Fact Pattern 2-1
Yoshi, a Japanese citizen working in Atlanta for his Tokyo firm, decided to rent an airplane and fly himself to the Annual Catfish and Zydeco festival in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He rented a small plane to fly there. Over Alabama, thunderstorms formed. Because Yoshi was not trained to fly by instruments, he decided to land at the next airport.
As he searched for a runway, Yoshi heard a loud clank followed by silence as the engine died. He tried to land in a field but crashed. While recovering in a rehabilitation center in California, Yoshi filed suit there against the Atlanta Airport and the owners of the airplane, alleging that they were negligent in their maintenance.
-Refer to Fact Pattern 2-1. If Yoshi's case was tried in federal court in California and the issue of substantive law was whether or not a contract existed between Yoshi and the airplane owner, the court would apply the law of Georgia.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When determining which state's law to apply in federal court, the court applies the choice of law rules of the state in which it sits. In this case, the federal court in California would apply California's choice of law rules, which would likely lead to the application of Georgia law since the airplane rental transaction took place in Georgia.

Fact Pattern 2-1 Yoshi, a Japanese Citizen Working in Atlanta for His Tokyo