Business Law Chapter 1

Equitable maxims

1) anyone who wished to be treated fairly must treat others fairly 2) the law will determine the outcome of a controversy in which the merits of both sides are equal 3) The plaintiff must have acted fairly and honestly 4) equitable relief will be awarded when there is a right to relief and there is no adequate remedy at law 5) equity is more concerned with fairness and justice than with legal technicalities 6) Equity will not help those who neglect their rights for an unreasonable period of time

Remedies

Legal means to enforce a right or redress a wrong

Sources of American Law

US Constitution Statutory Law Regulation created by administrative agencies Case law and Common Law Doctrines

Common Law

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

Precedent

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

Positivist School

a school of legal thought centered on the assumption that there is no law higher than the laws created by the government. laws must be obeyed, even if they are unjust, to prevent anarchy

legal realism

a school of legal thought that advocates a less abstract and more realistic and pragmatic approach to the law and takes into account customary practices and the circumstances surrounding the particular transaction. legal realism strongly influenced the growth of the sociological school of jurisprudence, which views law as a tool for promoting social justice

Historical school

a school of legal thought that stresses the evolutionary nature of law and looks to doctrines that have withstood the passage of time for guidance in shaping present laws

substantive law

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

Remedies in equtity

also called equitable remedies. Include specific performance (ordering a party to perform an agreement as promised), an injunction (ordering a party to cease engaging in an activity), and rescission (cancellation of a contract obligation)

deductive reasoning

also called syllogistic reasoning. employs syllogism- a logical relationship involving a major premise, a minor premise, and a cconclusion

binding authority

any source of law that a court must follow when deciding a case

breach

breaks, or failure to perform a contract

Doctrine of Stare Decisis

common law is a judge-made law. means to stand on decided cases.

reasoning by analogy

compare the facts in the case at hand to the facts in previous cases and to the extent that the patterns are similar, to apply the same rule to the present case

criminal law

concerned with wrongs committed against the public as a whole. Criminal acts are defined and prohibited by local, state, or federal government statutes

procedural law

consists of all laws that delineate the methods of enforcing the rights established by substantive laws

Case Law

doctrines and principles announced in cases

Statutory laws

laws passed by Congress, state legislators or local governing bodies

Uniform laws

model laws

natural school of law

one of the older and more significant schools of legal though. those who believe in natural law hold that there is a universal law applicable to all human beings. this law is discoverable through reason and is of a high order than positive (national) law

linear reasoning

proceeds from one point to another with the final point being the conclusion

cyber law

refer to the emerging body of law that governs transactions conducted via the internet

civil law

spells out the rights and duties that exist between persons and between person and their governments, ass well as the relief available when a person's rights are violated

Ordinances

statutes (laws, rules, orders) passed by municipal or county governments

Jurisprudence

study of law

reporters

where cases are published, also called reports