Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins

E615011

Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins is a landmark 1938 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended the practice of federal general common law and required federal courts in diversity cases to apply state substantive law.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins canonical 7

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case ⓘ
civil procedure case ⓘ
landmark decision ⓘ
areaOfLaw civil procedure ⓘ
conflict of laws ⓘ
federal courts ⓘ
citation 304 U.S. 64 ⓘ
citationParallel 58 S. Ct. 817 ⓘ
82 L. Ed. 1188 ⓘ
constitutionalBasisDiscussed Article III of the United States Constitution ⓘ
country United States ⓘ
court Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate 1938-04-25 ⓘ
dissentingJustice Pierce Butler ⓘ
effect ended the practice of federal general common law in diversity cases ⓘ
increased importance of state supreme court decisions in federal diversity cases ⓘ
required federal courts in diversity cases to apply state substantive law ⓘ
fullName Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ⓘ
geographicOriginOfDispute Pennsylvania ⓘ
holding Federal courts sitting in diversity must apply state substantive law. ⓘ
The Rules of Decision Act requires application of state law as declared by the state’s highest court. ⓘ
There is no general federal common law. ⓘ
impact redefined the relationship between federal and state courts in diversity cases ⓘ
injuryType personal injury from train accident ⓘ
jurisdictionalBasis diversity of citizenship ⓘ
lawSchoolCanon commonly taught in first-year civil procedure courses in U.S. law schools ⓘ
legalIssue choice of law in diversity jurisdiction ⓘ
federal general common law ⓘ
interpretation of the Rules of Decision Act ⓘ
majorityJustices Benjamin N. Cardozo ⓘ
Charles Evans Hughes ⓘ
Harlan F. Stone ⓘ
Hugo L. Black ⓘ
Louis D. Brandeis ⓘ
Owen J. Roberts ⓘ
Stanley F. Reed ⓘ
linked to: Stanley Reed
majorityOpinionBy Louis D. Brandeis ⓘ
overruled Swift v. Tyson ⓘ
overruledCaseCitation 41 U.S. (16 Pet.) 1 ⓘ
page 64 ⓘ
petitioner Erie Railroad Company ⓘ
linked to: Erie Railroad
precedentStatus leading case on the Erie doctrine ⓘ
reporter United States Reports ⓘ
respondent Harry Tompkins ⓘ
shortName Erie ⓘ
statuteInterpreted Rules of Decision Act ⓘ
topic Erie doctrine ⓘ
volume 304 ⓘ
yearDecided 1938 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Hanna v. Plumer → relatedCase → Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ⓘ
Erie doctrine → basedOnCase → Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ⓘ
In Praise of Erie—and of the New Federal Common Law → analyzes → Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ⓘ
In Praise of Erie—and of the New Federal Common Law → relatedTo → Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ⓘ
Hughes Court → knownForCase → Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ⓘ
Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins → fullName → Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ⓘ