Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School (AJMLS) congratulates Professor Jeffrey A. Van Detta on the publication of his latest article in the prestigious University of Miami Law Review. Titled Erie Mistakes: The Eleventh Circuit Misconstrues Already Problematic Georgia Precedent on Choice of Law, the article appears in Volume 79, Issue 4 of the journal and is available online at https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr/vol79/iss4/6.
Professor Van Detta’s article serves as the lead contribution in a quartet of scholarly works addressing recent developments in Eleventh Circuit jurisprudence. These articles are introduced by Eleventh Circuit Judge Nancy Abudu, who authored the Foreword, stating that:
“The articles in this Issue of the University of Miami Law Review contemplate flaws or gaps in significant matters of Eleventh Circuit jurisprudence, and the authors challenge the Circuit to be more introspective as we analyze issues which also are of national importance.”
— Foreword, 79 U. Miami L. Rev. 633 (2025), https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr/vol79/iss4/5
Judge Abudu specifically highlights Professor Van Detta’s article for its critical exploration of what is known as “The Medical Center rule” in Georgia’s conflict-of-law doctrine—a rule that bases legal analysis, in part, on whether a sister state was among the original thirteen colonies, or territory claimed by one of those colonies. She notes that Professor Van Detta:
“explores the origins, implications, and ongoing confusion surrounding ‘The Medical Center’ rule in Georgia… [and] argues the developing Eleventh Circuit precedent has ‘haphazardly’ drawn on the doctrine… He proposes the Circuit abandon the principle and/or that the Supreme Court overturn its choice-of-law precedent from cases such as Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Electric Manufacturing Co.“
In her conclusion, Judge Abudu underscores the potential long-term impact of the critiques raised in Professor Van Detta’s piece:
“Absent intervention from the Supreme Court or Congress, our decisions are long-lasting and, like The Medical Center rule, can move into the next century. I look forward to wrestling with these critiques and predictions, and to engaging in this overall scholarly exercise, which can, and often should, turn into concrete application in the courts.”
This latest publication marks the third installment in Professor Van Detta’s ongoing scholarly work on Georgia’s conflict-of-laws framework:
- A Primer and Update on Georgia’s Conflict of Laws, 17 John Marshall L. J. 1 (2025)
- The Antebellum Irony of Georgia’s Disguised Lex Fori Doctrine: O Where Have You Gone, Brainerd Currie?, 50 Cumberland L. Rev. 407 (2020) (co-authored with Professor Joanna Apolinsky)
The 2020 article has already received recognition within the federal judiciary, having been cited by two different federal district judges in the Northern District of Georgia.
AJMLS celebrates Professor Van Detta’s continued commitment to impactful legal scholarship and his contributions to national conversations on judicial interpretation and precedent in complex areas of law.