Statutes enacted by the N.M. Legislature are one kind. These statutes fill l4 oversized, three-ring binders. Judicial decisions of courts of appeal and supreme courts comprise a second kind. Where facts are similar, trial judges are obligated to follow these precedents. New Mexico's judicial decisions fill more than 120 hefty books.
Rules make up the third kind of law.
Probably, few people outside the legal profession know the rules exist. They fill three more oversized binders. The N.M. Supreme Court enacts rules to govern handling judicial business. Rules include those on evidence, trials, appeals, children's court proceedings, admission and discipline of lawyers, and other matters. In the casinos case, plaintiffs tripped over a rule that says they must sue all parties to a dispute in a single lawsuit.