Business Law Chapter 1

Law

A body of enforceable rules governing relationships among individuals and between individuals and their society.

Concurring Opinion

A court opinion by one or more judges or justices who agree with the majority but want to make or emphasize a point that was not made or emphasized in the majority's opinion.

Plurality Opinion

A court opinion that is joined by the largest number of the judges or justices hearing the case, but less than half of the total number.

Dissenting Opinion

A court opinion that presents the views of one or more judges or justices who disagree with the majority's decision.

Majority Opinion

A court opinion that represents the views of the majority (more than half) of the judges or justices deciding the case.

Two Aspects of Stare Decisis

A court should not overturn its own precedents unless there is a strong reason to do so. Decisions made by a higher court are binding on lower courts.

Secondary Sources of Law

A publication that summarizes or interprets the law, such as a legal encyclopedia, a legal treatise, or an article in a law review.

Citation

A reference to a publication in which a legal authority—such as a statute or a court decision—or other source can be found.

Enabling Legislation

A statute enacted by Congress that authorizes the creation of an administrative agency and specifies the name, composition, purpose, and powers of the agency being created.

Federal Form of Government

A system of government in which the states form a union and the sovereign power is divided between the central government and the member states.

Compelling Government Interest

A test of constitutionality that requires the government to have convincing reasons for passing any law that restricts fundamental rights, such as free speech, or distinguishes between people based on a suspect trait.

Judicial Branch

Adjudication or trial-like proceedings

Bill Of Rights

Adopted in 1791,The first ten of these amendments, embodies a series of protections for the individual against various types of conduct by the federal government.

Executive Branch

Investigation and Enforcement

Uniform Law

A model law developed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws for the states to consider enacting into statute.

The U.S. Congress passes federal statutes, which do not apply to states but only to the federal government. True or False?

False. Constitutional statutes passed by Congress apply to all states.

Specific Performance

an order to perform what was promised

Equity

branch of law founded on notions of justice and fair dealing

Equitable Principles and Maxims

provide guidance in deciding whether plaintiffs should be granted equitable relief

Rescission

(cancellation) of the contract, thereby returning the parties to the positions that they held prior to the contract's formation

The APA typically follows which three steps?

Notice of the proposed rulemaking, a comment period, the final rule.

The U.S. Constitution

One primary source of American Law/ The supreme law of the land.

Administrative Law Judge

One who presides over an administrative agency hearing and has the power to administer oaths, take testimony, rule on questions of evidence, and make determinations of fact.

Per Curiam Opinion

Opinion A court opinion that does not indicate which judge or justice authored the opinion.

Police Powers

Powers possessed by the states as part of their inherent sovereignty. These powers may be exercised to protect or promote the public order, health, safety, morals, and general welfare.

Persuasive Authorities

Precedents from other jurisdictions, because they are not binding on the court

Legislative Branch

Rule making

Administrative Law

consists of the rules, orders, and decisions of administrative agencies

The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)

created through the joint efforts of the NCCUSL and the American Law Institute and was first issued in 1952 and has been adopted in all fifty states

Injunction

directing a party to do or refrain from doing a particular act

Congress creates an administrative agency by ?

enacting enabling legislation, which specifies the name, composition, purpose, and powers of the agency being created

Police Power

encompasses not only the enforcement of criminal law but also the right of state governments to regulate private activities in order to protect or promote the public order, health, safety, morals, and general welfare

Rule-Making

formulating new regulations

Symbolic Speech

gestures, movements, articles of clothing, and other forms of expressive conduct—is also given substantial protection by the courts

Free Exercise Clause

guarantees that people can hold any religious beliefs they want or can have no religious beliefs

The Seventh Amendment

guarantees the right to a trial by jury in a civil (noncriminal) case involving at least twenty dollars

Commerce Clause

has had a greater impact on business than any other provision in the Constitution

Criminal Law

has to do with wrongs committed against society for which society demands redress

The Administrative Procedure Act (APA)

imposes strict procedural requirements that agencies must follow in legislative rulemaking and other functions

Civil Law System

is a legal system based on a written code of laws. The primary source of law is a statutory code, and case precedents are not judicially binding, stare decisis does not apply.

Binding Authority

is any source of law that a court must follow when deciding a case, it include constitutions, statutes, and regulations that govern the issue being decided, as well as court decisions that are controlling precedents within the jurisdiction

Stare Decisis

judges are obligated to follow the precedents established within their jurisdictions

Interpretive Rules

not legally binding but simply indicate how an agency plans to interpret and enforce its statutory authority

Preemption

occurs when Congress chooses to act exclusively in a concurrent area. In this circumstance, a valid federal statute or regulation will take precedence over a conflicting state or local law or regulation on the same general subject

Statutes

primary sources of law, come from the U.S. Congress and state and local legislatures

Establishment Clause

prohibits the government from establishing a state-sponsored religion, as well as from passing laws that promote (aid or endorse) religion or show a preference for one religion over another

Ordinances

regulations passed by municipal or county governing units to deal with matters not covered by federal or state law

Civil Law

spells out the rights and duties that exist between persons and between persons and their governments.

Legislative Rules

substantive rules, which are legally binding on all businesses.

Griswold v. Connecticut

the Supreme Court invalidated a Connecticut law that effectively prohibited the use of contraceptives on the ground that it violated the right to privacy

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

the United States Supreme Court expressly overturned precedent when it concluded that separate educational facilities for whites and blacks, which had been upheld as constitutional in numerous previous cases, were inherently unequal.

Gibbons v. Ogden

the United States Supreme Court ruled that commerce within a state could also be regulated by the national government as long as the commerce substantially affected commerce involving more than one state

USA Patriot Act

the act expanded the government's ability to gather information about individuals

Case Law

the doctrines and principles announced in cases—governs all areas not covered by statutory law or administrative law and is part of our common law tradition

Cyberlaw

the emerging body of law that governs transactions conducted via the Internet

Remedy

the means given to a party to enforce a right or to compensate for the violation of a right

Defendants

the person against whom a lawsuit is brought

Sharia

the religious law of Islam. A comprehensive code of principles that governs the public and private lives of Islamic persons and directs many aspects of their day-to-day lives, including politics, economics, banking, business law, contract law, and social issues

Plaintiffs

those bringing lawsuits

Supremacy Clause

Article VI of the Constitution provides that the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States are "the supreme Law of the Land."

Constitutional Law

Law based on documents setting forth the general organization, powers, and limits of the government

Statutory Law

Laws enacted by legislative bodies at any level of government, such as the statutes passed by Congress or by state legislatures

National Law

The law of a particular nation, such as the United States or Sweden. Varies from country to country because each country's law reflects the interests, customs, activities, and values that are unique to that nation's culture

Establishment Clause

The provision in the First Amendment that prohibits the government from establishing any state-sponsored religion or enacting any law that promotes religion or favors one religion over another.

Equal Protection Clause

The provision in the Fourteenth Amendment that requires state governments to treat similarly situated individuals in a similar manner.

Due Process Clause

The provisions in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments that guarantee that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. State constitutions often include similar clauses.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

This act defines and limits the circumstances in which an individual's "protected health information" may be used or disclosed by health-care providers, health-care plans, and others

Common Law

a body of general rules that applied throughout the entire English realm

Precedent

a court decision that furnished an example or authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar legal principles or facts

Substantive

all laws that define, describe, regulate, and create legal rights and obligations

Procedural

all laws that establish the methods of enforcing the rights established by substantive law

Checks and Balances

allows each branch to limit the actions of the other two branches, thus preventing any one branch from exercising too much power

International Law

can be defined as a body of written and unwritten laws observed by independent nations and governing the acts of individuals as well as governments