case law

noun

: law established by judicial decision in cases

Examples of case law in a Sentence

Case law says that a person has a right to privacy.
Recent Examples on the Web Chief tells how border agents decide Councilmember Kesha Hodge Washington said the briefing also reviewed the lack of Arizona case law precedent on the issue. Taylor Seely, The Arizona Republic, 9 Apr. 2024 McAfee has so far not found violations of Fulton County case law code, which would be relevant to a motion to disqualify a prosecutor for a pending criminal case. Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 16 Feb. 2024 But before the 9th Circuit could rule on that appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in a New York gun case that upended Second Amendment case law, which prompted the 9th Circuit to send the case back to Benitez. Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2024 There were not two centuries of case law arguing over the inherent humanity and rights of farm boys from Idaho. Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024 Even Cox, who has established seminal case law in California on behalf of parents and families, questioned Santa Clara County’s deference to parents’ rights. Scooty Nickerson, The Mercury News, 16 Mar. 2024 Successful candidates could expect to cross-examine witnesses, research case law and write briefs — with a starting salary that topped out at roughly $221,000. Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 13 Mar. 2024 The judge was astute enough to immediately question any attorney asserting something about the law and probing what case law supported their posture. Lance Eliot, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024 From professing their love and desire to be human, to hallucinating case law, check out the slideshow above for some of the biggest AI chatbot blunders — so far. Britney Nguyen, Quartz, 4 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'case law.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1731, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of case law was in 1731

Dictionary Entries Near case law

Cite this Entry

“Case law.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/case%20law. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.

Legal Definition

case law

noun
: law established by judicial decisions in cases as distinguished from law created by legislation

called also decisional law

see also common law

More from Merriam-Webster on case law

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!