Business Law: Legal Heritage and the Digital Age

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from a Business Law lecture on legal heritage and the digital age.

Law

Consists of rules that regulate conduct of individuals, businesses, and other organizations in society.

Definition of Law

Body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority and having binding legal force.

Functions of the Law

Keeping the peace, shaping moral standards, promoting social justice, maintaining the status quo, facilitating orderly change, facilitating planning, providing a basis for compromise, and maximizing individual freedom.

Fairness in Law

The U.S. legal system is comprehensive, fair, and democratic.

Flexibility in Law

The U.S. law evolves and changes along with the norms of society, technology, and the growth and expansion of commerce in the U.S. and the world.

Jurisprudence

The philosophy or science of law.

Natural Law School

Law is based on what is “correct” and should be based on morality and ethics.

Historical School

Law is an aggregate of social traditions and customs, and changes will gradually be reflected in the law.

Analytical School

Law is shaped by logic, with results reached by applying principles of logic to specific facts of a case.

Sociological School

Law is a means of achieving and advancing certain sociological goals, shaping social behavior.

Command School

Law is a set of rules developed, communicated, and enforced by the ruling party.

Critical Legal Studies School

Legal rules are unnecessary and used by the powerful to maintain the status quo.

Law and Economics School

Promoting market efficiency should be the central concern of legal decision making.

English Common Law

Developed by judges who issued opinions when deciding cases; principles announced became precedent for later judges deciding similar cases.

Law Courts

Uniform system of law where relief available was monetary award for damages.

Courts of Chancery (Equity Courts)

Formed to surpass limited remedies of law courts; equitable remedies shaped to fit each situation.

Merchant Courts

Solved commercial disputes based on trade practices and usage.

Constitutions

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the land; any law that conflicts with it is unconstitutional and unenforceable.

Treaties

The President, with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate, may enter into treaties with foreign governments; treaties become part of the supreme law of the land.

Federal Statutes

Written laws that establish certain courses of conduct that covered parties must adhere to; U.S. Congress must find specific authority in the U.S. Constitution to enact.

State Statutes

State legislatures enact state statutes.

Ordinances

Law enacted by local government bodies.

Executive Orders

Issued by the president and state governors, derived from delegation from the legislative branch and implied from constitutions.

Regulations and Orders of Administrative Agencies

Established by legislative and executive branches to adopt rules and regulations to interpret statutes and decide disputes.

Judicial Decisions

Federal and state courts issue judicial decisions stating the rationale used by the court.

Doctrine of Stare Decisis

Past court decisions become precedent for deciding future cases; lower courts must follow precedent established by higher courts.

Critical Legal Thinking

Consists of investigating, analyzing, evaluating, and interpreting information to solve simple or complex legal issues or cases.

Socratic Method

Series of questions and answers, give-and-take inquiry and debate between a professor and student.

IRAC Method

Used to examine a law case; I (issue); R (rule); A (analysis); C (conclusion).