Daewoo Electronics America Inc. v. Opta Corp.

Dissent by Judge Bybee

OPINION

N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judge:

When it is necessary for a federal district court with diversity jurisdiction to determine the preclusive effect of a prior decision by a different federal district court sitting in diversity, the second court must apply preclusion principles according to the law of the initial court’s state. See Semtek Int’l Inc. v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 531 U.S. 497, 508-09, 121 S.Ct. 1021, 149 L.Ed.2d 32 (2001). Under New Jersey’s traditional res judicata doctrine, a claim asserting breach of a contractual guarantee of a third party’s debt does not…