This article adds to our discussion of “Stare Decisis in Federal and State Courts”, New York Law Journal, Nov. 3, 2020.

“Stare decisis is the doctrine which holds that common-law decisions should stand as precedents for guidance in cases arising in the future and that a rule of law[,] once decided by a court, will generally be followed in subsequent cases presenting the same legal problem” (Matter of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Fitzgerald, 25 NY3d 799, 819 [2015] [internal quotation marks and citations omitted]). If the applicable precedents are clear and on point, they are to be followed and there will usually be little difficulty in the court’s resolution of the case.