Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Law, Economics & Policy

Abstract

On April 25, 2013, Erie Railroad v. Tompkins celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary. Justice Louis Brandeis's farewell present as he departed from the Supreme Court after twenty-two years of service is a familiar staple of American law. Like Cher or Madonna, it enjoys one-named recognition (among lawyers, in any event). Erie's core holding—in diversity cases where no federal constitutional or statutory rule applies, federal courts will follow state law—is hornbook teaching. Judicial decisions over the decades have offered differing, sometimes inconsistent applications and answers to a wide range of “Erie questions.” Even so, the decision appears unassailable and in robust condition, as a rock-bottom foundation of American legal practice and learning. That first impression, however, may not be the whole story. A profusion of critical law review articles and books over the past few years demonstrates that much remains to be said about Erie after all these many decades, above and beyond what every Civil Procedure student learns about the case. Hence, this issue.

First Page

1

Volume

10

Publication Date

2013

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