The American Choice-of-Law Revolution: Past, Present and Future

This book is an updated and expanded version of the General Course delivered by the author at the Hague Academy of International Law in 2002. The book chronicles and evaluates the intellectual movement known as “the revolution” in American private international law. This movement began in the 1960s, caught fire in the ‘70s, spread in the ‘80s and declared victory in the ‘90s, leading to the abandonment of the centuries-old choice-of-law system, at least for torts and contracts. This book:
• explores the revolution’s philosophical and methodological underpinnings;
• provides the most comprehensive and systematic analysis of court decisions following the revolution;
• identifies the revolution’s successes and failures; and
• proposes ways and means (including a new breed of “smart” choice-of-law rules) to turn the revolution’s victory into success.