3rd Circuit Weighs In On Choice of Law Analysis in Design Defect Case

PHILADELPHIA — A federal appellate court that affirmed summary judgment in favor of defendant Brother International (USA) Corp. (NYSE: BRK.A), nevertheless rejected the company’s argument in favor of presuming that the law of the non-resident plaintiff’s home state should apply in addressing a New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act claim.

The 3rd Circuit said March 8 that such a presumption would be contradictory to the plain language of the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws, and “would be antithetical to the traditional choice-of-law principles to disregard the locale of a defendant’s actual misconduct.”

At issue in this appeal was a decision …