Klerman on Jurisdiction, Choice of Law and Property

Daniel Klerman (University of Southern California Law School) has posted Jurisdiction, Choice of Law and Property on SSRN.

Jurisdiction and choice of law in property disputes has been remarkably stable. The situs rule, which requires adjudication where the property is located and application of that state’s law, remains the norm in most of the world. This article is the first to apply modern economic analysis to choice of law and jurisdiction in property disputes. It largely confirms the wisdom of the situs rule, but suggests some situations where other rules may be superior. For example, in disputes about stolen art, the state where the work was last undisputedly owned may be both the most efficient forum and the best source of applicable law.

The paper is forthcoming in Yun-chien Chang (ed.), Law and Economics of Possession (Cambridge University Press).