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I am observing a few cases where an appeal, or a petition for allowance of appeal, has been filed but not yet resolved in a case being cited for persuasive or binding precedential value in another case. Different sides' attorneys are making different claims about whether the precedent of the earlier case applies, while the appeal (or petition for allowance of an appeal) are pending. As a third option, one attorney seems to suggest that the intermediate court precedent applies as standing law while the petition for allowance of an appeal is pending, but would cease to apply if the higher court agreed to take the case, during the pendency of that higher court appeal.

Is a decision [that if not appealed would otherwise be binding precedent] still binding precedent:

  1. After the decision date, before the end of the time period in which an appeal could be filed, as it's unknown whether an appeal will be filed?
  2. After the filing of a petition for allowance of an appeal to a court that requires that, before allocatur has been granted?
  3. After allocatur has been granted OR after the filing of an appeal where it's automatically granted, before the issuance of a decision?

The state tag is where I'm seeing the greatest confusion and I'm curious if that state might have some particular odd rules for its own state courts, but if you want to answer for another jurisdiction, please do so and just label that in the answer.

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Yes, yes, and yes

However, in all three cases, it is common for the parties to ask for, or for the judge on their own to grant, a stay pending the outcome of the other appeal. This a practical matter to avoid wasting everybody’s time and money if the precedent is overturned. However, as a matter of law, a precedent is binding as soon as the judgement is handed down.

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  • The notable exception is that a decision of a panel of a U.S. Court of Appeals (the federal intermediate appellate court) is immediately vacated when a decision to rehear the case en banc is granted (unless and until the en banc panel affirms the panel's rulling).
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Nov 1 at 0:38
  • @ohwilleke yes, appeals on the merits (de novo or en blanc) effectively vacate the previous decision while the appeal is heard. They are not the norm in common law jurisdictions where most appeals are only allowed on the law.
    – Dale M ♦
    Commented Nov 1 at 0:52

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