‘Local Data’ in European Choice of Law : A Trojan Horse from across the Atlantic?

The abyss between modern American and traditional European conflicts law has always been steep. Much ink has been spilled over the question whether choice of law should give regard to state interests and substantive policies (as in the United States) or whether it should remain a discipline of technical rules focused largely on territorial connections (as in Europe). But the two worlds are no longer as distant as they once were. One area of rapprochement is the domain of “local data.” While the issue of local data has largely been viewed as deepening, not lessening, the intercontinental chasm, a closer analysis reveals that it actually holds the promise of forging a common territory