DÃjà Vu in Florida Courts: When Courts Re-view the Law of the Case

When an appellate court makes a decision, it is usually final. However, sometimes the case is sent back to the trial court for more proceedings. The law of the case means that once an issue is decided by the appellate court, it can’t be re-litigated in the same case. But there are exceptions to this rule, like if there have been changes in the facts or the law, or if the previous decision was wrong and would cause unfairness. The law of the case is a way to save time and resources, but it’s not always set in stone and there may be ways to challenge it. The law of the case doctrine says that once an appellate court has decided an issue in a case, it should stick to that decision in future proceedings involving the same parties and the same issue. However, there are some limitations. If an issue wasn’t raised or decided in the previous appeal, it doesn’t count as the law of the case. Also, if an issue wasn’t brought up in the trial court, it can’t be considered the law of the case. Even if an issue was raised in a previous appeal, it can only be considered the law of the case if it could have been decided properly in that appeal. If a court already made a decision on an issue in a case, that decision is usually considered the final word on that issue. But if the decision was based on a mistake or if it was about something that wasn’t fully figured out yet, it might not count as the final decision. It all depends on how much information was available at the time the decision was made. The “law of the case” means that a decision made by an appeals court is considered the final word on a legal issue in a case. However, not all decisions by an appeals court establish the “law of the case.” For example, dismissals of appeals or denials of certain legal requests usually don’t count. Also, if a decision by an appeals court talks about something that wasn’t part of the original legal issue, it doesn’t establish the “law of the case.” If a lawyer wants to challenge the “law of the case,” they can argue that it shouldn’t apply based on legal principles. However, they need to show that there are exceptional circumstances for the court to reconsider the decision. The law of the case doctrine can be set aside in certain situations, such as if there are new important facts that weren’t considered before. This exception might apply if there were changes in the facts of the case after a previous decision was made. For example, if the initial decision was based on incomplete information and new important facts come to light later on, the law of the case might not apply. These exceptions allow for flexibility in the legal system to ensure fairness and justice. Sometimes, when an appellate court makes a decision in a case, it will stick to that decision in later proceedings, unless there are special circumstances. These special circumstances might include new facts coming to light, a change in the law, or if sticking to the old decision would cause great unfairness. This is called the “law of the case” doctrine. Overall, a court will only change its previous decision if sticking to it would be really unfair. If everything in a case stays the same, the same court ruling generally applies. But if the situation changes or if a different court finds a different law to apply, lawyers can revisit old issues in court. These are court cases in Florida where the decisions made in previous appeals became the established law of the case, meaning they couldn’t be re-litigated. It’s like once something is decided in court, it’s the final decision and can’t be argued again. It’s to prevent the same thing from being debated over and over. When a court makes a decision on a legal issue in a case, that decision is considered the “law of the case” and it should be followed in later proceedings unless there are significant new facts or circumstances. However, there are exceptions to this rule, such as when following the previous decision would result in a clear injustice. In some cases, the court may reconsider a previous decision if there was a mistake in the calculations or if there are changed circumstances. The text discusses the concept of “law of the case” in legal appeals, where previous decisions on a legal issue are usually followed in future proceedings. However, there are exceptions to this rule, such as when following the previous decision would result in a clear injustice. The article also mentions various court cases where the “law of the case” was either upheld or overridden. The author, Sarah Lahlou-Amine, is a member of a law firm and specializes in appellate law.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/dj-vu-in-florida-courts-when-courts-re-view-the-law-of-the-case/