Lecture 1 LAW Set of rules made by the state and backed up with enforcement o Forcibility backs up laws o Made by the state legislature has certain amount of legitimacy Most laws are made by the indirect will of the people Custom Law routinely done with a collective wisdom BUSINESS AND THE RULE OF LAW Rule of Law o Law that is generally and equally enforced o Important with business transactions acorns v sticks o Correlates with advancement wealth of economy o Incentive to productivity Long term complex business transactions o Takes a long time just to make the deal o Setting applicable law and venue for disputes always said while making deal Innovation and protection of intellectual property o Protects property Capital markets and finance OUR LEGAL SYSTEM COMMON LAW Traditions UK origins judge based emphasis on precedent o Handles pig disputes in small towns example Case Law jurisprudence stare decisis Modern US System combination of common law traditions and aspects from civil law Known collectively as a group stealing violence etc Civil Law Roman based where laws are centrally written in one code of rules LEGAL SYSTEMS MAP Common law is used in only former British colonies Louisiana is only US state to use civil law HIERARCHY OF LAW 1 U S Constitution 2 Federal statutes 3 Federal regulations 4 State constitutions 5 State statutes laws made and passed by legislatures 6 State regulations come in lower because the laws aren t made by representatives laws made by agencies admin bodies IRS FDA 7 Local Rules 8 Case Law assists in interpreting and applying laws TYPES OF LAW Public Constitutional Law Admin Law Criminal Law Private Property Law Contract Law Tort Law BASIC FIELDS IN THE PRACTICING OF LAW Litigation Lawsuits in courtroom Transactional doing business forming companies issuing stock papering a loan etc Regulatory Law Administrative approach FFA lawyer FCC lawyer PROPERTY yours and only yours Foundation of our legal system Types Public private and common Tangible touchable property v intangible patents grants intellectual inventions designs brands copy write trademarks o PRIVATE property Ownership Control exclusionary rights Ex Uncle Scrooge