Legal Environment Chapter One I Defining the term Law 39 40 45 46 the most significant of the social forces is law because law can glue together diverse groups of people of different backgrounds into very large organized groups law is made up from rules these rules are laid down by the state and backed up by enforcement jurisprudence is the philosophy of law natural law positive law historical school sociological jurisprudence legal realism A Doctrine of Separation of Powers 818 819 checks and balances separation of powers at the federal state and local governments 1 Horizontal three separate but equal branches of government 2 Vertical federalism 818 each level of the government has a separate but distinct role to play 3 The Power of Judicial Review 74 75 the power to review laws passed by the legislative body and to declare them to be unconstitutional and void allows the courts to review actions taken by the executive branch and to declare them unconstitutional a Marbury v Madison 1803 U S Supreme Court Case 74 the court cases that allowed judicial review to occur B Sources of the Law 1 Constitutions 49 2 Statues 49 50 U S Constitution overrides all other sources of law legislation adopted by Congress or a state legislature 3 Case Law Common Law 51 52 a Precedent Oriented Legal System i Definition of Precedent case opinions that are used for future cases involving similar facts and legal issues ii Reasons for Following Precedent iii Reasons to deviate from Precedent a Dicta b Rejection of precedent c Conflict of laws iv Classifying Legal Systems a Civil System v Common Law System 46 47 Common Law emphasizes the role of judges in determining the meaning of the laws and how they apply Civil Law relies more on legislation than judicial decisions to determine what the law is 4 Administrative Law 50 51 Agencies i e EPA SEC OSHA that regulate business activities through the adoption of rules and regulations investigate businesses to determine if they have violated rules and regulations hold own hearings 5 Executive Orders president governor 6 Treaties international federal only proposed and written by the President but must be approved by the Senate II Classifying Laws 46 48 A Procedural Laws v Substantive Laws Substantive Law defines the legal relationship of people with other people or between them and the state i e laws governing creation or enforcement Procedural Law deals with the method and means by which substantive law is made and administrated i e when one is allowed to sue another rules of law of governing the process of the lawsuit Public Law includes those matters that involve the regulation of society as opposed to individuals interacting constitutional law administrative law criminal law Private Law covers those legal problems and issues that concern your private resource relationships with other people property law contract law tort law B Public Laws v Private Laws III Classifying Types of Cases A Civil Cases v Criminal Cases 1 Plaintiffs 2 Purposes 3 Private Law v Public Law 47 see above 4 Procedures a Time Frame you have a right to a speedy trial criminal cases can occur in 6 to 12 months civil cases can take years b Grand Jury 192 194 does not sit on a court case but rather sits with the prosecutor to determine if there is sufficient evidence in order to file an indictment c Burdens of Proof 109 115 i Beyond A Reasonable Doubt 110 criminal hardest to prove must be 99 sure the prosecution in a criminal case has the burden of convincing the Trier of fact usually a jury that the defendant is guilty of the crime charged and that the jury has no reasonable doubt about the defendant s guilt ii Clear and Convincing Evidence Standard 111 civil 70 sure used in situations where the law requires more than a simple preponderance of the evidence but less than proof beyond a reasonable doubt iii Preponderance of the Evidence Standard a k a Manifest Weight of the Evidence Standard 111 civil 51 sure used most frequently it requires that a party convince the jury by a preponderance of evidence that the facts are as he or she contends 1 Types of Civil Remedies 53 55 a Remedies at Law Legal Remedies v Remedies at Equity Equitable Remedies 1 Definitions A remedy is the right of an individual to take another person s resources because that person has failed to meet the requirement s of the law At Law dollar damages At Equity make defendant do something or stop doing something no juries 2 Historical Development 3 Remedies at Law Dollar Damages Compensatory Damages awarded to make the victim of the contract breach whole in the economic sense compensate the party for all losses that are the direct and foreseeable result of the breach Punitive Damages appropriate when the tort is intentional or the unreasonable conduct is extremely severe windfall of compensatory damages Nominal Damages the lawsuit has been won but you are unable to prove the monetary damages AFL NFL Liquidated Damages there is a clause in the contract that has a formula for the damages No Contest did it but can t use against in a civil case everything must be proved again 4 Typical Remedies at Equity Injunction a temporary or permanent solution protestors outside of your store you want them to go away Specific Performance defendant is breaching contract makes them perform to contract if dealing with property it must be unique property real estate antiques closely held stocks Recission the contract is canceled and then contracting parties are put back into the position before the contract Reformation reform the contract judge rewrites contract to fulfill wishes of the parties Accounting sue for the rights of the financial statements Dissolution legal termination of a partnership or corporation Partition make one party do something i e two people want to sell a piece of real estate force the other to do the same Eminent Domain the party will not sell the land government must prove why they need your property and why their need is higher than yours you must prove why your need is higher and provide alternative plans for the government Foreclosure contract of when things are due is breached make the party change the title so the creditor can get the money or collateral 5 Rules of Law v Legal Maxims 6 Judgment v Award IV Areas of Law Overview A Torts 54 1 Definition a civil wrong other than a breach of contract they involve improper crossing of property boundaries usually causing injury to a person or the things that they own
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