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American Choice of Law

American Choice of Law WILLIS L.M. REESE It is a human tendency to over-simplify. We are frequently tempted to subsume under some simple phrase or catchword mat­ ters that in reality are complex and diverse. So it is with American choice of law. Frequently it is said that this law is extremely flex­ ible and fluid, that it disregards almost entirely the values of pre­ dictability of decision and uniformity of resul t and that what results, in effect, is a system of ad hoc decision. Conclusions of this tenor can be based on the opinions of some American courts and on the writings of some American authors. Also, it is hardly surprising, in view of what Americans themselves have said, tha t this rather sim­ plistic view of American choice of law is the one that is generally held in Europe. The attempt will be made in this paper to demon­ strate that this view present s a distorted picture of th e situation that actually exists. The great majority of the recent choice-of-law cases in the United States have involved suits brought to recover for personal in­ juries. This is an area where there is little predictability of result even in http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Journal of Comparative Law Oxford University Press

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Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
© 1982 by The American Association for the Comparative Study of Law, Inc.
ISSN
0002-919X
eISSN
2326-9197
DOI
10.2307/839872
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

WILLIS L.M. REESE It is a human tendency to over-simplify. We are frequently tempted to subsume under some simple phrase or catchword mat­ ters that in reality are complex and diverse. So it is with American choice of law. Frequently it is said that this law is extremely flex­ ible and fluid, that it disregards almost entirely the values of pre­ dictability of decision and uniformity of resul t and that what results, in effect, is a system of ad hoc decision. Conclusions of this tenor can be based on the opinions of some American courts and on the writings of some American authors. Also, it is hardly surprising, in view of what Americans themselves have said, tha t this rather sim­ plistic view of American choice of law is the one that is generally held in Europe. The attempt will be made in this paper to demon­ strate that this view present s a distorted picture of th e situation that actually exists. The great majority of the recent choice-of-law cases in the United States have involved suits brought to recover for personal in­ juries. This is an area where there is little predictability of result even in

Journal

American Journal of Comparative LawOxford University Press

Published: Jan 1, 1982

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