Lex Loci Delicti
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Courts follow the traditional rule of lex loci delictus in determining which state’s substantive law is applicable to actions sounding in tort[i]. Lex loci delictus holds that the substantive law of the place where the tort occurs applies.
It is a recognized principle of the law of the conflict of laws that the law of the state where an alleged tort is completed controls the liability[ii]. Where a tort is committed in one state and sued on in another, the lex loci delicti principle controls[iii].
In Williams v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 229 Conn. 359 (Conn. 1994), the court held that the substantive rights and obligations arising out of a tort controversy are determined by the law of the place of injury, or lex loci delicti. Thus, under the principle of Lex Loci Delicti, a court will determine the substantive rights of an injured party according to the law of the state where the injury occurred[iv].
The lex loci rule is derived from the vested rights doctrine[v]. According to the vested rights doctrine, a plaintiff’s cause of action owes its creation to the law of the jurisdiction where the injury occurred and depends for its existence and extent solely on such law. Thus, where the tortious act and the resulting injury occur in different states, the rule is that the substantive law of the state where the injury occur controls.
Under the provision of the Federal Tort Claims Act which renders the U.S. liable for the torts of its employees, under circumstances where the U.S., if a private person, would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred, federal courts are required to look in the first instance to the law of the place where the acts of