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The Use And Abuse Of Precedent In Labor And Employment Arbitration, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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As he did so often with legal problems, Oliver Wendell Holmes put his finger on the key to the problem of precedent with a memorable assertion. Said he: "It is revolting to have no better reason for a rule of law than that so it was laid down in the time of Henry IV." Notice that Holmes did not say it is a bad thing for a rule to have an ancient lineage. The question is whether the rule that may have made sense when Henry IV reigned, or when the Wagner Act was passed, has stood the test of …