Legal environment of business Week 1 Ohio is one of only a few states where judges are elected Judges assume their position by appointment by government Magistrates do not run for election are appointed by judges about 800 judges 800 magistrates o Magistrates have the same power as judges o Both make sure court proceeding is done in a fair process make sure only reliable and creditable and fair information is used at the trial may be some information that is true but is not presented or done correctly Plaintiff party that begins litigation Defendant party that is opposing the plaintiff o Both will typically have lawyers o Lawyers much have a degree 4 years then 3 4 more years at law school then a 3 day bar exam then you may practice law in that state o Lawyers sometimes represent people who have done horrible things but must represent them zealously o Everyone has a part to play in litigation Common press does not usually tell the whole story Legal system is complicated and imperfect but it makes sure that there are as few errors as possible and when there is a mistake there is a process to correct Back in 1776 the entire world was run by dictators or monarchs only the white man who owned property had any rights Declaration of Independence all people are created equal and have a right to the pursuit of happiness John Huntington first real president Week 3 missed week 2 due to holiday When a case is written they are the actual words of the court usually pages are 75 100 pages long generally we have judges that have different beliefs and very seldom is there a unanimous vote generally majority decision 5 or more supreme justices Concurring judge or judges that wrote decision approve of the majority decision but have a different thought process on result Dissent the losing side sometimes there is a losing side that has argument with the case sometimes these become majority opinions Law how important it is for our country what makes our country so envied is our law system even though we have two parties that are bickering but our legal system has a stability that businesses has confidence in our system and have a good idea as to what their rights and responsibility Other countries do not have confidence in other law systems and would rather go to the US We have the constitution most supreme law of the land then there are codes or statutes of legislation that describe what our rights and responsibilities are and the court system interprets these legislations Common law case law Precedent by the judiciary interpreting legislation there is a predictability about the outcomes of litigation and once a trial is complete in the future similar matters applies the law in a similar fashion case in book Cannot restrict businesses to donate to political campaign people can donate to campaign but corporations cannot supreme court agreed it was violation to freedom of speech and passed a law to allow corporations to donate Judiciary interprets law and with precedent people can plan their lives based on responsibilities and Stare Ecesis let the prior decision stand precedent rule of law is not static Precedent changes sometimes 2 types of laws o Criminal law put people in jail protect the people provide structure tells us what we can and cannot do we are all presumed to know that law trying to provide some order from chaos why we ve organized as a society so there is some safety and predictability in our life when you don t comply to rules there are consequences govt has set up code of conduct and we are caught there are court proceding then the govt can impose sanctions depend on the severity of misconduct Criminal justice system does not compensate it s to punish the defendant by removal or execution Misdemeanor criminal act that the penalty is less than 1 year in jail Jail is managed by state govts county by county o Minor parking ticket or speeding only sanction is money o 4th degree 30 days in jail o 3rd degree o 2nd degree o 1st degree 1000 fine 6 months in jail Felony typically more than 1 year in state prison o Some felons do time in county jails now o Previous degrees o 1st degree request the defendant executed 2 trail trial to see if guilty then another to see if they should be executed o Criminal cases are a tear of govt vs a person o Civil law most litigation about money Contracts each party has rights and responsibilities and if they fail to comply with the contract the matter can end up in litigation vs criminal law is when punishment is issued civil law deals with payments of opposition Torts personal injury traffic accident Due process Property rights discovery or something song writing What amount of money will compensate the other person for that matter what would that person have achieved economically had that event not occurred Killed in car accident putting value on life age younger more valuable how much education how much money would you make Paralyzed medical care costs Breach of contract value of song that was stolen o Overlap in both criminal and civil cases sometimes In civil court system the amount of evidence is a little more that 50 Criminal case is high 90 s beyond a reasonable doubt to be convicted More than one law suit for loss of life in car accidents OJ Simpson tried for murder of 2 people found not guilty of criminal charges but found liable in civil case 35 million case against him o Substantive the law itself must be fair mostly with criminal system because it is written and we all have the ability to access the laws we know what we can and cannot do Lady had 1 sheep in Kent they are very social so it was very loud made neighbors mad and they called police received criminal citation charged under barking dog ordinance sheep wasn t a dog lady won because it wasn t under the barking dog ordinance If law doesn t prohibit something you can do it o Procedural that process that govt deals with defendant has to be fair anytime the govt is a party to litigation or if it is deciding a case any litigation then the process has to be fair individual must be told what the govt is trying to accomplish and the person has the right of participation where they can bring their own information to support their side Requirement of notification has to give person date time and place when the decision is going to be made For much of history govt made decisions on ppls rights without people even knowing or being there Whoever is making the decision the maker must be neutral due to
View Full Document
Unlocking...