to advocate. Occasionally, however, small amounts of criticism or praise escape the author’s self-censoring filters. This Survey covers cases decided by American state and federal appellate courts during 2019 and posted on Westlaw by the end of the year. Of the 1,404 appellate cases that meet these parameters, the Survey focuses on those cases that may contribute something new to the development or understanding of conflicts law, particularly choice of law. The total number of conflicts cases decided in 2019 and posted on Westlaw by December 31, 2019, was 5,488.4Table 1, above, breaks them down into categories. Nearly three quarters of these cases were decided by federal district courts and are not covered by this Survey.