Chapter 1 Sources of Business Law and the Global Legal Environment

1. Chapter 1Sources of Business Law and the Global Legal Environment

2. The Nature of Law • Aristotle: “citizens of a state will do justice to one another.” • Plato: law is a form of social control. • Blackstone: “rule of civil conduct prescribed by state.”

3. The Common Law Tradition • Early English Courts of Law • Stare Decisis: “stand on decided cases.” • Departures From Precedent. Brown v. Board of Education (1954). • When There is No Precedent: use persuasive authorities.

4. Equitable Remedies and Courts of Equity • Legal Remedy: means to compensate plaintiff for violation of a right. • Equitable Remedy: based on equity and fair dealing. • Today: merger of law and equity.

5. Sources of American Law • Constitutional Law • Statutory Law • Federal Statutes • State and Local Statutes • Uniform Laws • Uniform Commercial Code

6. Administrative Law • Administrative law: the rules, orders and decisions of administrative agencies. • Types of Agencies • Executive Agencies • Independent Regulatory Agencies

7. Case Law and Common Law Doctrines • Common Law: doctrines and principles of case law not covered by statutory law. • Relationship Between Common Law and Statutory Law. • Restatements of the Law.

8. Classifications of Law • Substantive Law: laws dealing with rights and duties. • Procedural Law: methods of enforcing rights. • Civil vs. Criminal Law. • Civil: private injury • Criminal: injury against society.

9. Classifications of Law • National Law: varies from country to country. • International Law: • Written and unwritten laws • Treaties • International Organizations

10. The Constitution • The Commerce Clause • Breadth of the Commerce Clause • Case 1.1 Heart of Atlanta Motel vs. United States (1964). • State Regulatory Powers • Case 1.2 Goodenow v. City Council of Maquoketa (1998).

11. The Constitution • First Amendment-Freedom of Speech • Symbolic Speech • Corporate Political Speech • Commercial Speech-Advertising • Case 1.3 Bad Frog v. NY State Liquor Auth. (1998). • Unprotected Speech

12. The Constitution • First Amendment-Freedom of Religion • Due Process • Procedural Due Process • Substantive Due Process

13. Reading and Analyzing Case Law • Finding Statutory and Administrative Law • Finding Case Law • Federal Court Decisions • State Court Decisions • Unpublished Opinions

14. Reading & Understanding Case Law Legal cases are identified by a legal citation (or a “cite”) as the example below: Bragdon v. Abbott, 524 U.S. 624 (1998).