Under the erie doctrine, federal courts sitting in diversity apply state. Overview of the erie doctrines four discrete inquiries. If it is, the court must apply the hannarea line of cases. First, the case firmly established that a states highest court has the right to determine state law. Erie doctrine law and legal definition uslegal, inc. In reaching this holding, the court overturned almost a century of federal civil procedure case law, and. Brand x internet services, the supreme court held that a courts. This article presents a straightforward argument that the erie doctrine may require federal courts to follow statelaw standards on summary judgment. Alternatively, you can download the file locally and open with any standalone pdf reader. Tompkins 1938, a landmark decision by the supreme court of the united states in which the court held that federal courts did not have the judicial power to create general federal common law when hearing state law claims under diversity jurisdiction.
Erie doctrine free download as powerpoint presentation. So, under the erie doctrine in federal diversity jurisdiction cases, federal courts. Nov 14, 2011 federal courts to the states pursuant to the erie doctrine arises from the demands of federalism. The erie doctrine and bankruptcy a pdf file should load here. Under tyson, federal courts in diversity actions were free to formula. Erie, after all, requires federal courts to apply state law to state legal questions. Sample erie question professor arthur wesley a citizen of illinois made an agreement with cranmer co. This article is brought to you for free and open access by ndlscholarship.
The reign of swift was terminated by the supreme courts decision in erie r. If statutory interpretation methodologies affect the outcomes of cases and state courts give them stare decisis effect, does erie require federal courts to use state interpretation methodologies when continue reading. Although some have questioned how far erie goes as a matter of constitutional mandate,53 the primary erie doctrine dictates that federal courts may not declare federal common law in those areas beyond congresss legislative power or some other federal power under the constitution. It proposes a theory that reconciles the reasoning ofjustice brandeis erie opin ion with the subsequent evolution of the erie doctrine and federal judicial.
Abstract the erie doctrine requires federal courts sitting in diversity jurisdiction to apply state substantive law if applying federal law would change the outcome of the case. A policy so important to our federalism must be kept free from entanglements. A unified approach to erie analysis for federal statutes, rules, and. Rule and state law necessitating application of the erie doctrine in the first place. Applying the erie doctrine to statutory interpretation brings into focus these open questions about the legal status of methodology. Academic treatment, for its part, tends to work in the weeds, without presenting the erie doctrine in an organized and comprehensive way. Heres a coggle flowchart for the erie doctrine and related issues such as rea analysis. Examples is the federal proc edural common law rule contrary to a state law rule that is bound up with the statelaw cause of action. Erie doctrine law and legal definition the erie doctrine comes from a case called erie railroad co. The court has directed different analyses of erie cases depending upon whether the federal law in question is in the form of a federal rule or statute or is instead a judgemade law. Model answer to sample erie question emory law library. The basic sequence is familiar, with klaxon applying the erie doctrine 20 william a. Erie doctrine is not controlling when a valid federal rule is.
Erie doctrine legal definition merriamwebster law dictionary. The doctrine follows from the supreme court landmark decision in erie railroad co. Now, as states start to assert their own local procedural dominance, reverse erie has a chance to stand in the light of day. The erie dilemma forum state to questions of a substantive character. The discouragement of forum shopping and avoidance of inequitable administration of the laws yes yes 2. In its most basic form, the erie doctrine concerns the choice of law in federal court in diversity cases. What is the erie doctrine and what does it mean for the. The erie doctrine, named after the supreme court case erie railroad co. But privilege questions also appear in reverse erie situations where state courts must decide if. B conflicts with the state law or policy which does not violate the rea see rea below. Free with 7day trial membership the erie doctrine learn about the general rule that a federal court sitting in diversity must apply state substantive law and federal procedural law. The erie decision, based on the rules of decision act,37 assures plaintiffs that the same law will. Forum selection clauses in light of the eric, 72 minn. However, neither erie nor any subsequent supreme court pronouncements have provided a.
Any federal law governing the matter would be federal common law. The reasoning supporting application of this reverse erie doctrine is that once the plaintiff elects to initiate the suit as a commonlaw tort action rather than a federal admiralty one, this choice thereafter irrevocably removes the action from federal jurisdiction, despite the potential admiralty federal law claims. Civil procedure erie analysis outline free case briefs. This article is brought to you for free and open access by uci law scholarly. But remember that the erie analysis comes into play where you have diversity jurisdiction and a choice of law issue, so you will typically see erie issues in civil procedure questions, where there is a question of whether to apply state or federal law. Erie requires federal courts to consider whether a state legal principle is a rule of decision and, if it is, to apply that state principle in the absence of governing federal. The reasoning supporting application of this reverse erie doctrine is that once the plaintiff elects to initiate the suit as a commonlaw tort action rather than a federal admiralty one, this choice thereafter irrevocably removes the action from federal jurisdiction, despite the. This case requires us to cons ider the interplay bet ween the erie doctrine and the federal rules of evidence in diversity cases tried in federal district court.
Tyson, which allowed federal judges sitting in a state to ignore the common law local decisions of state courts in the same state in diver. The supreme court has developed a standard account of the erie doctrine. The erie doctrine in equity lsu law digital commons. However, federal courts will apply federal procedural law in these diversity cases. Adapting to administrative laws erie doctrine by kathryn a. We re about to embark on a long and perilous 3clip journey through one of the most arcane concepts in all of civil procedure, known affectionately as the erie doctrine. Erie doctrine, twin aims of the erie rule, choice of law, federal common law, reverse erie, federal procedure, supplemental jurisdiction, bankruptcy, diversity jurisdiction. The distric t court refused to admit evidence that would have been inadmissible in state court, concluding that state policy trumps the federal rules of evidence. Fletcher, the general common law and section 34 of the judiciary act of. I have never seen an erieflowchart in a commercial outline that did not have substantial errors or omissions. Hoffman applied it, respectively, to issues of burden of proof24 and the allocation of the burden of pleading contributory negligence between the plaintiffs claim and the defendants answer. Rensberger the supreme court has developed a standard account of the erie doctrine. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the faculty scholarship at chicago. Moreover, employing doctrines developed in other preemption contexts explains the.
Erie and court access erie and court access, 100 yale l. Except in matters governed by the federal constitution or by acts of congress, the law to be appl ied in any case is the law of the. Civil procedure outline erie doctrine abridged erie in diversity cases in federal court, the court must apply federal procedural law but state substantive law, including statecreated common lawmostly. Tyson, which allowed federal judges sitting in a state to. Nov 14, 2011 employed a detailed erie doctrine analysis. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the publications at ndlscholarship.
Tyson was then too firmly settled to be shaken, schofield, swift v. This article presents a straightforward argument that the erie doctrine may require federal courts to follow statelaw standards on summary. In the course of construction unresolved disputes arose, which resulted in wesley withholding. Civil procedure professor arthur sample erie question wesley. If statutory interpretation methodologies affect the outcomes of cases and state courts give them stare decisis effect, does erie require federal courts to use state. The erie doctrine is a fundamental legal doctrine of civil procedure in the united states which mandates that a federal court called upon to resolve a dispute not directly implicating a federal question must apply state substantive law. This article ultimately argues that an improved understanding of the choice of law at the heart of the erie doctrine can improve the doctrine. Between 1820 and 1823, spain and other european powers hoped to maintain a sphere of influence over these new nations. May 10, 2019 my hope is that this flowchart will help demystify erie, by showing that erie problems are, by and large, standard choiceoflaw problems, much like those faced by state courts.
To determine whether there is a conflict, we must examine the purpose and scope. Erie doctrine, federal courts sitting in diversity apply state substantive law and federal. The first serious jurisprudential challenge to the swift doctrine came from a dissenting opinion by. The erie doctrine is a fundamental legal doctrine in civil procedure. Byrd was judgejury relationship which outweighed outcome determinacy. Is the illinois statue in direct conflict with either rule 17b or rule a.
In reaching this holding, the court overturned almost a century. Tompkins2 gave rise to the erie doctrine, whichto address federalism concernsoffers a solution to choiceoflaw conflicts between federal and state rules in diversity suits. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the college of law at via sapientiae. The erie doctrine is a fundamental legal doctrine of civil procedure in the united states which mandates that a federal court sitting in diversity jurisdiction or in general, when hearing state law claims in contexts like supplemental jurisdiction or adversarial proceedings in bankruptcy must appl. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the law. As analysis of the erie doctrine has matured over the years, courts and. The monroe doctrine was written in response to events that took place between 1820 and 1823. If you do not see its contents the file may be temporarily unavailable at the journal website or you do not have a pdf plugin installed and enabled in your browser. The erie doctrine a federal court, when exercising diversity jurisdiction or supplemental jurisdiction, must apply the substantive law of the state in which it is sitting. Civil procedure erie analysis outline free case briefs for. To be clear, by erie case i mean every case in which the court relied upon the erie doctrine to resolve a choiceoflaw. Federal countervailing interests for fed law always have uniformity, but weak on its own. Swift v tyson 1842 held that federal courts were free to apply the law so. It mandates that a federal court must apply state substantive law in diversity jurisdiction cases.
It was in decisions subsequent to erie that the erie doctrine emerged. These differences beg a fundamental erie questionare. Uniformity of judge made state law in state and federal courts, 4. By the time 1938 rolled around, justice holmes had written his book the. Instead, the goal of this article is to clarify the concerns that animate the erie doctrine and suggest some methods for dealing with them. The erie doctrine requires federal courts sitting in diversity jurisdiction to apply. The evolution and current scope of the erie doctrine the current law governing conflicts between federal and state law in diversity cases is embodied in erie railroad v. The erie doctrine is named for the earthshattering supreme court case of erie railroad co. Erie doctrine, choice of law, federal procedure, diversity jurisdiction, supplemental juisdiction, bankruptcy, federal rules of civil procedure. In the early 19th century, many latin american nations won their independence from spain. Although one pre erie commentator noted that the doctrine of swift v.
The court has directed different analyses of erie cases depending upon whether the federal law in question is in. For the last century, the reverse erie doctrine has hidden in the shadows of erie itself, as well as federalism, preemption, and other monolithic constitutional doctrines. Heres some basics on the erie doctrine in its most basic form, the erie doctrine concerns the choice of law in federal court in diversity cases. Apr 16, 2015 writ of mandamus erie doctrine the panel granted a petition for a writ of mandamus brought by the county of orange, california, and directed the district court to deny tata america international corporations motion to strike the countys demand for a jury trial. Abandonment of equality as the driving force behind erie problems jettisons outcome determination, one of the major sources of the doctrinal incoherence. Model answer to sample erie question is the illinois statue in direct conflict with either rule 17b or rule a. Supreme court held that if a federal court is hearing a state claim because it has diversity jurisdiction, the substantive common law of the state applies.
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