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State Law in Federal Courts Part II

Learn about when and how state law is used in federal courts as required under the Rules Enabling Act.

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I.          Introduction

As we discussed in another lesson, when a federal court presides over a dispute based on diversity jurisdiction, namely, a dispute that’s based on the litigants’ status as citizens of different states, federal law doesn’t necessarily apply. In fact, both federal and state law might apply to resolve the dispute’s issues. Therefore, a federal court sitting in diversity must determine whether federal or state law applies to...