An appellate panel is generally bound by earlier decisions of the same court, which is what makes intermediate appellate law predictable.
The prior panel rule. A panel may not overrule a prior published decision of the same court. Only the court sitting en banc, or a higher court, may.
Exceptions. Intervening authority from a higher court or from the legislature that is clearly inconsistent; and in some courts, a decision that overlooked controlling authority.
Distinguishing. The ordinary route. A later panel may confine an earlier decision to its facts where the case before it is materially different, and much appellate advocacy consists of characterising the earlier decision’s holding narrowly or broadly.
Dicta. Statements not necessary to the result are not binding, and the line between holding and dictum is argued in nearly every case that turns on precedent.
Conflicts within a court. Where two lines of authority exist, some courts follow the earliest, others the most recent. The local rule matters and should be researched rather than assumed.
En banc. Available to resolve intra-court conflicts and questions of exceptional importance, and rarely granted.
Practical advocacy. Where a controlling decision is against you, identify whether the route is distinguishing, an exception, or en banc — and say which.