PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW

Transcription

1 PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW Professor Franks Final Examination, Summer Abroad 2013 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS 1. Carefully analyze the facts and grasp the issues in each question before beginning to write. Spend time reading the question slowly and carefully. 2. State the issues and answers to each question concisely. Lengthy answers are not necessary. 3. Do not repeat questions in your answers. Write neatly and legibly on only one side of each page. 4. Number your answers to correspond with the question, e.g., "II-7." 5. Do not write in the margin of the book. 6. All questions are equally weighted unless otherwise indicated. 7. Write your personal identification number and the name and section number of the course on which you are being examined on the cover of each examination book.

2 QUESTION I 60 per cent of test I. Please answer the following fifteen questions. 1. Which of the following does not always confer in personam jurisdiction? A. Filing an answer B. Longarm service with sufficient minimum contact C. Entry of a special appearance D. Waiver, consent and acceptance of service 2. Mini-hypo for Questions 2 and 3: Bob and Shakira lived all their lives in Baton Rouge. In 2014, they eloped and were married in Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada. On return to Baton Rouge, they bought a house and had two children, Richard and Keisha. On receiving a job promotion, Shakira last month took the children and moved to Seattle, King County, Washington. At the same time, Bob moved to Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana. Please answer the following questions: Where can Shakira presently file for custody? A. Washington or Louisiana. B. Nevada or Louisiana. C. Louisiana. D. Nevada, or Washington, or Louisiana. -2-

3 3. Using the mini-hypo of question 2 above, where can Shakira presently file for divorce? A. Washington. B. Nevada, or Washington, or Louisiana. C. Washington or Louisiana. D. Nevada or Louisiana. 4. Minimum contact is necessary A. For a plaintiff to file suit in a state having nothing to do with the case. B. To obtain in personam jurisdiction over a defendant who cannot otherwise be served but who has availed himself of the jurisdiction. C. To obtain in personam jurisdiction over a defendant who cannot otherwise be served but who has availed himself of the jurisdiction, or to obtain quasi in rem jurisdiction where the res is an asset used to satisfy an unrelated claim. D. To bring suit to quiet title to land not located in the state. 5. In World-Wide Volkswagen v. Woodson, the Oklahoma court had jurisdiction over which of the following three defendants for what reasons? A. Over the national distributor (Volkswagen of America), the regional distributor (World-Wide), and the dealer (Seaway), for the reason that it was foreseeable that the car would be taken to Oklahoma.. B. Only over Volkswagen of America because only they market their products through dealerships in Oklahoma and advertise in Oklahoma. C. Over none of the defendants because the car was sold in New York and the car cannot be made an agent for service of process by the purchaser s taking it into another jurisdiction. D. Over all three of the defendants because the car was defective and the accident occurred in Oklahoma. -3-

4 6. Mini-hypo for Question 6: Passionada Conejito, a licensed prostitute in the City of Tijuana, in the Mexican state of Baja California, came to Louisiana to service an insurance adjusters convention. Adjuster Bubba Blowhard of Baton Rouge ran up a $10,000 bill with Passionada, which he then refused to pay because prostitution is illegal in Louisiana. A year later, Bubba was sent to San Diego for a three-day seminar. He gave Passionada a call, seeking more of her services. When he crossed the border and arrived at her place, a process server served him with Mexican process in her suit for $10,000. He entered no appearance and never plead that the earlier contract was against the strong public policy of Louisiana. The court rendered a default judgment in Passionada s favor. Which of the following is true? A. The Louisiana court must enforce the Mexican judgment. B. The Louisiana court should not enforce the Mexican judgment, as it is against the strong public policy of Louisiana. C. Bubba is not bound by the Mexican judgment, as he never appeared in the Mexican action. D. The matter is subject to lesion against moiety, as Passionada s services weren t worth $10, Mini-hypo for Question 7: Pelican Cardiosurgical Technology, Inc., is a corporation incorporated in Louisiana and maintaining its only place of business in Baton Rouge. Pelican manufactures cardiopulmonary bypass pumps (heart-lung machines). Dr. Klutz is a cardiologist and heart surgeon practicing in Sidcup, England. The hospital in Sidcup sent Dr Klutz to be trained in use of the machine in Louisiana. While visiting England, Richard Corazon of Baton Rouge had a heart attack. Dr. Klutz hooked the machine up to Mr. Corazon backwards, forcing his blood to flow through his veins and arteries in the wrong direction. As a result, Mr. Corazon died. Mrs. Corazon has filed suit in Baton Rouge, serving Dr. Klutz and the hospital by longarm. Which of the following is correct? A. The court has minimum-contact jurisdiction over both defendants because the hospital sent Dr. Klutz to be trained here. B. A mere trip for training is not sufficient to support general jurisdiction. C. The Louisiana longarm statute will not support any judgment, as Mrs. Corzaon should have used the Hague Convention for service of process. D. Any Louisiana judgment will be enforceable in England. 8. Mini-hypo for Questions 8, 9 and 10: A married couple living in East Baton Rouge -4-

5 Parish, Louisiana separates. The husband moves to Fulton County, Georgia. The wife moves to Shelby County, Tennessee. The parties own mountain property in Arkansas. In the above hypothetical, if the wife wants the court to award her the property that the parties own in Arkansas, in which of the three following counties should she file for divorce? A. Only in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana B. Only in Fulton County, Georgia C. Only in Shelby County, Tennessee D. Only in Fulton County or Shelby County 9. Assuming the court awards the wife the property. The husband refuses to sign a deed. What can the court(s) you selected in answer to Question 8 do about it? A. Enter a decree transferring the property to the wife B. Appoint the clerk of court or sheriff to sign the deed C. Award the wife increased spousal support D. Cite the husband for contempt of court 10. Assuming the husband skips from or refuses to set foot in the state that rendered the divorce and awarded the wife the property, what is the wife s best option? A. Ask the courts of Arkansas to give full faith and credit to the divorce and property decree and cite the husband for contempt B. Simply serve the contempt citation in his new state of residence C. Ask the courts of Arkansas to give full faith and credit to the divorce decree and appoint their clerk of court or sheriff to sign the deed D. Ask the courts of his new state of residence to give full faith and credit to the divorce decree and cite the husband for contempt 11. What does a borrowing statute borrow? A. The substantive law of the place of the tort or contract -5-

6 B. The procedural law of the forum C. The prescriptive period of the forum even if other substantive law is applicable to the case D. The statute of limitations of the place where the cause of action arose or whose substantive law would be applicable 12. A judgment for child support rendered in a state and modifiable in the state of its rendition may presently be: A. Granted full faith and credit in a second state, but requests for modification must be addressed to the state that originally rendered the judgment. B. Granted full faith and credit in a second state, but must be as open to modification in the second state as it was in the first. C. Denied recognition in the second state until made final in the first state. D. Denied recognition in the second state if manifestly unfair. 13. A properly worded forum-selection clause in favor of New York: A. Will be enforced if reasonable and will require the selected forum to hear the case and apply New York law. B. Will be enforced if reasonable, but the New York court must made a separate determination as to the applicable substantive law. C. Will not be enforced unless accompanied by a choice-of-law clause. D. Will not be enforced unless at least one of the parties or the transaction has contact with New York. 14. Mini-hypo for Question 14: Bob Johnson used to work as a chemist for Xenia Pharmaceuticals in London. When he became a whistle-blower, he was fired. Thereupon he moved to America and made himself available to many plaintiffs, willingly testifying as to negligence in Xenia s manufacturing processes. Xenia paid Bob a million pounds for an agreement that he would never testify against Xenia, and Bob consented to an injunction against him by the High Court of England prohibiting him from ever testifying against the -6-

7 company. You have a liability case in Louisiana federal court against Xenia. May Bob refuse to testify on your client s behalf? A. Yes, because he is under a British injunction. B. Yes, because he is unwilling to do so. C. No, because the British injunction is against strong public policy. D. No because the courts of England have no right to tell the federal courts in Louisiana or anywhere else who may be compelled to testify in their courts. 15. Mini-hypo for Question 15: The parties lived in Louisiana. The mother took their children and moved to Washington (the state). Five months and 29 days after the mother left Louisiana, the father filed suit in Louisiana, asking custody. Six months and a day after arriving in Washington, the mother filed suit in Washington, asking custody. A. Washington has jurisdiction, as that state is now the home state of the children. B. Louisiana has jurisdiction, and Washington must respect any Louisiana judgment. C. The husband should enter an appearance in the action in Washington. D. Washington has jurisdiction under the fourth tier of UCCJEA, as the children now have significant connections with Washington. -7-

8 QUESTION II 40 per cent of test II. Please answer the following questions with "true" or "false." Discussion will not receive extra credit. 1. It s a race to the courthouse when suits between the same parties on the same matter are filed in two different states. 2. Depeçage is where the choice-of-laws rules of the forum require application of another state s substantive law, and the choice-of-laws rules of that state require application of the substantive law of the forum state. 3. The doctrine of merger is inapplicable to actions brought on foreign judgments. 4. Louisiana always allows collateral estoppel and does not require mutuality of estoppel. 5. In a race to judgment, the first judgment rendered is res judicata, but an inconsistent later judgment governs. 6. Some minimum contact is required with least one of the parties or the transaction to invoke the jurisdiction of the courts of a state having nothing to do with the case. 7. The courts of Mississippi cannot adjudicate a case if Louisiana law applies and none of the parties has any connection to, or minimum contact with, Mississippi. 8. The Federal Parental Kidnaping Prevention Act applies internationally. 9. Under UCCJEA, an emergency trumps home state jurisdiction. 10. For a child under six months of age, home state is where the child was born. -8-

9 QUESTION III Extra credit In not more than one handwritten page, identify a principle of conflict of laws that you feel needs changing, expanding or abolishing, explaining your proposed change and stating why you feel this is needed. -9-