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ESSENTIALS OF THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT TODAY, 5E

ROGER LEROY MILLER

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C H A P T E R 1

BUSINESS AND THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT


LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. What are the four primary sources of law in the United States?

2. What is the common law tradition?3. What is a precedent? When might a court

depart from precedent?4. What is the difference between remedies

at law and remedies in equity?5. What are some important differences

between civil law and criminal law?


INTRODUCTION

• Law consists of enforceable rules governing relationships among individuals and between individuals and rest of their society.• Laws establish rights, duties, and privileges

consistent with the value system of a society or of its ruling group.


BUSINESS ACTIVITIES AND THELEGAL ENVIRONMENT

• Many Different Laws Affect a Single Business Transaction

• Linking Business Law to the Six Functional Fields of Business1. Corporate management2. Production and transportation3. Marketing4. Research and development5. Accounting and finance6. Human resource management


EXHIBIT 1.1


BUSINESS ACTIVITIES AND THE LEGAL ENVIRONMENT

• The Role of Law in a Small Business• The small business owner is the most

general of managers.• All of the different managerial roles of a

small business owner are linked to the law.


EXHIBIT 1.2


SOURCES OF AMERICAN LAW

• Constitutional Law• United States Constitution is the supreme

law of the land.• Also found in case decisions and text

arising from federal and state constitutions.


LO-1


• Statutory Law• Laws enacted by the United States

Congress and by state legislatures.• Local ordinances.• Uniform laws and codes, such as the

Uniform Commercial Code.



• Administrative Law• Federal or state agencies• Agency creation

• Administrative agencies can be independent regulatory agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration.

• Rulemaking• Rules, orders and decisions of administrative

agencies.



• Case Law and Common Law Doctrines• Case law - Rules and decisions made by

courts• Governs all areas of law not covered by

statutory or administrative law.


THE COMMON LAW TRADITION

• Early English Courts• King’s courts established the common law

– the body of general legal principles applied throughout England.

• King’s courts used precedent to build the common law.


LO-2


• Stare Decisis• Deciding new cases based on precedent.

A higher court, or an earlier decision by the same level court, is a precedent that has binding authority on the lower court.

• Departure from precedent only if good reason.

• What if there is no precedent?


LO-3


• Equitable Remedies and Courts of Equity• Remedy: Enforcing a right or

compensating for injury to that right.• Remedies in equity: Based on justice and

fair dealing, a chancery court, or court of equity, does what is right.

• Merging of law and equity• Most courts today can award remedies in law or equity.


LO-4

EXHIBIT 1.3



• Schools of Legal Thought• Jurisprudence: The science or philosophy

of law.• A judge’s philosophical approach to law

can determine how he or she will apply the law to a particular case.

• Natural law school• “Higher” law• System of moral and ethical principles• Dates back to Aristotle and the ancient Greeks• Natural rights



• Legal positivism• Positive law, written law of society at a particular time• There is no higher law than a nation’s positive law.• Whether law is “good” or “bad” is irrelevant.

• Historical school• Emphasizes the evolutionary process of law by

concentrating on the origin and history of legal systems.• The laws that have withstood the test of time are the best

laws.



• Legal realism• Law is just one of many institutions in society shaped by

social forces and needs.• Judges should take human and economic factors into

account when deciding cases.


CLASSIFICATIONS OF LAW

• Substantive law: Laws that define and regulate rights and duties.

• Procedural law: Laws that establish methods for enforcing and protecting rights.



• Civil Law and Criminal Law• Civil law: The branch of law dealing with

the definition and enforcement of all private or public rights, as opposed to criminal matters.

• Criminal law: The branch of law that defines and punishes wrongful actions committed against society.


LO-5


• National and International Law• National law: Law that pertains to a

particular nation.• International law: The body of written and

unwritten laws, and treaties, observed by nations when dealing with each other.


A P P E N D I X T O C H A P T E R 1

FINDING AND ANALYZING THE LAW


FINDING STATUTORY AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW


• United States Code• State Codes• Administrative Rules

FINDING CASE LAW

• State Court Decisions• Regional Reporters: published by West

Group• National Reporter System divides the

country into: Atlantic, North Eastern, North Western, Pacific, South Eastern, South Western, and Southern reporters.


EXHIBIT 1A.1


FINDING CASE LAW

• Federal Court Decisions• West’s Federal Supplement (F.Supp or

F.Supp.2d), United States Reports (U.S.) and West’s Reporter (S.Ct.)

• Unpublished Opinions• Old Case Law


EXHIBIT 1A.2


Exhibit 1A.2 (cont’d)


Exhibit 1a.2 (cont’d)


READING AND UNDERSTANDING CASE LAW

• Case Titles and Terminology• Legal cases are identified by a “legal

citation” (or a “cite”) as the example below:

United States v. Jones, 132 S. Ct. 945 (2012).


Title: First part is Plaintiff, second part is Defendant. The parties are either italicized or underlined.

READING AND UNDERSTANDING CASE LAW

Example continued:

United States v. Jones, 132 S. Ct. 945 (2012).


Case can be found in the Supreme Court Reports published by West, Volume 132, page

945, decided 2012.

EXHIBIT 1A.3






