BUSI 301 (Business Law) Chapter 1 Concepts
Restatements of law
A collection of uniform legal principles focused in a particular area of the law, which contains statements of common law legal principles and rules in a given area of law
Permanence of constitutional law
A constitution is thought to reflect the basic principles of a particular society and should be amended only in extraordinary cases and only when a majority of its constituents agree over a certain period of time
Federalism
Allowing the federal and state governments shared powers
Precedent
Applying the law made in previous appellate court opinions to current cases with similar facts; binding on the trial courts
The U.S. common law is deep-seated in which other common law?
British common law
In what type of terms should you think of law?
Broad terms
Working closely with a business attorney results in what?
Business opportunities, reduced costs, and limitation of risk and liability (also called counsel)
How is law classified?
By subject matter
Equitable maxims
Common law rules that guide courts in deciding cases and controversies and are intended to be broad statements of rules based on notions of fairness and justice
Preemption of constitutional law
Constitutional law is supreme over all other sources of law such as federal and state statutes, treaties, and common law
Primary sources of law
Constitutional law, statutory law, common law, and administrative law
How should businesses work with attorneys?
Cooperatively
Civil laws
Designed to compensate parties for losses as a result of another's product
Remedies
Either monetary, performance, or injunctive, the court-ordered means of enforcing rights and redressing wrongs after a breach. Also, judicial actions, which can be monetary or equitable, taken by courts that are intended to compensate an injured party in a civil lawsuit
Legal realism
Law is a social institution to promote fairness
Common law
Law that has not been passed by the legislature but rather is made by the courts and is based on the fundamentals of previous cases with similar facts
Public laws
Laws derived from some government entity
Criminal laws
Laws designed to protect society that result in penalties to the violated such as fines or imprisonment
Private laws
Laws that are recognized as binding between two parties even though no specific statute or regulation provides for the rights of the parties
Procedural laws
Laws that provide a structure and set out rules for pursuing substantive rights
Employment law
Laws that regulate certain rights of employees
Damages
Money lost as a result of another's conduct
Natural law
Moral values form the basis for all law; principles of higher authority more important than national laws
1) Restatements of the law 2) various sets of model state statutes
Most important secondary sources of law
How is constitutional law different from other sources of law?
Permanence and Preemption
Substantive laws
Provide individuals with rights and create certain duties
How do you learn to apply legal awareness in practice?
Recognizing opportunities for proactive business planning, limiting liability, gaining a competitive edge, and adding value to the business
Administrative law
Refers to both the law made by administrative agencies and the laws and regulations that govern the creation, organization, and operation of administrative agencies
Equitable relief
Relief granted in the form of either specific performance or an injection when monetary damages are insufficient due to the unique or irreversible consequence of the breach
Contract law
Rules regarding agreements
Positivists
Set of uniformly agreed-upon laws
Model state statutes
Statutes drafted by legal experts to be used as a model for state legislatures to adopt in their individual jurisdictions in order to increase the level of uniformity and fairness across courts in all states
On the federal level, who is the executive to sign or veto a bill
The President
Legislative history
The records kept by the legislature, including the debates, committee and conference reports, and legislative finding of fact used when creating a law, which can be used to show the legislature's intent
Jurisprudence
The science & philosophy of law that defines various approaches to the appropriate function of law and how legal doctrines should be developed and applied
Citation
The special format used by the legal community where a statutory law can be found
Statutory scheme
The structure of the statute and the format of its mandates in a law
Litigator
Trial lawyer
Who is the exclusive legislative body for the passage of federal law
U.S. Congress
Ordinances
Written laws at the local level, local regulations
Statutes
Written laws that are passed by the federal or a state legislature and are either approved or rejected by the executive branch
Secondary sources
sources of law that have no independent authority or legally binding effect but can be used to illustrate a point or clarify a legal issue
Law
A body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority and having legal binding force
Two common terms used to refer to state statutes
1) Codes 2) Consolidated Statutes
Three broad areas that constitutional law functions with other sources of law
1) establishing a structure for federal and state governments, setting rules for amending the constitution, and granting specific enumerated powers to the different branches of government 2) establishing the concept of federalism 3) establishing individual civil rights and providing procedural protections for US citizens from wrongful government actions
What is the common characteristic of the current state of law?
It creates duties, obligations, and rights that reflect accepted views of a given society
Black's Law Dictionary
The authoritative source for legal terms
Statutory law
The body of law created by the legislature and approved by the executive branch f state and federal government
Constitutional law
The body of law interpreting state & federal constitutions; the foundation for all other law in the United States and is the supreme law of the land
On the state level, who is the executive to state a bill into law?
The governor
United States Code
The official publication of federal statutory law which arranges all existing federal laws in a system organized by title and divided into chapters and sections
Plain meaning rule
The principle that ifs the words in a statute have clear and widely understood meanings, the court applies the statute; used as the initial guideline in statutory interpretation to determine how a rule should be applied
Doctrine of Stare Decisis
The principle that similar cases with similar facts and issues should have the same judicial outcome
Bill
When Congress is drafting a federal statute, but has not yet passed it or had the executive's concurrence
Breach of contract
When a party to a contract breaks her promise to the other party
