[sandworm101]

>> in the vein of the living body of common law descending from the Brits.

Does the speaker recognize the various forks of that body of law? The US/Canada/Australia and others split many years ago and are now developing their own versions. I assume the OP is speaking of them collectively, but try asking an American whether Canadian cases should be relevant to US decisions.

[umanwizard]

The US has 50 versions, not 1

[sandworm101]

It;s actually much more than the 50 states. There are the territories and the feds. Then there is the precedent used by various boards and committees such as the NLRB. Canada and the UK have similar splits (ie scotland) but the biggest and most relevant divide is that between nations.