Legal Environment of Business Exam 1 – Flashcards
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Sources of law
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Primary: sources that establish the law (Constitution, court cases) Secondary: summarize primary law
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Supremacy clause
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The federal law will always trump state law if there is conflict
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Brown vs. Board of Education
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Separate is inherently not equal "All deliberate speed" was too vague
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Due process
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Procedural: government decision to take life, liberty or property must be made fairly. Substantive: Protects life, liberty, and property against certain actions regardless of procedural fairness.
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Equal protection
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People must be similarly treated by the government.
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Commerce clause
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National government regulates interstate commerce (Gibbons v. Ogden)
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Heart of Atlanta Motel v. US
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Made Civil Rights Act constitutional because hotels are considered part of interstate commerce.
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Dormant commerce clause
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States are not allowed to regulate interstate commerce because the federal government already does
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Judicial Review
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Marbury v. Madison made courts able to use judicial review
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Common law
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Derived from English law, a body of rules that apply to the whole realm of a country
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Civil law
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Roman tradition of codifying law by laying out every possible issue with rules to govern every situation
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Precedent
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Stare decisis, the way that cases are decided tells you how to decide similar cases in the future.
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Law vs. Equity courts
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Equity court is used when a monetary remedy will not solve the problem. Example- Someone is polluting and you want them to stop polluting, not just pay you for the damages.
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Natural law
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Belief that a higher set of human rights should dictate written law (Oldest school of legal thought)
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Positivism
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There is no higher law than a nation's positive law and human rights only exist due to laws
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Legal realism
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Law is shaped by social forces and needs that must be considered in individual cases
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Court Structure: State court
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Trial courts, appellate courts, highest state court
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Court Structure: Federal court
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District/trial court (94), US Court of Appeals (13), US Supreme Court
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New York state courts
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Supreme court (trial), Intermediate (appeals), Court of Appeals (Supreme)
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Personal jurisdiction
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Jurisdiction over people in that geographical area
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Subject matter jurisdiction
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The type of case can dictate which court hears it (ex., family court, traffic court, etc.)
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In Rem jurisdiction
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"The thing", the issue at hand happened in a certain area so that area has jurisdiction
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Federal question jurisdiction
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The federal court has jurisdiction if the case is questioning the constitution (Brown)
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Diversity jurisdiction
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Federal government can have jurisdiction if the parties are from two different states and the issue is greater than $75,000
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Long arm statute
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Defendant can be brought back to the state if they have minimum contacts with that state
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Concurrent jurisdiction
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Two or more different courts have jurisdiction over the issue
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Exclusive jurisdiction
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One court is the sole option to try a case
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Removal jurisdiction
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Right of the defendant to move from a state court to a federal district court
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Venue
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Most appropriate physical place for a trial
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Stages of a Lawsuit
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Pleadings: each party informs the other of their claims and specify the issues (complaints, summons, answer, motion to dismiss) Discovery: Obtaining information from other parties to prepare for trial Pretrial conference: hearing between judge and attorneys to explore possibility of settlement Trial: Jury selection, motion for directed verdict (decision without jury), award Appeal: must have grounds that lower courts made an error
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Res Judicata
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Once appeals have been exhausted, there is a final decision. You cannot appeal indefinitely
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Full faith and credit
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States must enforce the judgments of other states
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Alternative dispute resolution
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Negotiation, mediation, and arbitration
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Substantive law
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Law that defines, regulates, and creates legal rights and obligations
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Procedural law
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Laws that establish methods of enforcing substantive law
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Civil law vs. criminal law
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Party who brings suit: person who suffered harm; state Wrongful act: harm to a person; violating a statute Burden of proof: preponderance; beyond a reasonable doubt Verdict: 3/4 majority; unanimous Remedy: damages or decree; punishment
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Criminal Procedure
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Indictment: grand jury majority vote Plea: defendant pleads guilty for a lesser charge Arraignment: defendant brought before court and asked for plea Writ of Habeas Corpus: appeal to the case
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Constitutional protections
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Required to have a search warrant and probable cause to obtain it Defendant has due process of law and can object charges and go to trial No double jeopardy Exclusionary rule: illegally obtained evidence can't be used Miranda rights
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Business crimes
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RCOD: Responsible corporate officer doctrine, leaders of corp. responsible for actions RICO: Racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations act, all levels of organized crime illegal (can be used against legal companies if they are acting illegally like cigarettes)
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Miranda v. Arizona
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Accused people must be informed of their rights
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Exclusionary rule
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Any evidence illegally obtained by the state must be thrown out and cannot be used in the case
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Intentional torts
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Purposeful attack on someone
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Assault
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Intentional tort, the fear of imminent battery
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Elements of a plaintiff's intentional tort case
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Act, intent, causation, damages
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Battery
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Intentional tort, violent act that causes harm
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False imprisonment
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Intentional tort, confined against your will without consent
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Conditional privilege
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Limited ability to detain people to ascertain what happened (shoplifters and stores)
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Defamation
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Intentional tort, injury to someone's reputation through libel or slander
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Defamation of public figures
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Higher burden of proof needed for a public figure to sue for defamation. Actual malice: making a comment knowing it is false or reckless disregard for the truth
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Invasion of privacy
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Intentional tort, everyone has the right to privacy
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Conversion
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Intentional tort against property, essentially theft
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Trespass
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Intentional tort against property, you or something you own (pets, pollution) entering another's private property without consent
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Elements of plaintiff's negligence case
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Duty: demonstrate that the defendant owed a duty to avoid foreseeable harm Breach of duty: the defendant acted in a negligent manner (negligence per se, res ipsa loquitor) Proximate cause: what leads to the reckless behavior which a reasonable person could expect Injury: reckless behavior has to affect plaintiff
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Negligence per se
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The negligent action actually breached a law
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Res ipsa loquitor
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"The thing speaks for itself", the event proves a breach (train derailment, clearly negligent on the part of the train)
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Contributory negligence
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Defense of negligence. Defendant can argue that the plaintiff's own negligence also contributed to the harm they suffered.
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Comparative negligence
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Defense of negligence. If the plaintiff was also at fault, the award can be reduced.
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Assumption of risk
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Defense of negligence. The plaintiff knew the risk and entered the risky situation anyway.
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Strict liability
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Some activities are naturally dangerous so there can be liability without fault. Ex.: Dynamite is fundamentally dangerous so the person who benefits from the use of the dynamite would be responsible for any injury that occurred even though it was not necessarily their fault.
