The End (Almost) Of "Physical Precedent" In Georgia

One of the unique aspects of decisions of the Georgia Court of Appeals has been the concept of "physical precedent." With rare exceptions, the Georgia Court of Appeals relies on three-judge panels to decide cases. If one of the judges on a three-judge panel concurred in the judgment but not the panel's reasoning or, in recent years, if one of the judges dissented, the decision of the court was deemed to be "physical precedent." It was persuasive authority but not binding authority in subsequent cases. The existence of such decisions required appellate practitioners to pay attention to whether a case being cited was merely "physical precedent" and therefore only persuasive authority.