Choices for Using Cases in Legal Analysis

In a common law system, cases play a vital role in interpreting statutes, building arguments, organizing analyses, and crafting specific points of view. Legal research often begins with statutes or regulations, the primary law passed by the legislature or regulatory agency in the relevant jurisdiction. Cases in turn interpret those statutes and regulations. Cases may be the sole source of the law when the doctrine is strictly a common law doctrine; when the statute has not defined its terms, then a series of cases may interpret and define those doctrines or terms.