ABSTRACT
Courts are entrusted with the dual task of determining the facts of a dispute and then applying the relevant rule of law to those facts. Where a jury system is used, a division of labor normally operates in which it is the lay jury that determines the facts and the judge who is responsible for postulating the law. This differentiation of function indicates the contrasting nature of the judicial enterprise. Indeed, one of the major intellectual challenges of a trial lawyer is to be able to distinguish, on the facts, the differences between the case in dispute and a legal precedent that seems to be unfavorable to his client's cause, or conversely to draw factual parallels with a helpful precedent.
