From Natural Law to Legal Realism: Legal Philosophy, Legal Theory, and the Development of American Conflict of Laws Since 1830

There has been an alleged "revolution” in American conflict of laws during the past sixty or so years. Yet, like most revolutions in intellectual pursuits, this revolution did not arise ex nihilo. Indeed, the revolution can be correlated with a change in the manner in which both law and legal reasoning have come to be viewed by members of the legal profession in the twentieth century. It is this correlation that the present article explores. In particular, this article demonstrates the effect that the legal realist movement has had in the way conflict of laws problems have come to be viewed. Indeed, if this thesis is correct, the so-called revolution in conflicts is not only a legal realist-inspired movement, but it also provides some empirical evidence for the validity of some of the theses for which those involved in the legal realist movement argued.