Law of the case
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.
-- 20:20, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)
