The phrase "to establish a precedent" means to create a previous example or decision that will be used as a guideline or rule for similar situations in the future. Full definition
We are establishing a precedent for the future of asset management. (precedentam.com)
Their decisions are helpful to the rest of us, because they begin to establish a precedent of how genetic information should be shared between patient and clinician. (massgenomics.org)
The arrangement establishes a precedent in cell line research ethics, granting Lacks a new legacy — itself a kind of immortality. (discovermagazine.com)