Why do they read all these old cases and then have to write papers about what happened in the past?
Google the term “legal precedent.”
In short, people learn what is relevant to them. How dentists drilled teeth 200 years ago is probably not relevant to them today*, so they don’t learn it (except, perhaps as history).
Previous court cases, however, *are* relevant today, and so they are studied.
The Wolf
* I’m assuming so, anyway. IANAD.