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Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court held that the United States does not have a general federal common law and that U.S. federal courts must apply state law, not federal law, to lawsuits between parties from different states that do not involve federal questions.
Erie Railroad Company v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64 (1938), is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court held that there is no general American federal common law and that U.S. federal courts must apply state law, not federal law, to lawsuits between parties from different states that do not involve federal questions.
The plaintiff, Tompkins, was walking alongside Erie's railroad tracks in Pennsylvania when a train passed. An open door struck him and knocked him under the train, severing his arm. In most states, Tompkins could sue for negligence of the railroad and recover monetary damages for his loss. In Pennsylvania, however, Tompkins was considered a ...
In 1938, the Supreme Court decided Erie Railroad v. Tompkins. [3] Erie overruled Swift v. Tyson, holding instead that federal courts exercising diversity jurisdiction had to use all of the same substantive laws as the courts of the states in which they were located. As the Erie Court put it, there is no "federal general common law", with the ...
Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins: 304 U.S. 64 (1938) limiting general federal common law by requiring that state law apply except where federal law exists Hinderlider v. La Plata River & Cherry Creek Ditch: 304 U.S. 92 (1938) reaffirming existence of federal common law in other cases United States v. Carolene Products Co. 304 U.S. 144 (1938)
That same year, the Erie was involved in the U.S. Supreme Court case, the Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins. The Erie doctrine, which governs the application of state common law in federal courts, is still taught in American law schools, as of 2024.
That case held that the federal courts, when deciding legal issues not specifically addressed by the applicable state legislature, had the authority to develop a federal common law. In 1938, however, in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, [2] the Supreme Court overruled Swift v. Tyson. Consequently, since that time the misappropriation doctrine fell ...
His last important judicial opinion was also one of the most significant of his career, according to Klebanow and Jonas. In Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins (1938), the Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether federal judges apply state law or federal common law where the parties to a lawsuit