The decision was drafted by John Hart Ely, who was then a law clerk for Earl Warren.

On February 6, 1963, petitioner, a citizen of Ohio, filed her complaint in the District Court for the District of Massachusetts, claiming damages in excess of $10,000 for personal injuries resulting from an automobile accident in South Carolina, allegedly caused by the negligence of one Louise Plumer Osgood, a Massachusetts citizen deceased at the time of the filing of the complaint.

The Massachusetts rule at the time required personal service of process on the executor of an in-state defendant, while Fed.

The purpose of Erie was to 1) discourage "forum shopping" and 2) avoid inequitable administration of laws.

While the outcome of the current case is determined by which law is applied, the rights in question are not substantial enough to create problems of unequal protection and because in Erie and its progeny there was no explicit conflict between state and federal rules.