Bernhard v. Harrah's Club
Supreme Court of California
546 P.2d 719 (1976)
Harrah's Club (defendant), a Nevada bar and casino, actively advertised to and drew in California residents. Two such residents, the Myers, drove to Harrah's, were served alcohol by staff even after they were visibly too drunk to drive, and then crashed on their way home in California, seriously injuring motorcyclist Bernhard (plaintiff). Bernhard sued Harrah's in California, arguing its negligent over-serving caused his injuries. Harrah's argued Nevada law should apply, and Nevada law did not impose civil liability on tavern owners for a drunk patron's off-premises conduct. The trial court agreed and dismissed the case; Bernhard appealed.
Whether, in a true conflict-of-laws case between the forum state and a foreign state, a court should resolve the conflict by weighing the real, non-hypothetical interests of each state to determine which would suffer greater impairment if its law were not applied.