UNIT 1: COURSE OVERVIEW/INTRO TO LAWBusiness Law Courses: Objectives1. Awareness of Legal Pitfalls (pitfalls lead to the potential to be sued caused to customerbecause of our negligence)lawyers identify issues (legal problems) associated with somethingbusinesses should take extra steps to prevent legal pitfalls2. Communication with Lawyersimportant because if you can efficiently speak you can spend less moneya. Fee Structure (gives way to issues dealing with lawyers)(1) Hourly Rate (usually high >$350)(2) Job or Task (time is irrelevant)(3) Contingent Fee: if wins, client pays percentage of fees (usually ⅓ 30%)conditional upon winning (win a trial OR settlement) the case “no win = no fee”usually involves personal injury cases or medical malpractice (chargepercentage of any recovery)ie: class action lawsuits www.wrongfullyinjured.com(lawyers do well if they get a settlement)The Legal Method of Thinking1. Separate relevant from irrelevant make your statements concise and accurate2. Be prepared to vigorously justify your position with an arsenal of supportive (essential) dataand facts with prior case decisions (previous court cases)ie: going back to the past to provide support for the current situation3. Develop an ability to “think on your feet” (cases are volatile) sound reasonably intelligent whencaught off guardBusiness Law Course Tools1. Semantics: meaning of wordsprecision of expression is extremely important (exactly the right wording) BUT words meandifferent things (technical vs general meanings)judges/jury(non professional) interprets wordsie: “in” vs “on”in = sexual battery(rape/penetration) life in prisonon = molestation 15 years in prison maxCASE: Koikos case Kokios and plaintiff(s) vs Travelers Insurance “occurrence”BACKGROUND: Kokios is sued based on negligent failure to provide adequate securityarising from separate shootings of multiple victimsTravelers defined occurrence as: “an accident, including continuous or repeatedexposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions”PRECEDENT: Insurance vs World Trade Centeroccurrence= All losses or damages that are attributable directly or indirectly toone cause or to one series of similar causes. All such losses will be addedtogether and the total amount of such losses will be treated as one occurrenceirrespective of the period of time or area over which such losses occur.COMPLAINT: occurrence= each shot (kokios/plaintiff) vs whole incident (insurance)VERDICT: because the definition of occurrence was not precisely defined by TravelersInsurance, it was decided that each shot would be considered one occurrence(Travelers’ policy placed a cap on liability)2. Logic: extracting legal rules from past cases by inductive reasoning“what law permits vs what sound business practice dictates”Descendant:Lives in FLDies in GAOwns real estate in NCWhat laws come into play after death? State where a person lives applies, but whereproperty is owned apples to that propertyConflicts of Law: rules to deal with multiple statesSEE: Daddy’s Will A+B vs C+D signing of willBACKGROUND: Fathers will stated that ½ went to A ½ went to B and nothing to C+DCOMPLAINT: C+D sued A+B when their father signed his will as “Daddy”signature was defined as: any symbol adopted by a party to authenticate legaldocumentsLAW: C+D wanted to utilize Intestate Laws: laws applicable to those who die without avalid will (ie: (3) surviving children (without a surviving spouse) equally divide assetsVERDICT: A+B, C+D appealed. Went back and forth, eventually A+B won but had to pay$500,000 in lawyers fees3. Stare Decisis: the doctrine of precedent (what happened before) = let the decision standjudges rely on other cases that have already been decided (same or similar circumstances)benefit from the wisdom of previous judgesAdvantages: 1) Certainty in the law (same facts = same decision)2) Equality in the law (A > decision = B > same decision)3) Makes judicial decisions easier (regarding controversial cases)build on previous judges thoughts (research) leads to judicial efficiencyDisadvantages: stagnation in the law (there are situational/environmental differencesregarding time period)4. Common Sense: “the law is not an enemy of common sense”millions of laws exist so therefore we use common sense to predict laws that we don’t knowie: Noneconomic Damages in Pet LitigationFlorida laws on dogsCONFLICT: A’s dog bites B (in A’s home), who is responsible?VERDICT: A is responsible,except: when there is an intruder or the guest provokes when there is a child involved (guardian or homeowner)when there is a visible sign “Bad Dog” (except children < 6)UNIT TWO: COURTS AND DISPUTE RESOLUTIONTHE STRUCTURE OF THE FLORIDA JUDICIAL SYSTEM:TRIAL COURT:1. (67) County Courtat least one judge in each county (67 counties)judges preside individually<$15,000, misdemeanors2. (20) Circuit Court20 judges circuitsjudges preside individually>$15,000, feloniesif you lose your case in circuit court you have the right to appeal once to the next higher courtAPPELLANT COURT:3. (5) District Court of Appeals5 districts:1st Tallahassee (15)Pensacola Tallahassee Gainesvillecases are reviewed by three judge panels (make arguments before panel)4. (1) Supreme Court7 justices, 5 justices constitute quorumCATEGORIES OF THE LAW:1. Criminal: crimes committed against societyto protect society2. Civil: resolve disputes between people/personscan’t arrive at decision themselves, want a judge/jury to make a decision for them3. Substantive: what of the law, rules and regulations4. Procedural: how of the law, procedurescounty court cases > circuit court casesreal estate and mortgage foreclosure civil filings are significantly lower in 20102011 (economyand housing market is getting better)****JURISDICTION****: (where do you file your plea, power of court to hear a case)I. Subject Matter Jurisdiction (authority of a court to hear a case based on the subject matterof the lawsuit)A. Diversity Jurisdiction: when US (federal) district court has the power to hear a civilcase because the parties involved are from different areas (states/countries)1. Federal District Court hears case if: (a AND b)a. parties are from different statesb. involves damages > $75,000if < $75,000 goes to state court state of plaintiffs choiceB. Concurrent Jurisdiction: (when 2+
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