BLAW2200 8:20:18 - Lecture notes 1-3 PDF

Preview

Summary

These are handwritten lecture notes from the time I started this class until I ended. I made A's on all my exams. Professor Dutcher is the professor for this course. It met three times a week and covered the basic principles of business law....

Description

BLAW2200 August 20, 2018 Ch.1- An Introduction to the Fundamentals of Dynamic Business Law  Business law: enforceable rules of conduct that govern commercial relationships o Govern commercial relationships specifically o Rules that govern certain types of relationships o Business-related  Law: set of rules that govern behavior in society  Functional Areas of Business Affected by Business Law: o Corporate management o Production and transportation o Marketing o Research and development o Accounting and finance o Human resource management  Purpose of Law: o Providing order and predictability: business law o Serving as an alternative to altercation o Facilitating a sense that change is possible o Encouraging social justice  Valuing human rights, solidarity among people o Guaranteeing personal freedoms o Serving as a moral guide  Classification of Law o Private law: involves disputes between private individuals or groups  Contracts, can write it yourself o Public law: involves disputes between private individuals or groups and their government  Mostly talk about in class  Government laws affect us all o Civil law: involves rights and responsibilities involved in relationships between persons and between persons and their government  Most civil law is private law o Criminal law: involves incidents in which someone commits an act against the public as a whole  Sources of Business Law: Hierarchy of Authority o Constitutions  Fundamental rules that govern a people o Statues  Rules given by legislatures  Federal- US Congress  State- Senate and House  Broad rules of law

o Cases/Common Law  Legal interpretations of law by judges  Most important bc of interpretation  Courts interpret the laws for our daily lives  Precedent: doctrine that judges must follow; follow previous cases that are similar to their own  Stare decisis: to stand on decided cases  Predictability, stability o Administrative Law  Rules by agencies that are more specific  Independent agencies: act independently from the current presidency  Do things more on their own  Executive: work together with the current presidency  More politicized o Treaties  Binding agreement between nations or international organizations  Contracts- of an international nature; federal only  Treaty must be approved by US Senate o Executive Orders  Directive from an executive leader to their branch to act in a certain way  Can happen at State level 8/22/18  Schools of Legal Interpretation o Natural law  Certain laws are morally right and therefore above other laws o Legal positivism  Despite my belief, I will obey current laws o Identification with the vulnerable  Emphasizes fairness in the law o Historical school: Tradition  Emphasizes traditional laws are the best laws o Legal realism  Considers current context when deciding or making laws o Cost-benefit analysis  Places value on 2 options in the law, whichever costs the least will win 8/27/18  Types of Jurisdiction o Original jurisdiction: the power to hear and decide cases when they first enter the legal system  Trial o Appellate jurisdiction: the power to review previous judicial decisions to determine whether trial courts erred their decision  Supreme  Appeals











o Inpersonam jurisdiction: the power to render a decision affecting the rights of the specific persons before the court  Plaintiff: file lawsuit  Defendant: service of process (notifies defendant there is a lawsuit against you)  Geographic limit: the court has power over people who live or reside in their geographic area  Long-arm statues: court can bring in non-residents and have minimum contacts within the state o Subject-matter jurisdiction: the power to hear certain kinds of cases  Concurrent Federal and State Jurisdiction  Federal question cases  Diversity of citizenship cases o Parties to the case are from different states  Corporations: incorporated or principle place/headquarters  $75,000+ o 13 circuit courts o Supreme court justices are appointed for life  Takes out political influence State Courts o State supreme courts o Intermediate courts of appeal o State trial courts The Federal Court System o The United States Supreme Court o Intermediate Courts of Appeal o Federal Trial Courts (US District Courts) Threshold Requirements for Litigation o Standing (to sue)  Actual/imminent injury in fact  Injury traceable to actions of defendant  Injury redressed by favorable decision o Case or Controversy (Justifiable Controversy)  Adverse relationship between plaintiff and defendant  Actions of one party give rise to legal dispute  Court decision able to resolve dispute o Ripeness  Decision able to affect parties immediately Jurisdiction vs Venue o Jurisdiction: the power of a court to hear a case o Venue: the most appropriate geographical location where a case should be heard. It is usually where the parties reside or where the case allegedly arouse  Where the harm occurred Steps in Civil Litigation: The Pretrial Stage





o Informal negotiations o Pleadings  Documents that begin the lawsuit  The complaint  The summons o Service of Process  Where personal jurisdiction attaches to the defendant  Summons tells him how and when to respond  Complaint tells what it is about o Defendant’s Response  Answer: responds to what the plaintiff said o Pretrial Motions  Motion: Request to the court to do something  Motion for judgement on the pleadings  Claims there are no factual issues between parties  Asks for a decision in the case  Filed after the pleadings  Motion for summary judgement  The defendant has no response  After discovery o Discovery  Occurs after the pleadings have been filed  The exchange of relevant documents and evidence by the parties  Interrogatories, requests to produce documents, depositions and requests for admissions of facts o Pretrial Conference  Meet judge in person to discuss the case Steps in Civil Litigation: the Trial o Jury selection o Opening statements o Examination of witness and presentation of evidence  Direct: Plaintiff questions plaintiff witness; defendant questions defendant witness  Cross: Defendant questions Plaintiff witness; Plaintiff questions defendant witness o Closing arguments o Jury instructions Pre-trial and Post-trial Motions o Post-trial:  Motion for judgement in accordance with verdict  Motion for judgement notwithstanding of verdict (judgement n.o.v.) called a motion for judgement as a matter of law in federal court  Requests the judge to reverse verdict based of jury decision  Motion for a new trial  Where there was an issue with the jury verdict  Or issue with the judge



Could hurt the truth of the trial

8/29/18 







Appeal: a prejudicial error of law must exist for an appeal to succeed o Appeals are only on the record. No additional evidence can be considered by the appellate court o For most cases, only one appeal to an intermediate court of appeal is allowed Appellate Court Decision-Making Powers o Affirmation  Trial court: we agree with you, decision stays o Modification  Trial court: we agree with you, except one thing we need to change (agreement is with the outcome of the case; might change amount of damages) o Reversal  Trial court: you got it wrong, here is the right decision  New decision is the new result of the case o Remand  Questions of fact and appeals court disagrees  Trial court: do it again, brand new trial and jury Appeal to the US Supreme Court o The US Supreme Court hears very few cases o At least four justices must agree to grant a Writ of Certiorari for the Court to hear a case  Write of Cert: your permission slip to go to the US Supreme Court and let them hear your case  US Constitution  Split in the Circuit courts Alternative Dispute Resolution o The resolution of legal disputes through methods other than litigation, such as negotiation, meditation, arbitration, summary jury trials, mini-trials, neutral case evaluations, and private trials o Any way of resolving a legal dispute outside the court o Reason a business may prefer ADR:  ADR methods are generally faster and less expensive than litigation  Business may wish to avoid uncertainty associated with a jury decision  Business may wish to avoid setting precedent through court decision  Business may prefer confidential nature of ADR  Confidential dispute resolutions  Most court cases are open record  Compared to litigation, ADR might better allow parties to preserve business relationship o Primary Forms of ADR  Negotiation  Informal discussion about the issue trying to come to a result  Trying to work things out





 Contract law- creating the contract Mediation  Involve a third-party expert  Mediator  Advantages: o Provide a suggested result- up to the parties to decide. Parties remain in control o Creative solutions to dispute  Disadvantages: o Appears to be an equal process and solution, thereby hiding power imbalances that would lead to the party with greater power securing an agreement of greater benefit o Some enter mediation with no intention of finding a solution, and use meditation as a delay tactic Arbitration  Involve a third-party expert  Called the Arbitrator- most arbitration is binding to the arbitrators decision o Gives you an order of what is going to happen  Advantages: o Quick and cheap o Parties have more control over the situation rather than going to court: can pick who they want their arbitrator to be and determine how formal the process will be o Arbitrator has greater flexibility in decision-making  Disadvantages: o When you have a binding arbitration result, you are done o Loss of civil rights and remedies available through litigation  There are no rules in arbitration  Could be bias in situations o Companies may try to hide their dirty laundry in arbitration  Binding Arbitration Clause: o Clause: part of a contract o You agree (both parties) not to settle legal disputes in court, but instead decide to use binding arbitration o Tips for creating a Binding Arbitration Clause:  Pick what you want to arbitrate  Make the clause bilateral  Both sides have to use arbitration  Talk about the fees: who is going to pay for them? Are there other costs associated?  Who is going to be the arbitrator?  What rules and procedures will you follow?  Where and how will the arbitration occur?



Other ADR Methods: o Mediation-Arbitration (“Med-Arb”)  Agreeing to try mediation, then agree to go directly to arbitration with a binding result  You know you will have a solution o Summary Jury Trial  Pretend jury trial- no binding result  Initiated by jury or law firm  Makes you decide how you want to proceed  Gives you perspective of 12 random people o Mini-Trial  Pretend judge  “If you were a judge in this case, what would you do?”  Gives you perspective of a judge o Early Neutral Case Evaluation  Look to an expert- in the area where there is a legal issue o Private Trials  Newest form of ADR- controversial  Pay a retired judge to make a binding decision in your case  Expense- limited to only those with a legal dispute (businesses)  Could become biased- favorable to one party  “Rent a Judge”

9/5/18  Business Ethics and Social Responsibility o Ethics: the study and practice of decisions about what is good or right o Business ethics: the application of ethics to the problems and opportunities experienced by business people o Ethical Dilemma: a problem about what a firm should do for which no clear, right decision is available  Minimum standard of ethics: act legally o Social responsibility of business: expectations that the community imposes on firms doing business inside its borders  Values are positive ideas that capture our sense of what is good. They underline conversations about business ethics. We derive our ethics from the interplay of values. Values represent our understanding of the purposes we will fulfill by making particular decisions.  Primary values and business ethics: o Freedom o Security o Justice o Efficiency











Primary Values and Business Ethics: Freedom o To act without restriction from rules imposed by others o To possess the capacity or resources to act as one wishes o To escape the cares and demands of this world entirely Primary Values and Business Ethics: Security o To possess a large enough supply of goods and services to meet basic needs o To be safe from those wishing to interfere with your property rights o To achieve the psychological condition of self-confidence that risks are welcome Primary Values and Business Ethics: Justice (Fairness) o To receive the products of your labor o To treat all humans identically, regardless of race, class, gender, age, and sexual preference o To provide resources in proportion to need o To possess anything that someone else is willing to grant you Primary Values and Business Ethics: Efficiency (Profit) o Maximize the amount of wealth in society o To get most from a particular output o To minimize costs The “WH” Process of Ethical Decision-Making o Who are the stakeholders?  Who is affected by the decision  Stakeholders: anybody affected by a business decision  Customers  Owners or investors (shareholders)  Management  Employees  Community  Future generations o A manager needs to identify the stakeholders o How should the decision be made?  Public disclosure  TV test o Imagine that your decision has been broadcast on televisions across the world: would you be proud?   Universalization  Copy test o Ask: What if everybody in the world copied what I am about to do? Is that the world I want to live in?  Golden Rule  “Six Ways to Interpret the Golden Rule”  Respecting other people’s rights- other people’s rights matter too  Putting yourself in others shoes o A manager needs a doable set of guidelines on how to make an ethical decision...