A Frese BMGT380 Business Law Professor Mark Fall 2013 Exam 1 Ch 1 3 Chapter 1 The Nature of Law 7 Types of Law C S C AR AD T O E Come See Crazy Artists Run And Draw To Our Exhibits 1 Constitutional Law o US Constitution 50 states have individual constitutions o DC has charter o More info in Chap 3 2 Statutory Law o Statute a law created by individual states legislature or elected representatives in Congress Interpretation and application are often difficult o Uniform Acts model statutes drafted by private bodies of lawyers and scholars that often become actual statutes when they are adopted by state or federal legislatures Model statutes are suggested statutes Aim is to produce state by state uniformity to subjects they address 3 Common Law Law created by judges when a judge is trying to decide a case and cannot find any applicable laws AKA judge made law or case law o Can occur in state or federal court o Started in England developed from decisions of judges in settling disputes o Precedent decisions in similar earlier cases should control the outcome in subsequent similar cases Stare Decisis let the decision stand doctrine that formalized CL and precedent practice Flexible enough to adapt to changing social conditions o Restatements collections of CL rules in specific subjects of law Not actually law and don t bind courts Very persuasive to judges deciding cases b c written by scholars major lawyers and law professors so often adopted o CL applies when no applicable statute other type of law fills in legal gaps o CASE Felder vs Butler 4 Administrative Regulations and Agency Decisions o Administrative Regulations like statutes except not created by an elected body but from administrative groups i e SEC Dod Frank act o Agency Decisions decisions from administrative agencies Something issued by violating a regulation 5 Treaties made by president w foreign governments Supreme Law of Land o Requires 2 3 Senate approval 6 Ordinances enactments of counties and municipalities local level o I e zoning ordinance where certain properties can only be zoned residential 7 Executive Orders o Issued by US or individual state governments A Frese BMGT380 Business Law Professor Mark Fall 2013 Exam 1 Ch 1 3 o If issued by President it bypasses government no waiting for it to get approved etc Equity Can go to any type of court regardless of whether you are seeing money damages or an injunction Equity courts would hear cases that the CL courts could not resolve fairly New other solutions not available in Common Law courts equitable remedies o Injunction most important a court order forbidding a party to do some act or commanding him to perform some act o Specific Performance whereby a party is ordered to perform according to the terms of his her contract o Reformation In which the court rewrites the contract s terms to reflect the o Rescission a cancellation of a contract and a return of the parties to their parties real intentions pre contractual position Equity courts no longer really used just blended with CL courts Priority Rules Which law should the judge follow when there are two laws that conflict o I e constitution and state law may conflict 4 Priority Rules QUESTION ON EXAM o 1 Constitutions trump all other types of law Conflict between constitution and any other form of law judge must follow constitution Federal supremacy US Constitution federal laws enacted pursuant to it and treaties are the supreme law of the land o 2 Federal statutes trump conflicting state statutes Federal statutes State statutes o 3 Statutes trump both common law and administrative regulations Statutes CL and Admin Reg o 4 Administrative Regulations trump Common Law Admin Reg CL o Constitutions Federal statutes State statutes Administrative Regulations Common Law 3 Classifications of Law One type of law could be classified in all these ways 1 Criminal vs Civil o Criminal Law deals with prosecution by the state or federal government against someone or some organization for the commission of a crime Penalties imprisonment or fines o Civil Law deals w obligations that private parties owe each other Penalties money damages or equitable relief o Some behavior may violate both i e assault is crime and civilly suable 2 Substantive Law vs Procedural Law A Frese BMGT380 Business Law Professor Mark Fall 2013 Exam 1 Ch 1 3 o Substantive Law establishes rights and duties of people in society I e Making murder a crime o Procedural Law establishes procedures or rules of the game under which the courts enforce substantive law I e How to conduct a murder trial I e how long you can wait to sue someone time limits o Public Law relations between government and private parties Constitutional law criminal law administrative law o Private Law issues between private parties usually breach of contract Rules of contract property agency 3 Public vs Private SKIPPING JURORS PRUDENCE in book NOT ON EXAM 6 Functions of Law p 11 What is the law designed to do Nowadays more flexible and adaptable to social change o Strength willingness to adapt to further social good o Weakness legal instability and uncertainty the adaptations may produce These functions may conflict i e economic growth vs environment 1 Peacekeeping o Criminal law resolution of private disputes 2 Controlling Checking Government Power Promoting Personal Freedom o I e protection against government incarcerating you w o a trial 3 Planning Promoting People s Reasonable Expectations o I e contract law people have reasonable expectation that both parties will fulfill portion of contract or else other person can sue 4 Promoting Economic Growth through Free Competition o I e antitrust laws 5 Promoting Social Justice o Employer employee law o I e unpaid internships 6 Protecting the Environment environmental law Legal Reasoning deductive legal rule is major premise facts are minor premise result combines the two 2 major types 1 Case Law Reasoning Deals w situation where there is nothing in the constitutions or previous statutes that relate to the case so judge decides law as going along o Essentially Common Law Reasoning o Precedents are the key Based on concept of Stare Decisis like cases should be decided alike Judge not required to follow if he can find distinguishing differences o CASE Soldano vs O Daniels 2 Statutory Interpretation how judge should interpret ambiguous statutes A Frese BMGT380 Business Law Professor Mark Fall 2013 Exam 1 Ch 1 3 o A lot of statutes are ambiguous and for
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