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Legal Authorities

Primary: legal material issued directly from any branch of government
Examples: statutes, regulations, decisions, court rules

Secondary: Contains commentary on primary authority (and maybe also the text of the primary authority, in full or in part)
Examples: legal encyclopedias, treatises, law reviews

Mandatory: an authority that must be followed in your court absent cogent public policy reasons

Persuasive: an authority that need not be followed in your court

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