on all fours

on all fours adj. a reference to a lawsuit in which all the legal issues are identical (or so close as to make no difference) to another case, particularly an appeals decision which is a precedent in deciding the suit before the court. Thus, an attorney will argue that the prior case of Steele v. Merritt is "on all fours" with the case before the court, and so the court must reach the same conclusion. (See: precedent)