A term used describe one case which proceeds (or receives the most attention) to establish new case law or precedent, but there are (many) other cases with similar facts that will be impacted by the court's decision in the "umbrella" case.
Brown v. Board of Eduction could be considered an "umbrella case", in that it established new law and prevented schools from segregating on the basis of race, but at the time of Brown, numerous other school segregation cases were also in the judicial process, and these cases fell under the "umbrella" of the decision in Brown.
by frankdbz October 20, 2010