Why is legal history especially important in common-law legal education?

In common-law legal education, legal history is considered essential because the common law is a constantly evolving collection of rules and principles rather than a static set of codes. Unlike civil-law systems, where the law is primarily codified, knowledge of the common law has traditionally depended heavily on the study of the court decisions and statutes from which the system evolved.1

Because the common law relies on the principle of precedent—whereby judges justify decisions based on established analogies from past cases—tracing the development of legal rules is necessary to understand their current application. Common-law theorists have historically viewed the law as "immemorial custom," meaning that the authority and legitimacy of legal rules are derived from their long-standing usage and continuity over time. Consequently, legal educators often find it necessary to trace the history of specific branches of law to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the concepts and methods they must apply in practice.213