Download Foreign Law in Contract Disputes: Notices, Choice-of-Law, and Applicable Laws and more Slides Law in PDF only on Docsity! pleading and proving foreign law Docsity.com • FRCP 44.1 • A party who intends to raise an issue concerning the law of a foreign country shall give notice by pleadings or other reasonable written notice. The court, in determining foreign law, may consider any relevant material or source, including testimony, whether or not submitted by a party or admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence. The court's determination shall be treated as a ruling on a question of law. Docsity.com - 2 Californians enter into gambling contract in Cal, with performance in Cal - gambling contracts are illegal under Cal law - P sues D under contract in Nev state court - gambling contracts are legal in Nev - can the parties consent to the court’s using Nevada law? Docsity.com Louknitsky v. Louknitsky (Cal. 1954) - married couple domiciled in China move to Cal and get divorce - question is distribution of marital assets acquired while in China - court assumes Chinese law is the same as Cal law Docsity.com - married couple domiciled in Australia move to New York and get divorce - question is distribution of marital assets acquired while in Australia - court applies common law rule on marital assets to parties Docsity.com • West v Theis (Idaho 1908) • statute of limitations starts running in Kansas, but D leaves state, tolling it – Because no PJ in Kansas cts • in Washington for many many years – More than anybody’s statute of limitations • then briefly in Idaho, where sued • Idaho had borrowing statute that looked to statute of limitations of state where cause of action arose (Kansas) • Is the action barred? Docsity.com • Bridge Prods. Inc. v. Quantum Chem. Corp. (ND Ill 1990) • Property bought in VA • Del choice of law provision in K • Suit in Ill • Should court use Del statute of limitations? • Or should it use the statute of limitations that would be applied by an Illinois court? – In this case it was VA’s Docsity.com Party Autonomy Docsity.com Rest 2d § 188. Law Governing In Absence Of 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. • … • (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, except as otherwise provided in §§ 189-199 and 203. Docsity.com Rest. 2d § 203. Usury • The validity of a contract will be sustained against the charge of usury if it provides for a rate of interest that is permissible in a state to which the contract has a substantial relationship and is not greatly in excess of the rate permitted by the general usury law of the state of the otherwise applicable law under the rule of § 188. Docsity.com - two NYers enter into a loan contract in Illinois - interest is 19 %, the maximum allowed in Ill - the maximum in NY is 18% - what if the maximum in NY was 12%? Docsity.com Rest 2d § 187. Law Of The State Chosen By The Parties • (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. Docsity.com • default rules v. mandatory rules Docsity.com
