First Principles of Business Law

11.11. Developing your skills

This eStudy module covers many related points that will take some time to absorb and relate properly to each other. It takes time and practice to use case law reliably and well.

As you read more cases in the future, always bear in mind that the reason for knowing about previously decided cases is so that you can use them as precedents when resolving legal problems. That means that you need to understand and be able to remember enough about a case to compare its facts with the facts of other cases, and to be able to explain the legal rule or rules that were applied to those facts.

It also helps if you can remember enough about the name of a case to refer to it or find it in an index - for example, Causer's case, or Toll's case.

Finally, it is important to note that sometimes the law you need may exist partly in case law and partly in legislation. Generally, legislation and case law co-exist as long as they do not conflict with each other. In the event of any conflict, the rule is that legislation takes precedence.