Opinion ID: 2218628
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: what is the choice-influencing consideration approach?

Text: When faced with a choice-of-law decision, the court considers and grounds its conclusion on the following considerations: Predictability of results; Maintenance of interstate and international order; Simplification of the judicial task; Advancement of the forum's governmental interests; Application of the better rule of law. All of the elements of choice-influencing considerations were well analyzed and set forth in Heath, supra . As Leflar later stated: The choice-influencing considerations approach agrees that state interests should always be taken into account in choice of law, but holds that this is not the only relevant choice-influencing consideration. Currie, Comments on Reich v. Purcell, 15 UCLA L.Rev. 551, 638 (1968). Additionally, Professor Leflar in various writings has analyzed them further. The plain fact is that the considerations have been present and operative all along, and have been motivating reasons behind every choice-of-law rule that was ever formulated and every case that was ever decided. Leflar, Choice-Influencing Considerations in Conflicts Law, 41 N.Y. Univ.L.Rev. 267, 324-25 (1966). Professor Leflar's proposal is not a rule but a method of analysis in which choice of law decisions are based upon these choice-influencing considerations because they are relevant to a reasonable choice of law. Clark v. Clark, 107 N.H. 351, 222 A.2d 205 (1968); Conklin v. Horner, 38 Wis.2d 468, 157 N.W.2d 579 (1968). By applying these considerations, courts can assess the pertinent interests and policy factors involved and achieve a desirable result in each situation. Peters v. Peters, 63 Haw. 653, 634 P.2d 586 (1981). In the attempt to obtain that result, we must recognize that one of the functions of the law of conflicts is to make sure that relations between the states and commerce between them is harmonious and equitable to the parties concerned while still preserving the integrity of the forum law. Heath, supra . An application of lex loci which may result in an equitable decision is merely happenstance. Because of its mechanical nature equity is not a conscious factor. In its discussion of Leflar's governmental interest consideration, the court in Wallis v. Mrs. Smith's Pie Co., 261 Ark. 622, 550 S.W.2d 453 (1977) (citing Clark v. Clark, 107 N.H. 351, 222 A.2d 205 (1968)), noted that the truest interest of the forum is in the fair and efficient administration of justice. The choice should not be one of preferred parties but of preferred law. Heath, supra (citing Leflar, Conflicts of Law: More on Choice-Influencing Considerations (Book II), 54 Calif.L.Rev. 1584 (1966)).