Law of the case

"Law of the case" is a legal term of art that is applicable mainly in common law (Anglo-American) jurisdictions that recognize the related doctrine of stare decisis. The term refers to the instance where "rulings made by a trial court and not challenged on appeal become the law of the case." Hughes v. State 490 A.2d 1034, 1048 (Del.,1985) (citing Haveg Corp. v. Guyer, Del.Supr., 211 A.2d 910, 912 (1965).) "Unless the trial court's rulings were clearly in error or there has been an important change in circumstances, the Court's prior rulings must stand." Id. citing United States v. Estrada-Lucas, 651 F.2d 1261, 1263 (9th Cir.1980); Smith v. United States, D.C.App., 406 A.2d 1262 (1979). Usually the situation occurs when a case is on appeal for the second time (for example, if the reviewing court remanded the matter back to the trial court and the party appeals again, or the case was appealed to a higher appellate court, for example, from an appellate court to the highest court (a "Supreme" court in most states and in the federal court system).

As generally used, the term law of the case designates the principle that if an appellate court has passed on a legal question and remanded the cause to the court below for further proceedings, the legal question thus determined by the appellate court will not be differently determined on a subsequent appeal in the same case where the facts remain the same. ["Allen v. Michigan Bell Tel. Co.", 232 N.W.2d 302, 303.]

Doctrine which provides that an appellate court’s determination on a legal issue is binding on both the trial court on remand and an appellate court on a subsequent appeal given the same case and substantially the same facts. ["Hinds v. McNair", 413 N.E.2d 586, 607.]

Doctrine of "law of the case" is one of policy only and will be disregarded when compelling circumstances call for a redetermination of the determination of point of law on prior appeal, and this is particularly true where intervening or contemporaneous change in law has occurred by overruling former decisions or establishment of new precedent by controlling authority. ["Ryan v. Mike-Ron Corp.", 63 Cal.Rptr. 601.]

The law-of-the-case doctrine precludes reconsideration of a previously decided issue unless one of three "exceptional circumstances" exists: (1) where substantially different evidence is raised on subsequent trial; (2) where a subsequent contrary view of the law is decided by the controlling authority; or (3) where a decision is clearly erroneous and would work a manifest injustice. ["Hanover Ins. Co.,"105 F.3d at 312.]

References