Bar Exam Conflict of Laws 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the First Restatement (vested rights) approach, which law governs a tort claim?
- Law of the place of the defendant's conduct
- Law of the place where the injury occurred (lex loci delicti) (Correct answer)
- Law of the state with the most significant relationship
- Law of the forum state
Correct answer: Law of the place where the injury occurred (lex loci delicti)
The First Restatement applies the law of the place where the last act necessary to complete the tort occurred, i.e., where the injury was sustained.
Question 2: The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution primarily requires states to:
- Apply another state's substantive law in all cases
- Recognize and enforce valid judgments from sister states (Correct answer)
- Follow another state's choice-of-law rules
- Apply federal common law to all interstate disputes
Correct answer: Recognize and enforce valid judgments from sister states
The Full Faith and Credit Clause requires each state to honor the judicial proceedings of every other state, including final judgments.
Question 3: For conflict of laws purposes, a person's domicile is established by:
- Physical presence alone for any period
- Intent to remain permanently or indefinitely combined with physical presence (Correct answer)
- Citizenship as recorded at birth
- Residency in a state for at least six months
Correct answer: Intent to remain permanently or indefinitely combined with physical presence
Domicile requires both (1) physical presence in a place and (2) the intent to make that place one's permanent or indefinite home.
Question 4: Under the Second Restatement approach to conflict of laws in torts, courts apply the law of:
- The state where the plaintiff is domiciled
- The forum state in all cases
- The state with the most significant relationship to the parties and occurrence (Correct answer)
- The state where the defendant's negligent act occurred
Correct answer: The state with the most significant relationship to the parties and occurrence
The Second Restatement (§145) instructs courts to apply the law of the state that has the most significant relationship to the occurrence and the parties.
Question 5: Under Brainerd Currie's governmental interest analysis, a 'true conflict' arises when:
- Both states have a legitimate interest in applying their own law to the dispute (Correct answer)
- Neither state has a policy interest in the outcome
- Only the plaintiff's domicile state has a cognizable interest
- Only the defendant's conduct state has a cognizable interest
Correct answer: Both states have a legitimate interest in applying their own law to the dispute
A true conflict exists when both states have a genuine governmental interest in having their own law applied; it is the hardest conflict to resolve.
Question 6: The renvoi doctrine in conflict of laws refers to:
- A court applying the whole law of the foreign state, including its choice-of-law rules (Correct answer)
- A court always applying its own substantive law to all disputes
- The public policy exception that allows courts to ignore foreign law
- A treaty-based mechanism for resolving international choice-of-law problems
Correct answer: A court applying the whole law of the foreign state, including its choice-of-law rules
Renvoi occurs when a forum adopts the entire law of a foreign state, including that state's conflict of laws rules, potentially creating a circular reference.
Question 7: A state court generally CANNOT refuse to enforce a valid sister-state judgment on the ground that:
- The rendering court lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendant
- The judgment was obtained by extrinsic fraud
- The underlying cause of action would not be recognized in the forum state (Correct answer)
- The rendering court lacked subject matter jurisdiction
Correct answer: The underlying cause of action would not be recognized in the forum state
Under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, a forum state must enforce a sister-state judgment even if the underlying claim would not be actionable under forum law.
Bar Exam Conflict of Laws 1
Under the First Restatement (vested rights) approach, which law governs a tort claim?