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Mandatory v. Persuasive Authority Chart

Court Affected By Decision
Court Issuing Decision	US Supreme	Federal Appellate	Federal District	California Supreme	California Court of Appeal	California Superior Court
US Supreme	M	M	M	M – Fed Q P – State Q	M – Fed Q P – State Q	M – Fed Q P – State Q
Federal Appellate	P	P	M – Same circuit P – Other courts	P	P	P
Federal District	P	P	M – Same district P – Other courts	P	P	P
California Supreme Court	M – State Q P – Fed Q	M – State Q P – Fed Q	M – State Q P – Fed Q	M	M	M
California Court of Appeal	P*	P - Fed Q P - State Q	P - Fed Q M - State Q	P	P	M
California Superior Court	P	P	P	P	P	P (M on lower specialized courts)

California-Specific Notes:

Decisions of the CA Supreme Court are binding on all state courts in California. (Auto Equity Sales, Inc., 57 Cal. 2d 450, 455)
Decisions of every division of every district of the CA Courts of Appeal are binding on all Superior Courts in California. (Auto Equity Sales, Inc., 57 Cal. 2d 450, 455)
If appellate court decisions conflict, then the lower court must choose between the conflicting decisions. (Auto Equity Sales, Inc., 57 Cal. 2d 450, 456)
The decision of one division or district of the CA Court of Appeal is NOT binding on another division or district (Sarti, 167 Cal. App. 4th 1187, 1193-94)
The decision of one division is NOT binding on that same division. (see, e.g., Saucedo, 111 Cal. App. 3d 309, 315--same division of same appellate district overruled a holding it had made 2 years previously after considering criticism of that earlier holding and without any intervening change in statutory law or higher court decisions)
For a discussion about stare decisis within California state courts, refer to Chapter 13 of Witkin California Procedure.

Cal. Prac. Guide Fed. 9th Cir. Civ. App. Prac. Ch. 8-C
Use and Citation of Legal Authority
Cal. Prac. Guide Civ. App. & Writs Ch. 14-D
Precedential Effect of Appellate Court Opinions
42 UCLA L. Rev. 1691
Selective Publication and the Authority of Precedent in the United States Courts of Appeals
9 Witkin, Cal. Proc. 5th (2008) Appeal, § 497, p. 558
Binding on Lower Courts and Federal Courts
1 Cal. Affirmative Def. § 14:62 (2d ed.)
Stare decisis
1 California Ins. Law Dictionary & Desk Ref. § C112 (2015 ed.)
Controlling Legal Authority From Appellate Courts

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