LEB320F 1st Edition Exam 1 Study Guid e Chapter 1 Nature and sources of law Law and business strategy o Business law ethics more important than ever o Legal environment of business must be considered legal and regulatory factored into strategic plans o Strategic manager realizes money spent to ensure the company is complying with the law is not only the ethical thing to do but also a strategic necessity o Federal state and local governments make policy decisions on matters of taxation regulation licensing that can make break industry sectors and influence which companies succeed fail o Judicial decisions have a huge impact on companies o Law as a competitive advantage Law as a subject of study What is the law o General purpose of law ensuring the orderliness to all human activities o There is still no definition of law that has universal approval o Law is very broad o Primary secondary sources of law Primary sources contain legally binding rules and procedures Include federal state constitutions statutes legislative enactments administrative agency regulations court decisions federal treaties ordinances Secondary sources summarize and explain the law and sometimes criticize and suggest changes in it Not legally binding used as aids in determining what the law is or should be Include research articles in academic legal periodicals restatements summaries of and commentary on specific subject areas by experts legal texts encyclopedias etc Rules processes 2 major approaches to teaching and study of law o 1 Rule oriented approach views law as consisting of the rules that are in efect within a state or nation at a given time Law is the body of principles standards and rules that the courts apply in the decision of controversies brought before them o 2 Process oriented approach sees the law in a broader light the processes by which the rules and principles are formulated rather than rules and principles themselves constitute the major element of law Law is a dynamic process a system of regularized institutional procedures for the orderly decision of social questions including the settlement of disputes Requisites of a legal system o For a legal system to function properly it must command the respect of the great majority of people governed by it o Legal rules must be relatively certain relatively flexible known or knowable and apparently reasonable Certainty One essential element of a stable society is reasonable certainty about its laws over long periods of time Courts generally reluctant to overturn principles that have been part of the law for any appreciable length of time The law is not static but most changes result from a series of modifications of existing principles Flexibility Societal changes occur rapidly each change presents new legal problems that must be resolved without undue delay Some problems are the result of scientific technological advances Other problems result from changing methods of doing business or shifting attitudes moral views Many problems can be settled through the judicial process by one party instituting legal action against another and the duty to arrive at a final solution falls on the courts Knowability The great majority of citizens are going to obey its laws voluntarily and obedience requires some knowledge of the rules or reasonable means of acquiring this knowledge Reasonableness Rules have to appear reasonable to the great majority of people if they are going to be obeyed for long Prohibition amendment classic example of rule lacking widespread acceptance Requirement that rules reflect and adapt to changing views of morality justice Some classifications of law o On basis of subject matter to which it relates Subjects of importance administrative law agency law commercial paper constitutional law contracts corporate law criminal law domestic relations evidence partnerships intellectual property personal property real property sales taxation torts wills and estates o Federal and state law o o o o o o On basis of the governmental unit from which it arises Great bulk of our law is state local law Common Case Judge made Unwritten Law all the rules and principles currently existing in any state regardless of their historical origin that result from judicial decisions in those areas of law where legislatures have not enacted comprehensive statutes English Common Law legal system that prevails in countries having had an early English presence Louisiana Contracts torts agency dominated by common law rules Statutory written law refer to the state and federal statutes in efect at a given time rules formally adopted by legislative bodies Comprised of state federal constitutions municipal ordinances treaties Precise meaning subject to interpretation by courts Corporation law criminal law tax law primarily statutory Civil law laws that spell out the rights and duties existing among individuals business firms and sometimes government agencies Most controversies are civil acts actions in which parties bringing the suits plaintifs are seeking to enforce private obligations or duties against other parties defendants Plaintif usually seeks damages a sum of money roughly equivalent to the loss he she has sufered as a result of the defendant s wrong Injunction a court degree ordering the defendant to do not do something Criminal Law comprises those statutes by which a state or the federal government prohibits specified kinds of conduct and impose fines or imprisonment on persons convicted of violating them Criminal suits always brought by the government whose law has been violated Necessary that the government s case be proved beyond a reasonable doubt Crimes are either felonies or misdemeanors depending on severity of the penalty that the statute prescribes Felony crime for which legislature has provided maximum penalty of either imprisonment for more than one year or death Misdemeanors crimes carrying lesser penalties traffic ofenses Some wrongful acts subject to both criminal and civil penalties Public or private law Public law when an area of law directly concerned with the government individual relationship criminal constitutional administrative law Private law when an area of law concerned with the creation and enforcement of the rights of one individual against another Many areas of law that are mixed public private nature Law justice morals o Close relationship between law and justice o Most results are just fair and reasonable o However occasionally