ABSTRACT
What is meant by the term ‘‘case law’’? In American jurisprudence the principle of stare decisis, ‘‘to stand by that which is decided,’’ establishes the precedent to abide by or adhere to previously decided cases. Under this rule, a point of law, once settled by decision, forms a precedent that is not afterward to be departed from unless a court finds it necessary to overrule a prior case that may have been hastily decided or was decided contrary to principle. Because the legal reporter volumes are filled with such overruled cases, one of the most important obligations of an attorney when researching the law is to be certain that any cases relied upon in making the necessary legal arguments have not been overruled by subsequent cases.
