Collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion, the Court of Appeals found, “precludes a party from relitigating in a subsequent action or proceeding an issue clearly raised in a prior action or proceeding and decided against that party…whether or not the tribunals or causes of action are the same.”1 Its close cousin, res judicata, “precludes a party from litigating a claim where a judgment on the merits exists from a prior action between the same parties involving the same subject matter.”2
The requirements for collateral estoppel are (1) the issue in the second action must be identical to an issue raised, necessarily decided and material in the first action, and (2) the party in the second action must have had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue in the first action.3 The party seeking to apply collateral estoppel in the second action bears the burden of proving that the identical issue was necessarily decided in the prior action and is decisive of the present action, while the party opposing the application of collateral estoppel bears the burden of demonstrating the absence of a full and fair opportunity to contest the prior determination.4
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