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PROF.  CRAIG CHARLES BELES
Seattle, Washington, USA

¡TORT CASES
¡
¡CONTRACT CASES
¡ Without Choice of Law Clause
¡ With Choice of Law Clause
¡
¡SERVICE OF PROCESS ABROAD
¡
¡TAKING EVIDENCE ABROAD
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MISSISSIPPI
PL DOMICILED
PL HIRED BY D/R.R.
D/R.R. INCORPORATED
D/R.R. DOES BUSINESS
FELLOW EMPLOYEE NEG ACT
PL  INJURED
VICARIOUS (AUX) LIABILITY R.R. LIABILITY
FELLOW SERVANT
NO R.R. LIABILITY
ALABAMA
ALABAMA GREAT SOUTHERN R.R.  v. CARROLL (Ala 1892)

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1.“SIGNIFICANT CONTACTS”
2.
2.SEAT OF RELATIONSHIP – “CENTER OF GRAVITY”
3.
3.“BETTER RULE” TEST
4.
4.CURRIE’S  “BALANCING OF INTERESTS”
- DETERMINE WHETHER “TRUE CONFLICT”
- THEN BALANCE INTERESTS

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MISSISSIPPI
PL DOMICILED
PL HIRED BY D/R.R.
D/R.R. INCORPORATED
D/R.R. HQ
FELLOW EMPLOYEE NEG ACT
PL  INJURED
VICARIOUS (AUX) LIABILITY R.R. LIABILITY
FELLOW SERVANT
NO R.R. LIABILITY
ALABAMA

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MISSISSIPPI
PL DOMICILED
PL HIRED BY D/R.R.
D/R.R. INCORPORATED
D/R.R. HQ
FELLOW EMPLOYEE NEG ACT
PL  INJURED
VICARIOUS (AUX) LIABILITY R.R. LIABILITY
ALABAMA
FELLOW SERVANT
NO R.R. LIABILITY

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MISSISSIPPI
FELLOW EMPLOYEE NEG ACT
PL  INJURED
VICARIOUS (AUX) LIABILITY R.R. LIABILITY
FELLOW SERVANT
NO R.R. LIABILITY
ALABAMA
D/R.R. INCORPORATED
D/R.R. HQ
PL DOMICILED
PL HIRED BY D/R.R.

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§ 6. CHOICEOFLAW PRINCIPLES TEXT
(1)A court, subject to constitutional restrictions, will follow a statutory directive of its own
state on choice of law.
(2)When there is no such directive, the factors relevant to the choice of the
applicable rule of law include:
(a) the needs of the interstate and international systems,
(b) the relevant policies of the forum,
(c) the relevant policies of other interested states and the relative interests of those states in
the determination of the particular issue,
 (d) the protection of justified expectations,
(e) the basic policies underlying the particular field of law,
(f) certainty, predictability and uniformity of result, and
(g) ease in the determination and application of the law to be applied.

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(1)The rights and liabilities of the parties with respect to an issue in tort are determined by the
local law of the state which, with respect to that issue, has the most significant relationship to
the occurrence and the parties under the principles stated in § 6.
(2) Contacts to be taken into account in applying the principles of § 6 to determine the law
applicable to an issue include: 
(a) the place where the injury occurred, 
(b) the place where the
conduct causing the injury occurred, 
(c) the domicil, residence, nationality, place of
incorporation and place of business of the parties, and 
(d) the place where the relationship, if
any, between the parties is centered.
These contacts are to be evaluated according to their relative importance with respect to the
particular issue.

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ROME II REGULATION (REG. (EC) No. 864/2007
The applicable law shall be the law of the country in which “the damage arises or is likely to
arise, irrespective of the country in which the event giving rise to the damage occurred and
irrespective of the country or countries in which the indirect consequences of that event arise.”

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EXCEPTIONS:
(1) The application of the law of the parties’ common habitual residence;
(2) The application of the law of a country that has a “closer connection”
(3) The application of the mandatory rules of the country that has a “closer connection” or of the
forum country
(4) The “taking into account” (and possible application) of the safety and conduct rules of the
country of conduct
(5) The application of the law chosen by the parties after the occurrence of the tort
(6) The non-application of any other law to the extent it imposes punitive damages
(7) The non-application of any other law when it is manifestly incompatible with the ordre public
of the forum
(8) The application of the law of the victim’s or the defendant’s habitual residence in products
liability cases
. . . .

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§ 188. LAW GOVERNING ABSENT EFFECTIVE CHOICE BY THE PARTIES
(1)The rights and duties of the parties with respect to an issue in contract are determined by the
local law of the state which, with respect to that issue, has the most significant relationship to
the transaction and the parties under the principles stated in § 6.
(2) In the absence of an effective choice of law by the parties, the contacts to be taken into
account in applying the principles of § 6 to determine the law applicable to an issue include:  (a)
the place of contracting,  (b) the place of negotiation of the contract,  (c) the place of
performance,  (d) the location of the subject matter of the contract, and  (e) the domicil,
residence, nationality, place of incorporation and place of business of the parties.
 (3) If the place of negotiating the contract and the place of performance are in the same state,
the local law of this state will usually be applied

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ARTICLE 4    APPLICABLE LAW IN THE ABSENCE OF CHOICE
1.To the extent that the law applicable to the contract has not been chosen . . , the law governing
the contract shall be determined as follows:
2.
(a) a contract for the sale of goods shall be governed by the law of the country where the seller
has his habitual residence;
(b) a contract for the provision of services shall be governed by the law of the country where the
service provider has his habitual residence;
. . . .

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ARTICLE 4
2.Where the contract is not covered by paragraph 1 or where
The elements of the contract would be covered by more than
one of points (a) to (h) of paragraph 1, the contract shall be
governed by the law of the country where the party required to
effect the characteristic performance of the contract has his
Habitual residence
. . . .
4.   Where the law applicable cannot be determined pursuant to paragraphs 1 or 2, the contract
shall be governed by the law of the country with which it is most closely connected.

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(1)The law of the state chosen by the parties to govern their contractual rights and duties will be
applied if the particular issue is one which the parties could have resolved by an explicit
provision in their agreement directed to that issue.
(2)
(2) The law of the state chosen by the parties to govern their contractual rights and duties will
be applied, even if the particular issue is one which the parties could not have resolved by an
explicit provision in their agreement directed to that issue, unless either (a) the chosen state
has no substantial relationship to the parties or the transaction and there is no other reasonable
basis for the parties' choice, or (b) application of the law of the chosen state would be contrary
to a fundamental policy of a state which has a materially greater interest than the chosen state in
the determination of the particular issue and which, under the rule of § 188, would be the state of
the applicable law in the absence of an effective choice of law by the parties.
(3) In the absence of a contrary indication of intention, the reference is to the local law of the
state of the chosen law.