Common Law
Law that comes from court decisions (case law) rather than from statutes passed by the legislature. Judges create common law by deciding cases and establishing legal principles.
Common law is law created by judges through their decisions in court cases, rather than by legislators passing statutes. When a court decides a case and explains its reasoning, that decision becomes a precedent that other courts must follow in similar future cases. Over time, these decisions build up a body of common law principles.
In Minnesota, many areas of law are governed by a combination of common law and statutory law. For example, most contract law comes from common law principles developed by courts over centuries, while the sale of goods is governed by the Uniform Commercial Code, a statute.
Why it matters: When researching a legal issue, you may need to look at both statutes and court decisions to understand the full picture of the law. A statute might set the basic rule, but court decisions often explain how that rule applies in specific situations.
Example: Minnesota statutes do not define every type of contract breach. Courts have developed common law rules about what constitutes a “material breach” versus a “minor breach” through decades of case decisions. These common law principles guide how future contract disputes are resolved.
Contract disputes, negligence cases, property law, court opinions