Theory Wars in the Conflict of Laws

Fifty years ago, at the height of modernism in all things, there was a great revolution in American choice-of-law theory. You cannot understand what is going on in the field of conflict of laws today without coming to grips with this central fact. With this revolution, the old formalistic way of choosing law was dethroned, and has occupied a humble position on the sidelines ever since. Yet there has been no lasting peace.

The American conflicts revolution is still happening, and poor results are still frustrating good intentions. Now comes Dean Symeon Symeonides, the author of the choice of- law code of Louisiana, with an intriguing monograph, The American Choice-of-Law Revolution in the Courts. There is nothing in the field quite like it. Symeonides has given us a brilliant contribution to legal theory, an impressive, original, one-of-a-kind book, in which a good deal of valuable empirical research is the subject of thoughtful analysis, and in which the reader is offered, and sees in action, an original way of thinking about how to fashion rules for choosing law.