| Swift v. Tyson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Decided January 25, 1842 | |
| Full case name | John Swift v. George W. Tyson |
| Citations | 41 U.S. 1 (more) |
| Case history | |
| Prior | On a certificate of division from the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York |
| Holding | |
| Federal courts were to apply state statutory law, but not common law, to state cases. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Story, joined by unanimous |
| Concur/dissent | Catron |
Overruled by | |
| Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins (1938). | |
Swift v. Tyson, 41 U.S. (16 Pet.) 1 (1842), was a case brought in diversity in the Circuit Court for the Southern District of New York on a bill of exchange accepted in New York in which the Supreme Court of the United States determined that United States federal courts that heard cases brought under their diversity jurisdiction under the Judiciary Act of 1789 must apply statutory state laws when the state legislatures in question had spoken on the issue, but did not have to apply the state's common law if the state legislatures had not spoken on the issue.[1]
The ruling meant that the federal courts that decided matters not specifically addressed by the state legislature had the authority to develop a federal general common law.
In 1938, this decision was overruled by Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, which dispensed with the concept of federal general common law in the United States.