Eric J. McKeown
J.D., 2007, Indiana University School
of Law–Bloomington; B.S., St. Joseph's College.
Articles by this Author
Simon Says: Time for a New Approach to Choice-of-Law Questions in Indiana
- By Eric J. McKeown
- Published 10/4/2007
- Volume 82, Issue 2
In Simon
v. United States, the Indiana Supreme Court was asked to answer certified
questions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
pertaining to the application of Indiana
choice-of-law doctrine to a dispute under the Federal Tort Claims Act.Although Simon
presented the court with an opportunity to clarify its choice-of-law
doctrine, the court failed to take advantage of this promising
opportunity.The court emphatically
rejected central tenets of modern choice-of-law doctrine, including
governmental interest analysis, without offering any viable alternative for
evaluating the relative importance of state contacts in resolving choice-of-law
questions.In addition, the court
misapplied the so-called "conduct-regulating exception" to determine that Indiana law should
govern all substantive issues in the case.The court's puzzling rejection of modern doctrine leaves Indiana choice-of-law
doctrine without a coherent methodology for performing the central function of
any choice-of-law approach:determining
the relative importance of state contacts in a dispute involving connections to
multiple states.
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