Case law - Topics

Case reporting was privatized and now paywalls shape doctrine How does an appeal differ from a retrial? Why free legal databases cannot replace Westlaw for certain searches Distinguishing a precedent is a skill and a loophole at the same time Obiter dicta gets cited constantly even though it binds nobody A single dissenting opinion can become the majority view twenty years later Common law systems run on reported decisions — most decisions are never reported How to find out whether a case has been overruled How do you find the one paragraph in a ninety-page judgment that matters? Judges who write long opinions vs judges who write three lines Why the headnote in a case reporter is not the holding Which secondary sources are worth reading before diving into case law How did English common law survive without a code? What makes a holding binding rather than merely persuasive? Stare decisis in a court that can change its own mind Foreign judgments are persuasive in some courts and irrelevant in others Overruling a precedent takes more than disagreeing with it Precedent and statute conflict: which one wins?