Buss Law Notes PDF

1/27 CH.1 Law and Legal Reasoning Buss Decision Making ​ Contracts ​ Intellectual property ​ Torts ​ Product liability ​ Sales ​ Internet law,social media,privacy ​ Environmental law and sustainability ​ Contracts Sources of American Law Classified as primary or secondary...

1/27 CH.1 Law and Legal Reasoning Buss Decision Making ​ Contracts ​ Intellectual property ​ Torts ​ Product liability ​ Sales ​ Internet law,social media,privacy ​ Environmental law and sustainability ​ Contracts Sources of American Law Classified as primary or secondary ​ U.S constitution and the constitutions of various states ​ Statutory law-laws passed by congress,state legis,local governing bodies ​ Regulations created by admin agencies,ex, federal trade commision ​ Case law and common law doctrines 2nd sources of law ex.legal encyclopedias and treaties Constituional law Based on U.S constitution and constitutions of various states ​ Cons. supreme law of the land and is the basis of all law in the U.S ❖​ Law in violation of the cons,if challenged will be declared unconstitutional and will not be enforced ​ Each state in the union has own constitution ❖​ Unless it conflicts with the U.S cons or federal law,state cons is supreme within the state’s borders Statutory law=body of law enacted by legis. Bodies (as opposed to constitutional law,admin law or case law) Include…. ​ Federal statutes-passed by congress and applies to all states ​ State statutes- passed by a state legis. And applies only within the state’s borders Ordinances-law passed by a local governing unit as a city or a county ​ Commonly have to do with city or county land use zoning ordinances),building and safety codes,other matters affecting the local community Statutory Conflicts ​ Tension may sometimes arise between federal,state and local laws Uniform law Model law created by national confederation of commissioners on uniform state laws and/or american law institute for the states to consider adopting ​ Each state has the option of adopting or rejecting all or part of a uniform law ❖​ If the state adopts the law,it becomes statutory law in that state Uniform commercial code ​ UCC,facilitates commerce among the states by providing a uniform,yet flexible,set of rules governing commercial transacations Administrative law Body of law created by admin agencies in order to carry out their duties and responsibilities ​ Admin agency-federal or state gov agency created by the legis to perform a specific function,make and enforce rules pertaining to the environment Administrative law and procedure constitute a dominant element in the regulatory environment of business ​ Business’s capital structure and financing ​ Buss hiring and firing procedures ​ Buss relations with employees and unions ​ Way a buss manufactures and markets its products Federal Agencies National level,cabinet departments of executive branch include numerous executive agencies ​ Executive agency-admin agency within executive branch of gov ❖​ Ex, U.S. food and drug admin is an agency within U.S. department of health and human services ​ Executive agencies are subject to authority of the president,has power to appoint and remove their officers ​ Independent regulatory agency-not considered part of the gov’s executive branch and is not subject to the authority of the president ❖​ Ex.federal trade commission,securities,exchange commission State and local agencies Admin agencies at the state and local levels.created as a parallel to a federal agency ​ Ex.state pollution-control agency is a parallel to the enviromental protection agency Case Law-rules of law announced in court decisions Interprets… ​ Statutes ​ Regulations ​ Constitutional provisions Case law governs all areas not covered by statutory law or admin law and is part of our common law tradition Common law tradition American law is based on the english legal system ​ Judges in the U.S still apply common law principles when deciding cases Common law-body of law developed from custom or judicial decisions in english and U.S courts not attributable to a legislature Court of law and remedies at law ​ Person wronged another in some way,early english king’s courts could grant only land,items of value,or money as remedies ❖​ Remedy-relief given to an innocent party to enforce a right or compensate for the violation of a right Early english courts ​ Court of law-only remedies that can be granted are things of value,such as money damages ​ Remedy at law-remedy available in a court of law ❖​ Money damages awared as a remedy at law ❖​ Damages-monetary award sought as a remedy for a breach of contract or a tortious act Courts of equity Individuals could not obtain an adequate remedy in a court of law,petioned the king of relief ​ Most petitions were decided by an adviser to the king,called a ‘’chancellor’’ had power to grant new and unique remedies ​ Court of equity-court decides controversies and administers ustice according to the rules,principles and precedents of equity ❖​ Equity is a branch of law-notions of justice and fair dealing that seeks to supply a remedy when no adequate at law is available Remedy in equity-allowed by courts in situations where remedies at law are not appropriate Include… ​ Injunction-order to a party to cease engaging in a specific activity or to undo some wrong or injury ​ Specific performance involves ordering a party to perform an agreement as promised ​ Rescission,cancellation of a contractual obligation Breach-to violate a law,by an act or an omission,to break a legal obligation that one owes to another person or to society Equitable maxims-fashioning appropriate remedies,judges are guided by ‘equitable maxims’ (genereal propositions or principles of law that have to do with fairness (equity) ​ Laches-equitable doctrine that bars a party’s right to legal action if the party has neglected for an unreasonable length of time to act on their rights ​ Defense-reasons that a defendant offers in an action or suit as to why the plaintiff should not obtain what he or she is seeking  ❖​ Defendant-one against whom a lawsuit is brought,or the accused person is a criminal proceeding ❖​ Plaintiff-a party that initiates a lawsuit ​ Petitioner-party that initiates a lawsuit ​ Respondent-party who answers a complaint or other proceeding Statutue of limitations-federal or state statute setting the max time period during which a certain action can be brought or certain rights enforced Procedure ​ Initiation of lawsuit ​ Decision ​ Result ​ Remedy Aciton at law ​ Filling a complaint ​ Jury or judge ​ Judgement ​ Monetary damages or property Aciton in Equity ​ Filling a petition ​ Judge (no jury) ​ Decree ​ Injunction,specific performance or rescission Stare decisis-common law doctrine under which judges are obligated to follow the precedents established in prior decisions Controlling Precedents Must be followed within a jurisdiction called ‘’contriolling precedents’’ ​ Binding authority-any source of law that a court must follow when deciding a case Stare Decisis and Legal Stability ​ Helps the courts to be more efficient ​ Makes the law more stable and predictable Persuasive authority-any legal authority or source of law that a court may look to for guidance but need not follow when making its decision Legal reasoning-process of reasoning by which a judge harmonizes his or her opinion with the judicial in previous cases Basic Steps for Legal Reasoning ​ Issue ​ Rule ​ Application Case on point-previous case involving factual circumstances and issues that are similar to those in the case before the court Civil law-branch of law dealing with the definition and enforcement of all private or public rights,as opposed to criminal matters Criminal law-branch of law that defines and punished wrongful actions committed against the public Citation-reference to a publication in which a legal authority,such as a statute or a court decision or other source can be found United States Code All federal laws passed by Congress are arranged by broad subject in the United States Code (U.S.C.). State Codes State codes passed by state legislatures are collected in state publications and follow the U.S.C. pattern of arranging law by subject. Administrative Rules Rules and regulations adopted by federal administrative agencies are initially published in The Federal Register a daily publication of the U.S. government, and later incorporated into The Code of Federal Regulation (C.F.R.). Courts -federal courts -state courts Consists of… ​ Trial courts,evidence presented and testimony given,bottom tier ​ Decisions from a trial court appealed to a higher court ​ Decisions from these intermediate courts of appeal may be appealed to an even higher court,like the supreme court or the U.S. Supreme Court —------=---------=--------=---------=--------=---------=-------- CH.3 Ethics in Business Ethics-moral principles and values applied to social behavir Has to do with action’s…. ​ Fairness ​ Justness ​ Rightness ​ wrongness Business ethics Consensus of what constitutes right or wrong behavior in the world of business and teh application of moral principles to situations that arise in a business setting Moral minimum Degree of ethical behavior expected of a business firm,usually defined as compliance with the law ​ Ex. Industries created codes of ethics,NOT laws but company can be strict with them Business as a pure profit maximizer Only perceived duty of a corporation was to maximize profits and generate revenues for its owners Triple bottom line Idea that investors and other should consider not only corporate profits,also the corporation’s impact on people and on the planet in assessing the firm ​ People ​ Planet ​ Profits Four Part Analysis When making decisions,a business should evaluate each of the following: 1.​ Legal implications of each decision 2.​ Public relation impact 3.​ Safety risks for consumers and employees 4.​ Financial implications Will assist the firm in making decisions that not only maximize profits but also reflect good corporate citizenship Attitufe of Top Managment ​ Ways to create and maintain an ethical workplace is for top management to demonstrate its commitment to ethical decision making Fostering of unethical conduct ​ Business owners and managers sometimes take more active roles in fostering unethical and illegal conduct,with negative consequences for their businesses Ethical reasoning Individual links his or her moral convictions or ethical standards to the particular situation at hand ​ Duty-based ethics:ethical philosophy rooted in the idea taht every person has certain duties to others.including both human and the planet ​ Outcome based ethics:ethical philosophy that focuses on the impact of a decision on society or on key stakeholders Principles of rights Human being hava certain fundamentals rights (to life, freedom,and the pursuit of happiness) Kantian Ethical Principles German philosopher Immanueal Kant,belived human beings are: ​ Different from other physical objects ​ Endowed with moral integrity and capacity to reasomn and conduct their affarais rationally Categorical imperative-deciding whether an action is right or wrong,desirable or undesirable,a person should evaluate the actions in terms of what would happen if everybody else in the same situation,or category,acted the same way Utitaranism Ethically correct behavior is related to an evaluation of the consequences of a given action on those who will be affected by it ​ A ‘’good’’ decision is one that results in the greatest good for the greatest number of people affected by the decision Cost-benefit analysis:decision-making technique that involves weighing the costs of a given action against the benefits of the action Corporate social responsibility (CSR)concept that corporations can and should act ethically and be accountable to society for their actions SLIDE 21