BUSINESS LAW COURSES OBJECTIVES 1 Awareness of legal pitfalls when its raining someone can sue for slipping in your store use your common sense what would store owner do cid 224 put up sign to warm people by giving warning you protect yourself 2 Communication with lawyers deal with more complicated situations what things do you have to be aware of when you talk to lawyers cid 224 a Fee structure i Hourly rate provide services charge x hr ii Job or task iii Contingent fee conditional upon victory if lawyer wins case client pays fee if lawyer loses case no pay THE LEGAL METHOD OF THINKING 1 Separate relevant from irrelevant don t come in to talk to your lawyer with a bunch of things that don t have to do with your case time is money get to basis of matter 2 Be prepared to vigorously justify your position with an arsenal of supportive data and fact make sure you have back up or support for what you re saying 3 Develop an ability to think on your feet BUSINESS LAW COURSE TOOLS 1 Semantics the branch of the science of language that deals with the meaning of words lawyers need to know what exact word to used In the language of law cid 224 Infant a minor not yet an adult Reasonable depends on the interpretation on a jury or judge FACT specific depends on the circumstances In vs On penetration vs molestation if the victim herself didn t know how could jury decide based on requirements of law only 15 years in jail vs rest of life Koikos Case five fraternity brothers shot in his restaurant Koikos sued 500k for each occurrence then Koikos turns around and sues his insurance company occurrence is the word in question in this case was the incident 1 occurrence or was each shot 5 fired an occurrence o owner koikos sued because should have provided better security o Koikos sued his insurance company for not covering enough o one occurrence or 5 separate occurrences ruling was 5 separate o insurance company put a cap at 5 mil ex 9 11 case o two towers one occurrence o more encompassing than Florida case verdict separate occurrences 2 Logic extracting legal rules from past cases by inductive reasoning Ex Law by statute all unsigned wills are void Facts this will is unsigned Decision will is void i Will tells who the money goes to ii Provides tax reductions iii Provides for guardianship Ex Daddy s Will the dad died in GA lived in FL and owned real estate in South Carolina conflict of law he signed his will Daddy he had a witness but is Daddy a legitimate signature o signature an symbol adopted by a party to authenticate a writing o Child A and B This is why it took so long Decedent dead person Lives in Florida o Two witnesses need to sign Dies in Georgia o Three witnesses need to sign Owns real estate in South Carolina o Don t need to sign Which law applies from which state cid 224 Developed a law called the Conflict of Laws Conflict of Laws When you live in a place that is the law that applies Except for real estate o Law applied for where real estate is only for real estate Daddy s will case Widower Four adult children But will was signed daddy o Is that a signed will In will he left half of will to child A and B nothing to C or D Judge decided Signature any symbol adopted by a party to authenticate a writing this helps the case of A and B What does adopted mean Was it used before o They would bring in birthday cards and letters o However these are family contexts missing official documents checks tax return license o Daddy was found to be a valid signature 800 000 500 000 300 000 to A and B cid 224 because of LAWYERS FEES What the law permits vs what sound business practice dictates The law is very liberal lets you sign in whatever you want and however you want But is signing in pencil smart Cannot disinherit wife or husband but can disinherit children BUSINESS LAW COURSE TOOLS 3 Stare Decisis the doctrine of precedent what happened before Let the Decision stand Advantages 1 certainty in the law 2 equality in the law everyone should be treated in the same way for the same violation of the law 3 makes judicial decision making easier judges don t have to reinvent the wheel go to cases from the past and use their case for guidance Disadvantages Stagnation in the law o sometimes the rules of society outpays the rules of the law we want it to be progressive cid 224 page 39 1988 vs 2005 one ruling that 16 18 year old could be executed in the Thompson vs Oklahoma case in 05 in the Roper vs Simmons case courts ruled it was unconstitutional to execute a juvenile 4 Common Sense the law is not an enemy of common sense dog hurting another person o whose fault o Owner he invited person over o Victim he may have provoked the dog o Bad dog vs beware of dog but everybody knows beware of dog clearly means bad dog common sense o In this case owner found guilty but the victim was dumb THE STRUCTURE OF THE FLORIDA JUDICIAL SYSTEM Legislature decides who gets what Need new judges o They haven t approved of any because of dwindling revenues Appellate Courts Supreme court 7 justices 6 year terms o 5 justices constitute a quorum District courts of appeal o Merit retention judges are retained if the voting public thinks they deserve to be retained o Cases are reviewed by three judge panels o 5 districts 1st district is Tallahassee 15 judges covers Pensacola to Jacksonville to Tally to Gainesville Trial Courts Circuit courts big o Handles more serious issues o Criminals and felonies more than a year in prison o 1500 and up o twenty judicial circuits o Judges preside individually County courts little o Deal with misdemeanors o 1 year or less o handles all disputes that are 1500 dollars or less o at least one judge in each of all the 67 counties o judges preside individually Court system is a Pyramidal System 1 Supreme Court 5 Court of Appeal 20 Circuit Court 67 County Court CATEGORIES OF LAW Criminal protect society and make better citizens o deals with a wrong committed against society o ex shooting hurt or killing someone o we as a society don t tolerate that kind of criminal behavior o punishment deterrence o protection of society against criminal putting him behind bars so we feel safe Civil resolve dispute judge or jury will decide o Mostly about dispute disagreement with another person and cannot resolve it Substantive whats of the law o Essence of the law o Rights and duties that we have in society o Do s and don ts must pay taxes stop at red light cannot set fire to ones house Procedural …
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