Erie Doctrine

Erie Doctrine

In United States law, the Erie doctrine is a fundamental legal doctrine of civil procedure mandating that a federal court in diversity jurisdiction (and some allied state-law claims in federal-law actions) must apply state substantive law.

The doctrine follows from Supreme Court landmark decision in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S. Ct. 817, 82 L. Ed. 1188 (1938), decided on April 25, 1938, written by Justice Louis Brandeis. The case overturned Swift v. Tyson, which allowed federal judges sitting in a state to ignore the common law local decisions of state courts in the same state, in cases based on diversity jurisdiction.

Read more about Erie Doctrine:  Scope, Origin, Erie, Development

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