Ch1 Legal Foundations Key Terms Law a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority having legal binding force Jurisprudence the science philosophy of law that defines various approaches to the appropriate function of law and how legal doctrines should be developed applied Counsel another name for an attorney Black s Law Dictionary the leading legal dictionary Constitutional Law the body of law interpreting state federal constitutions Statutory Law the body of law created by the legislature approved by the executive branch of state federal governments Common Law law that has not been passed by the legislature but rather is made by the courts is based on the fundamentals of previous cases w similar facts Administrative Law law made by government administrative agencies Ordinances local statutes passed by local legislatures Statutory Scheme the structure of a statute the format of its mandates Legislative history the records kept by the legislature including the debates committee and conference reports legislative findings of fact used when creating a law which can be used to show the legislature s intent Citation the special format used by the legal community to express where a statute or case law can be found Precedent when courts apply the law of a previous case to current cases w similar facts Remedies judicial actions which can be monetary or equitable taken by courts that are intended to compensate an injured party in a civil lawsuit Equitable Relief a type of remedy including injunctions restraining orders that is designed to compensate a party when money alone will not do but instead forces the other party to do or not do something Equitable Maxims Common laws rules that guide courts in deciding cases controversies are intended to be broad statements of rules based on notions of fairness justice Doctrine of Stare Decisis the principle that similar cases w similar facts under similar circumstances should have a similar outcome Case Precedent the opinion of an appellate court which is binding on all trial courts from that point in time onward so that any similar case would be decided according to the precedent 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 Restatements of the Law a collection of uniform legal principles focused in a particular are of the law which contains statements of common law legal principles rules in a given area of law 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 fairness across courts in all states Civil Laws laws designed to compensate parties for money lost as a result of another s conduct Damages money lost as a result of another s conduct Criminal Laws laws designed to protect society which results in penalties to the violator such as fines or imprisonment Substantive Laws laws that provide individuals w rights create certain duties Procedural Laws laws that provide a structure set out rules for pursuing substantive rights Public Laws laws derived from a government entity Private Laws laws recognized as binding between 2 parties even though no specific statute or regulation provides for the rights of the parties Concept Summary Primary Primary sources of law include constitutional law statutory law administrative law common law at both the federal state levels Constitutions have 2 primary functions 1 to prescribe the basic structure powers of a particular government body and 2 to protect certain rights of individuals businesses from government encroachment Statutory law is created by a legislative body the executive branch approved or disapproved by When interpreting statutes courts often look to 2 sources for guidance 1 the structure of the statue itself called the statutory scheme and 2 the records of the legislative history behind the statute The official publication of federal statutory law is in the United States Code Common law is law made by appellate courts U S C of previous cases that had similar facts lower courts apply the precedent to new cases w similar facts authority by administrative agencies Appellate courts create precedent Administrative law is the source of law that regulates the exercise of under the doctrine of stare decisis is based on the fundamentals Pursuant to congressional mandates administrative agencies are empowered to administer the details of federal statutes have broad powers to impose regulations make policy enforce the law in their designated are of jurisdiction Secondary Secondary sources of law include Restatements of the Law and sets of model statutes such as the Uniform Commercial Code UCC Secondary sources have no independent authority nor are they legally binding The Restatements of the Law are collections of uniform legal principles in a specific area of law that are designed to reduce the complexity of judicial decisions in hopes that they will be used or adopted by state legislatures so as to provide uniformity in laws between the states Model statutes are drafted by legal experts Solutions of Managers Legal Decisions in Business An Analytical Model Problem legal decision making by managers is reactionary uneven and sometimes uninformed Solution use a systematic analytical model designed to identify legal issues and understand those issues as business planning opportunities that enable the management team to add value to the company Step1 identify potential legal issues Step2 assess the imminence level of immediacy and level of any legal challenge and decide whether to confer w counsel Step3 analyze the legal implications of the legal challenge using the worst case scenario include an estimate of costs including legal fees courts costs a losing judgment potential draws on human resources required to meet the challenge Step4 evaluate alternatives by developing a list of various approaches that could be used to meet the legal challenge While considering advantages disadvantages of alternatives estimate the costs potential return on expenditures made to meet the legal challenge Step5 compare the alternatives w the business s mission objectives and ethical codes of conduct Step6 implement the chosen alternative adjust the solution based on your monitoring of the costs values and opportunities Step7 during monitoring after the legal