Horizontal Stare Decisis

Credit Suisse AG v. Claymore Holdings, on a second appeal about interest after an earlier appeal on the merits, affirmed the Fifth Court’s commitment to stare decisis:

Horizontal stare decisis addresses the respect that a court owes its own precedents. See Mitschke v. Borromeo, 645 S.W.3d 251, 256 (Tex. 2022). A three-judge panel must follow the decisions of earlier panels of the same court unless a higher authority has superseded it. Id. Horizontal stare decisis is nothing more than a manifestation of our commitment to precedent. Id. If this panel overruled the previous panel, there would be nothing that would stop a third panel from overruling this panel. See id. The result would not be order and stability but chaos and unpredictability.

No. 05-24-01124-CV (Oct. 21, 2025) (mem. op.).