Grant v. McAuliffe
42 A.L.R. 2d 1162, 264 P.2d 944, 41 Cal. 2d 859 (1953)
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Rule of Law:
For the purpose of conflict of laws, the survival of a cause of action is a procedural issue governed by the law of the forum state, not a substantive issue governed by the law of the state where the tort occurred.
Facts:
- Plaintiffs W. R. Grant, R. M. Manchester, and D. O. Jensen, all California residents, were involved in an automobile collision in Arizona.
- The driver of the other vehicle, W. W. Pullen, was also a California resident.
- As a result of the collision, the plaintiffs suffered personal injuries and Jensen's automobile was damaged.
- Nineteen days after the collision, Pullen died in California from the injuries he sustained.
- Defendant McAuliffe was subsequently appointed in California as the administrator of Pullen's estate.
Procedural Posture:
- Plaintiffs presented claims for damages against the estate of the decedent, W. W. Pullen.
- Defendant McAuliffe, the administrator of the estate, rejected all three claims.
- Each plaintiff filed a lawsuit for negligence against McAuliffe in a California trial court.
- The defendant filed a motion to abate each action, arguing the causes of action did not survive Pullen's death under Arizona law.
- The California trial court granted the defendant's motions to abate.
- The plaintiffs appealed the trial court's order to the Supreme Court of California.
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Issue:
Does the law of the state where a tort occurred, which does not permit a cause of action to survive the tortfeasor's death, control an action brought in a state where all parties are residents and whose law does permit survival?
Opinions:
Majority - Traynor, J.
No. The survival of a cause of action is a procedural matter governed by the law of the forum, not a substantive one governed by the law of the place of the tort. The court reasoned that survival statutes do not create a new cause of action but merely relate to the procedures available for enforcing an existing legal claim, making them analogous to statutes of limitation which are traditionally treated as procedural. The court also held that the characterization of a rule as 'substantive' or 'procedural' is not fixed but depends on the context of the legal problem. Because the decedent's estate is being administered in California and all parties are California residents, California law, which has a strong interest in the administration of local estates and the rights of its residents, governs the survival of the plaintiffs' claims.
Dissenting - Schauer, J.
Yes. The survival of a cause of action is a substantive right that vests at the time of the tort, and therefore the law of the place where the tort occurred should govern. The dissent argued that the majority's decision contradicts prior California precedent (Cort v. Steen) which characterized survival statutes as substantive. It criticized the majority for creating an inconsistent and unpredictable rule by allowing the characterization of a law as 'substantive' or 'procedural' to change depending on the context of the case, undermining the principle of a 'government of laws rather than of men.'
Analysis:
This case marks a significant departure from the rigid, territorial-based approach of the First Restatement of Conflict of Laws, which almost always applied the law of the place of the wrong. By characterizing survival as procedural, the court prioritized the forum state's interests in administering estates and providing recovery for its residents. This decision foreshadows the development of more flexible, policy-based approaches to choice of law, such as governmental interest analysis, which California would later pioneer. It establishes that the substance-procedure distinction is not absolute but a flexible tool of judicial reasoning used to achieve specific policy outcomes.
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