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Business and the Legal Environment

Table of Contents

• About the Authors

• Acknowledgments

• Preface

• Chapter 1: Introduction to Law and Legal Systems

  • Chapter Introduction
  • What Is Law?
  • Schools of Legal Thought
  • Basic Concepts and Categories of US Positive Law
  • Sources of Law and Their Priority
  • Legal and Political Systems of the World
  • A Sample Case
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 2: Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics

  • Chapter Introduction
  • What Is Ethics?
  • Major Ethical Perspectives
  • An Ethical Decision Model
  • Corporations and Corporate Governance
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 3: Courts and the Legal Process

  • Chapter Introduction
  • The Relationship between State and Federal Court Systems in the United States
  • The Problem of Jurisdiction
  • Motions and Discovery
  • The Pretrial and Trial Phase
  • Judgment, Appeal, and Execution
  • When Can Someone Bring a Lawsuit?
  • Relations with Lawyers
  • Alternative Means of Resolving Disputes
  • Cases

• Chapter 4: Constitutional Law and US Commerce

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Basic Aspects of the US Constitution
  • The Commerce Clause
  • Dormant Commerce Clause
  • Preemption: The Supremacy Clause
  • Business and the Bill of Rights
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 5: Administrative Law

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Administrative Agencies: Their Structure and Powers
  • Controlling Administrative Agencies
  • The Administrative Procedure Act
  • Administrative Burdens on Business Operations
  • The Scope of Judicial Review
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 6: Criminal Law

  • Chapter Introduction
  • The Nature of Criminal Law
  • Types of Crimes
  • The Nature of a Criminal Act
  • Responsibility
  • Procedure
  • Constitutional Rights of the Accused
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 7: Introduction to Tort Law

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Purpose of Tort Laws
  • Intentional Torts
  • Negligence
  • Strict Liability
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 8: Contracts

  • Chapter Introduction
  • General Perspectives on Contracts
  • Contract Formation
  • Remedies
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 9: Products Liability

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Introduction: Why Products-Liability Law Is Important
  • Warranties
  • Negligence
  • Strict Liability in Tort
  • Tort Reform
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 10: Consumer Credit Transactions

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Entering into a Credit Transaction
  • Consumer Protection Laws and Debt Collection Practices
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 11: Secured Transactions and Suretyship

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Introduction to Secured Transactions
  • Priorities
  • Rights of Creditor on Default and Disposition after Repossession
  • Suretyship
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 12: Mortgages and Nonconsensual Liens

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Uses, History, and Creation of Mortgages
  • Priority, Termination of the Mortgage, and Other Methods of Using Real Estate as Security
  • Nonconsensual Lien
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 13: Bankruptcy

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Introduction to Bankruptcy and Overview of the 2005 Bankruptcy Act
  • Case Administration; Creditors’ Claims; Debtors’ Exemptions and Dischargeable Debts; Debtor’s Estate
  • Chapter 7 Liquidation
  • Chapter 11 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcies
  • Alternatives to Bankruptcy
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 14: Relationships between Principal and Agent

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Introduction to Agency and the Types of Agents
  • Duties between Agent and Principal
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 15: Liability of Principal and Agent; Termination of Agency

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Principal’s Contract Liability
  • Principal’s Tort and Criminal Liability
  • Agent’s Personal Liability for Torts and Contracts; Termination of Agency
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 16: Employment Law

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Federal Employment Discrimination Laws
  • Employment at Will
  • Other Employment-Related Laws
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 17: Labor-Management Relations

  • Chapter Introduction
  • A Brief History of Labor Legislation
  • The National Labor Relations Board: Organization and Functions
  • Labor and Management Rights under the Federal Labor Laws
  • Case
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 18: Partnerships: General Characteristics and Formation

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Introduction to Partnerships and Entity Theory
  • Partnership Formation
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 19: Partnership Operation and Termination

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Operation: Relations among Partners
  • Operation: The Partnership and Third Parties
  • Dissolution and Winding Up
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 20: Hybrid Business Forms

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Limited Partnerships
  • Limited Liability Companies
  • Other Forms
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 21: Corporation: General Characteristics and Formation

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Historical Background
  • Partnerships versus Corporations
  • The Corporate Veil: The Corporation as a Legal Entity
  • Classifications of Corporations
  • Corporate Organization
  • Effect of Organization
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 22: Legal Aspects of Corporate Finance

  • Chapter Introduction
  • General Sources of Corporate Funds
  • Bonds
  • Types of Stock
  • Initial Public Offerings and Consideration for Stock
  • Dividends
  • The Winds of Change
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 23: Corporate Powers and Management

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Powers of a Corporation
  • Rights of Shareholders
  • Duties and Powers of Directors and Officers
  • Liability of Directors and Officers
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 24: Securities Regulation

  • Chapter Introduction
  • The Nature of Securities Regulation
  • Liability under Securities Law
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 25: Corporate Expansion, State and Federal Regulation of Foreign Corporations, and Corporate Dissolution

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Corporate Expansion
  • Foreign Corporations
  • Dissolution
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 26: Antitrust Law

  • Chapter Introduction
  • History and Basic Framework of Antitrust Laws in the United States
  • Horizontal Restraints of Trade
  • Vertical Restraints of Trade
  • Price Discrimination: The Robinson-Patman Act
  • Exemptions
  • Sherman Act, Section 2: Concentrations of Market Power
  • Acquisitions and Mergers under Section 7 of the Clayton Act
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 27: Unfair Trade Practices and the Federal Trade Commission

  • Chapter Introduction
  • The Federal Trade Commission: Powers and Law Governing Deceptive Acts
  • Deceptive Acts and Practices
  • Unfair Trade Practices
  • Remedies
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 28: The Nature and Regulation of Real Estate and the Environment

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Estates
  • Rights Incident to Possession and Ownership of Real Estate
  • Easements: Rights in the Lands of Others
  • Regulation of Land Use
  • Environmental Law
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 29: Introduction to Property: Personal Property and Fixtures

  • Chapter Introduction
  • The General Nature of Property Rights
  • Personal Property
  • Fixtures
  • Case
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 30: Intellectual Property

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Patents
  • Trade Secrets
  • Copyright
  • Trademarks
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 31: The Transfer of Real Estate by Sale

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Forms of Ownership
  • Brokers, Contracts, Proof of Title, and Closing
  • Adverse Possession
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 32: Landlord and Tenant Law

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Types and Creation of Leasehold Estates
  • Rights and Duties of Landlords and Tenants
  • Transfer of Landlord’s or Tenant’s Interest
  • Landlord’s Tort Liability
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises

• Chapter 33: International Law

  • Chapter Introduction
  • Introduction to International Law
  • Sources and Practice of International Law
  • Important Doctrines of Nation-State Judicial Decisions
  • Regulating Trade
  • Cases
  • Summary and Exercises