Chapter%201%20The%20Legal%20Environment

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Chapter 1The Legal Environment
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Learning Objectives

• What is the Uniform Commercial Code?
• What is the common law tradition?
• What is a precedent? When might a court depart
  from precedent?
• What is the difference between remedies at law
  and remedies in equity?
• What are some of the important differences
  between criminal law and civil law?

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The Nature of Law

• The Natural Law Tradition
• Oldest and most significant view of law.
• Government and legal system should reflect
  universal moral and ethical principles.
• These principles are inherent in human nature.
• They can be discovered through right reason.
• Basis for natural rights.

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Nature of Law

• Legal Positivism (or Positive Law)
• Applies only to citizens of that nation or
  society.
• No higher law than the nations highest governing
  body or court.
• Laws must be obeyed regardless of whether they
  are just or unjust.
• No view of natural rights.
• Morality of a law is irrelevant.

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Nature of Law

• The Historical School
• Emphasizes the evolutionary process of law.
• Concentrates on the origin and history of legal
  system.
• Looks to the past to determine laws for present.
• Law derives legitimacy from precedent.

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Nature of Law

• Legal Realism
• View of law started in 1920s.
• Law must be viewed within the social context.
• Judges should take economic and social realities
  into account.
• Sociological jurisprudence tends to be
  activistic, e.g., civil rights decisions.
• Do not feel bound by past decisions.

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Business Activities and the Legal Environment

• Knowledge of black letter law is not enough.
• Many different laws affect a single business
  transaction.
• Ethics and business decision making.
• Ethics what constitutes right or wrong behavior.

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Sources of American Law

• Constitutional Law
• Found in text and cases arising from federal and
  state constitutions.
• U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
• Statutory Law
• Laws enacted by federal and state legislatures.
• Local ordinances.
• Uniform Laws (e.g.,Uniform Commercial Code).

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Sources of American Law

• Administrative Law
• Rulemaking--Rules, orders and decisions of
  administrative agencies, federal, state and
  local.
• Administrative agencies can be independent
  regulatory agency such as the Food and Drug
  Administration.
• Adjudication--agencies make rules, then
  investigate and enforce the rules in
  administrative hearings.

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The Common Law Tradition

• Early English Courts of Law
• Kings courts started after Norman conquest of
  1066.
• Established the common lawbody of general legal
  principles applied throughout the English empire.
  
• Kings courts used precedent to build the common
  law.

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The Common Law Tradition

• Stare Decisis
• Practice of deciding new cases based on
  precedent.
• A higher courts decision based on certain facts
  and law, is a binding authority on lower courts.
• Helps courts stay efficient.

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The Common Law Tradition

• Remedies Law vs. Equity
• Remedy means to enforce a right or compensate
  for injury to that right.
• Remedy at Law in kings courts, remedies were
  restricted to damages in either money or
  property.
• Equitable Remedy based on justice and fair
  dealing a chancery court does what is right.
• Today, legal and equitable remedies are found in
  the same court.

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Sources of American Law

• Case Law and Common Law Doctrines
• Much of the common law is still used today.
• Common law governs all areas not specifically
  covered by statutory or constitutional law.
• Restatements of the Law modern compilations of
  common law principles found, e.g., in contracts,
  torts, property and agency.

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Classifications of Law

• Substantive vs. Procedural Law
• Substantive laws that define and regulate rights
  and duties.
• Procedural laws that establish methods for
  enforcing and protecting rights.
• Civil Law and Criminal Law
• Civil private rights and duties between persons
  and government.
• Criminal public wrongs against society.

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Classifications of Law

• National and International Law
• National laws of a particular nation.
• Civil vs. Common Law Civil law countries based
  on Roman code (e.g., Latin America).
• International body of written and unwritten laws
  observed by nations when dealing with each other.
  
• Cyberlaw governs internet transactions.

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Appendix

• Finding Statutory Law.
• United States Code (USC).
• State Statutes.
• Finding Administrative Law.
• Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
• Finding Case Law (Case Citations).
• Supreme Court Cases at Findlaw.com.
• Federal Court Cases at Findlaw.com.
• State Court Cases at Findlaw.com.

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Appendix

• Reading Understanding Case Law
• Legal cases are identified by a legal citation
  (or a cite) as the example below
• EMG Recordings, Inc. v. Sinnot, 300 F. Supp.2d
  993 (E.D. Ca. 2004).

Title First Party is Plaintiff, second party is
Defendant. The parties are either italicized or
underlined.
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Appendix

• Reading Understanding Case Law
• Legal cases are identified by a legal citation
  (or a cite) as the example below
• EMG Recordings, Inc. v. Sinnot, 300 F. Supp.2d
  993 (E.D. Ca. 2004).

This is a federal court case from the Eastern
District of California, found in Volume 300,
Page 993 of the Federal Supplement 2d. This case
was decided in 2004.