Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins

E615011

United States Supreme Court case civil procedure case landmark decision

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.

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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 NERFINISHED ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1938-04-25 ⓘ
dissentingJustice	Pierce Butler NERFINISHED ⓘ
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 NERFINISHED ⓘ
geographicOriginOfDispute	Pennsylvania NERFINISHED ⓘ
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. NERFINISHED ⓘ 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 NERFINISHED ⓘ Charles Evans Hughes NERFINISHED ⓘ Harlan F. Stone NERFINISHED ⓘ Hugo L. Black NERFINISHED ⓘ Louis D. Brandeis NERFINISHED ⓘ Owen J. Roberts NERFINISHED ⓘ Stanley F. Reed NERFINISHED ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy	Louis D. Brandeis NERFINISHED ⓘ
overruled	Swift v. Tyson NERFINISHED ⓘ
overruledCaseCitation	41 U.S. (16 Pet.) 1 ⓘ
page	64 ⓘ
petitioner	Erie Railroad Company NERFINISHED ⓘ
precedentStatus	leading case on the Erie doctrine ⓘ
reporter	United States Reports ⓘ
respondent	Harry Tompkins NERFINISHED ⓘ
shortName	Erie NERFINISHED ⓘ
statuteInterpreted	Rules of Decision Act NERFINISHED ⓘ
topic	Erie doctrine NERFINISHED ⓘ
volume	304 ⓘ
yearDecided	1938 ⓘ

Referenced by (3)

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

United States Supreme Court cases of the Hughes Court → includesCase → Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ⓘ

Hanna v. Plumer → relatedCase → Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ⓘ

Erie doctrine → basedOnCase → Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ⓘ