Choice of Law

Choice-of-Law Methodologies: Updating the List

This is an update of the list of choice-of-law methodologies followed in the United States. The changes are: (1) the abandonment of the lex loci contractus rule by the Supreme Court of Rhode Island in 2022, and (2) the enactment of a new choice-of-law codification by Puerto Rico in 2020.

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Climate Change Litigation and the “Foreign Affairs” Trump Card

Factory with smoke stakes

Having found the federal courts unfriendly to climate-related claims, a series of plaintiffs—mostly state and municipal governments—have sued fossil fuel companies under state law often in state court. Oil company defendants resisting these claims have argued that federal law, not state law, should govern. For cases filed in state court, defendants also have sought to remove the cases to federal court, asserting federal jurisdiction on various theories.

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Throwback Thursday: Choice-of-Law Clauses Through the Lens of Contract

The academic literature on choice-of-law clauses may be usefully sorted into three boxes. Articles in the first box seek to ascertain when, exactly, the courts will enforce these clauses. This body of literature looks to case decisions, treatises, statutes, and works such as the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws in an attempt to determine…

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A Primer on Choice-of-Law Clauses

A choice-of-law clause is a contract provision that selects the law to govern the contract and claims relating to the contract.

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A Primer on Forum Selection Clauses

A forum selection clause is a contractual provision that selects a specific court to resolve disputes. When suit is filed in a court that is not the chosen forum, the clause may provide a basis for dismissal or transfer. When suit is filed in the chosen forum, the clause may provide a basis for the…

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A Primer on Extraterritoriality

[Updated September 1, 2025] Extraterritoriality refers to the application of a state’s law beyond the state’s borders. Although the word “extraterritorial” often has negative connotations, international law permits a great deal of extraterritorial regulation. In a world where trade, information, crime, and lots of other things regularly cross borders, states often have an interest in…

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Ingrid (Wuerth) Brunk

Vanderbilt Law School
ingrid.brunk@vanderbilt.eduEmail

William Dodge

George Washington University Law School
william.dodge@law.gwu.eduEmail

Maggie Gardner

Cornell Law School
mgardner@cornell.eduEmail

John F. Coyle

University of North Carolina School of Law
jfcoyle@email.unc.eduEmail

Hannah Buxbaum

UC Davis School of Law
hbuxbaum@ucdavis.eduEmail

Yingxin Angela Chen

Princeton University
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Kermit Roosevelt

University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law
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Daniel B. Listwa

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Ronald A. Brand

University of Pittsburgh School of Law
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Anokhi Patel

Vanderbilt Law School
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Gregg Cashmark

Vanderbilt Law School
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