Book Review by Harvey Couch
Moffatt Hancock, Marion Rice Kirkwood Professor Emeritus of Stanford Law School, is one of the leading figures in the field of conflict of laws. He was an early and ardent proponent of a policy-centered approach to choice of law; though strongly influenced by the interest analysis theory of his good friend, Brainerd Currie, he continued to pursue other techniques for reconciling conflicts. Studies in Modern Choice-of-Law collects thirteen essays written since 1960. Five of them were previously published in the Standford Law Review, and one—the last—makes its first appearance here. We are fortunate to have them gathered in one volume; the essays are instructive and depict the work of a careful and thoughtful scholar. They are also quite readable, a characteristic not common to all legal writing. Professor Hancock makes frequent and effective use of hypotheticals and often places his discussion in a historical context. The latter is an attractive attribute of these essays, and I suspect that Professor Hancock has more than a nodding acquaintance with legal history.
About the Author
Harvey Couch. Professor of Law, Tulane University; B.A. 1959, Hendrix College; M.A. 1962, L.L.B. 1963, Vanderbilt University.
Citation
59 Tul. L. Rev. 845 (1985)