Brainerd Currie

American legal scholar

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July 17, 2026

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Brainerd Currie was an American legal scholar known for his work in conflict of laws. In the 1950s, he developed the governmental-interest analysis approach to determine which law a court should apply in cases involving multiple jurisdictions. Currie's method aimed to identify whether a "true" conflict existed between the laws of the involved states or a "false" conflict, where one state's law was not truly applicable or both laws served the same policy. If a false conflict was found, Currie advocated for applying the law of the forum state. In cases of true conflict, he argued for the application of forum law, believing that weighing competing state interests was a legislative, not judicial, function. His work significantly influenced modern American conflicts law.1

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conflict of laws
Contemporary developments
…by the American legal scholar Brainerd Currie, began to emerge in the 1950s. Currie’s approach sought to determine whether a “true” or “false” conflict exists between the law of the forum state and that of the other involved state. A false conflict exists if the laws of both states do…
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…by the American legal scholar Brainerd Currie, began to emerge in the 1950s. Currie’s approach sought to determine whether a “true” or “false” conflict exists between the law of the forum state and that of the other involved state. A false conflict exists if the laws of both states do…
Read More