I get this question quite a bit. One of my investor clients reaches out and says they found a case from a federal court that says they can (or cannot) do something and they assume it applies to them. Although this may be true, many times its not. Our federal court system is made up of 94 district courts and 13 Appellate Circuits. Decisions are only binding on lower courts, so a decision in a California federal court may not mean the courts would interpet the law (even federal law) the same way in Kansas or Missouri. Below is a short video that provides and overview of our federal court system and when decisions are binding on other courts.
