What Is Precedent?
A prior court decision that serves as an example or rule to be followed in future cases involving similar issues. Binding precedent must be followed; persuasive precedent may be considered but is not mandatory.
Quick Answer
A prior court decision that serves as an example or rule to be followed in future cases involving similar issues. Binding precedent must be followed; persuasive precedent may be considered but is not mandatory.
Full Explanation
A precedent is a prior judicial decision that serves as authority for deciding later cases with similar facts or legal issues. The doctrine of stare decisis holds that courts should follow precedent — this is what gives prior decisions their legal force and makes the common law system predictable.
Precedent is either binding or persuasive. Binding precedent — also called mandatory authority — must be followed by a court. A district court must follow its circuit court's decisions; all federal courts must follow Supreme Court decisions on federal law; state trial courts must follow their state supreme court's decisions. There is no choice — the lower court is bound.
Persuasive precedent — also called persuasive authority — may influence a court but is not mandatory. This includes decisions from courts in other jurisdictions, decisions from lower courts in the same system, secondary sources like law review articles, or Restatements. A court may cite persuasive authority and adopt its reasoning, but it is not required to.
Precedent can be distinguished or overruled. Distinguishing means the court finds meaningful factual or legal differences between the current case and the precedent, so the precedent does not control. Overruling means the court explicitly rejects the prior decision — this can only be done by the court that issued it or by a higher court.
The common law develops through the gradual accumulation and refinement of precedent across many decisions over time.
Real-World Example
When a court decides a novel case — say, whether an Uber driver is an employee or an independent contractor — it creates precedent. Future courts in the same system facing the same question must follow that decision. Lower courts that disagree cannot simply ignore it; they must apply the rule, though they can distinguish their case or write opinions encouraging the higher court to reconsider.
Landmark precedents like Miranda v. Arizona (police warnings before custodial interrogation) have been followed and applied in millions of cases over decades.
Why It Matters for Law Students
Precedent is how the common law system develops consistency and predictability. Every law school case is a precedent that students analyze to extract legal rules. Understanding how to find, read, distinguish, and apply precedent is the most fundamental lawyering skill.