Business Law Definitions Flashcards

Key Legal Terms and Definitions

• Act: Legislation enacted by Congress or state legislatures, forming the basis of statutory law.

• Administrative Law: Governs the operations and regulations of administrative agencies, detailing their processes and authority.

• Breach of Contract: Occurs when a party fails to fulfill their contractual obligations, impacting the enforceability of the agreement.

• Citation: A reference system used to identify and locate legal cases effectively.

• Civil Law: Governs the rights and duties between private parties, distinct from criminal law, and often includes codified legal systems.

• Codes: Collections of legislation created by various government levels that encapsulate statutory law in a coherent format.

• Common Law: Legal principles and rules developed through judicial decisions over time rather than through legislative statutes.

• Compensatory Damages: Financial compensation awarded in breach-of-contract cases to cover direct losses, restoring the injured party to their pre-contract position.

• Conflicts of Law: Legal frameworks employed by courts to resolve inconsistencies between laws from different jurisdictions.

• Constitutional Law: Legal matters concerning the interpretation and application of the U.S. Constitution and state constitutions.

• Constitutional Relativity: The concept that constitutional interpretation evolves with the prevailing social context and time.

• Contract Law: Branch of law that deals with legally enforceable promises and agreements between parties.

• Corporate Governance: Encompasses the structure and management of business organizations and the regulatory oversight they are subjected to by government entities.

• Corporation: A legal entity recognized by state law, providing flexibility through separation of ownership and management.

• Criminal Law: Addresses offenses against the state or society, distinct from civil law that focuses on wrongs against individuals.

• Dicta: Comments or observations in judicial opinions that are not critical to the outcome of the case, often providing additional context.

• Exemplary Damages: Also known as punitive damages, these are awarded beyond actual losses to punish intentional wrongdoing.

• Holding: The specific legal rule or principle established in a judicial opinion by an appellate court on an appealed issue.

• Intentional Torts: Legal wrongs arising from deliberate actions that cause harm to others.

• Jurisprudence: The study and theory of law, emphasizing the interpretation and application of legal principles.

• Legislation: Laws enacted by governmental bodies, including statutes at federal and state levels and ordinances at local levels.

• Negligence: Failure to exercise reasonable care that results in foreseeable injury to another party.

• Opinion: The formal written decision of a judge regarding a case.

• Ordinance: Local laws or regulations enacted by municipal governments.

• Precedent: Legal decisions from previous cases that establish a rule or principle for similar future cases.

• Private Law: Focuses on legal matters directly affecting relations among private entities, such as contracts and property law.

• Procedural Law: Regulations outlining the processes and procedures for enforcing legal claims in court.