Precedent

Legal precedent reference — stare decisis, case law hierarchy, distinguishing, overruling, persuasive authority. Use when researching binding case law, analyzing judicial reasoning, or building legal arguments.

Precedent — Legal Precedent Reference

Quick-reference skill for the doctrine of precedent, case law analysis, and stare decisis.

When to Use

• Determining which court decisions are binding in your jurisdiction
• Distinguishing or analogizing prior cases
• Understanding ratio decidendi vs obiter dicta
• Researching whether a precedent has been overruled or modified
• Building persuasive legal arguments from case law

Commands

intro

scripts/script.sh intro

Overview of legal precedent — stare decisis, common law tradition, purpose.

hierarchy

scripts/script.sh hierarchy

Court hierarchy — binding vs persuasive authority, federal/state systems.

analysis

scripts/script.sh analysis

Case analysis — ratio decidendi, obiter dicta, material facts, holdings.

distinguishing

scripts/script.sh distinguishing

Distinguishing precedent — factual differences, legal distinctions, narrow/broad readings.

overruling

scripts/script.sh overruling

Overruling and modifying precedent — when courts reverse themselves.

research

scripts/script.sh research

Case law research — citation formats, Shepardizing, KeyCite, databases.

writing

scripts/script.sh writing

Using precedent in legal writing — IRAC, analogical reasoning, synthesis.

checklist

scripts/script.sh checklist

Case law analysis and application checklist.

help

scripts/script.sh help

version

scripts/script.sh version

Configuration

Variable	Description
PRECEDENT_DIR	Data directory (default: ~/.precedent/)

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