legal case?

Question

Madison and his adult son lived in a house owned by Madison. At the request of the son, Marshall painted the house. Madison did not authorize the work, but he knew that it was being done and raised no objection.
Madison refused to pay Marshall, arguing that he had not contracted to have the house painted.
Marshall asked his attorney if Madison was legally liable to pay him. The attorney told Marshall that in their state several appellate court opinions had established that when a homeowner allows to be done on his home by person who would ordinarily expect to be paid a duty to pay exists. The attorney stated that, on the basis of these precedents, it was advisable for Marshall to bring a suit to collect the reasonable value of work he had done. Explain what the attorney meant by precedent and why the fact that precedent existed was significant.

Answer 1

A precedent is a legal decision by a court on a similar issue. It is important because when future courts consider an issue, they review the precedent's set by previous courts. They tend to follow the precedents - although they do modify them.

Marshall may want to consider filing a suit in small claims court (Peoples Court, Judge Judy) type thing. These are courts where you can file a law suit and handle it yourself with out an attorney. You may pay a filing fee (such as $40.00). Therefore the prior case law or precedent is not something Marshall will have to have. Contact the local clerk of court for magistrates court. They will be able to walk you through the process of filing a small claims suit.

Answer 2

is this your homework..you can answer that whole question by looking up the meaning of precident..heck just knowing what precident means will also answer the second part as to why it is important