Opinion ID: 867561
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Brandler v. Manuel Trevizo Hay Co., 154 Ariz. 96, 740 P.2d 958 (App.1987)

Text: ¶ 14 An Arizona resident driving in Arizona on business for his Arizona employer drove his tractor-trailer into a car driven on business by a California resident. The California driver brought a negligence action in Arizona, and his workers' compensation carrier brought an action to recover the payments made to him. After the actions were consolidated, the superior court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss based on California's one-year statute of limitations. In reversing, our court of appeals applied a five-factor test on statute of limitations analysis: 1. Where the cause of action arose; 2. Amenability to suit in other states; 3. The substantial interest, if any, of the forum in the suit; 4. Which state's substantive law will apply; and 5. Whether the foreign state's statute of limitations has run. Brandler v. Manuel Trevizo Hay Co., 154 Ariz. 96, 99, 740 P.2d 958, 961 (App.1987) (citing Allen v. Volkswagen of America, Inc., 555 F.2d 361, 362-63 (3d Cir.1977)). In conducting this analysis, the court applied a modified interest analysis rather than the mechanistic approach of the 1971 version of section 142 and found that only on the last factor did California's interest prevail over Arizona's interest in the same matter. [4] ¶ 15 Both Ledesma and Brandler dealt with automobile accidents in Arizona involving California plaintiffs, and in both cases, one federal and one state, the decision was that Arizona's statute of limitations should apply. Even though application of Arizona's statute was found in both cases, it is the pre-1988 analysis that presaged the change in the RESTATEMENT that is most interesting: careful identification of each state's interest was followed by a weighing of those interests. That, indeed, is the policy still followed in California on substantive issues. Even under a governmental interest analysis, it is likely that California would apply Arizona's statute of limitations in this case. Hurtado, 114 Cal.Rptr. 106, 522 P.2d at 670. The California Supreme Court recently relied on Hurtado, among other cases, when it restated the policy of using a governmental interest analysis in resolving conflicts of laws. Washington Mut. Bank v. Superior Court, 24 Cal.4th 906, 103 Cal.Rptr.2d 320, 15 P.3d 1071, 1080-81 (2001). ¶ 16 However, as noted in DeLoach, Arizona has followed the RESTATEMENT tests, including the specific statute of limitations rule of the 1988 version of section 142, which states the general rule that the claim will be entertained if our statute of limitations has not run. We turn then to consider whether the government interest analysis exception to that rule applies.