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Liability
The state of being legally responsible (liable) for something, such as a debt or obligation
Ethics
the principles governing what constitutes right or wrong behavior.
Primary sources of law
The U.S. Constitution and the constitutions of the various states.
Statutory law—including laws passed by Congress, state legislatures, or local governing bodies.
Regulations created by administrative agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission.
Case law and common law doctrines.
Secondary sources of Law
books and articles that summarize and clarify the primary sources of law.
Constitutional law
law as expressed in these constitutions.
Statutory law
The body of law enacted by legislative bodies (as opposed to constitutional law, administrative law, or case law)
Ordinances
law passed by a local governing unit, such as a city or a county.
Statutory conflicts
Tension may sometimes arise between federal, state, and local laws.
The Uniform Commercial code
Sets regulations and laws of interstate commerce. It has been adopted in every state and territory of the US.Â
Administrative agency
A federal or state government agency created by the legislature to perform a specific function, such as to make and enforce rules pertaining to the environment.
Administrative law
Rules set forth by an administrative agency
Independent regulatory agencies
An administrative agency that is not considered part of the government’s executive branch and is not subject to the authority of the president. Independent agency officials cannot be removed without cause.
Executive agencies
An administrative agency within the executive branch of government. At the federal level, executive agencies are those within the cabinet departments.
Case law
The rules of law announced in court decisions. Case law interprets statutes, regulations, constitutional provisions, and other case law.
Remedies at law
A remedy available in a court of law. Money damages are awarded as a remedy at law.
 king’s courts, or curiae regis. - William the Conqueror established the common law
Courts of Equity
A court that decides controversies and administers justice according to the rules, principles, and precedents of equity.
Remedies in equity
A remedy allowed by courts in situations where remedies at law are not appropriate. Remedies in equity include injunction, specific performance, rescission and restitution, and reformation.
Injunction
is an order to a party to cease engaging in a specific activity or to undo some wrong or injury.
Recission
is the cancellation of a contractual obligation.
Precedent
A court decision that furnishes an example or authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar facts.
Reporters
A publication in which court cases are published, or reported.
Stare Decisis
(pronounced stahr-ee dih-si-sis) A common law doctrine under which judges are obligated to follow the precedents established in prior decisions within their jurisdictions.
Binding Authority
Any source of law that a court must follow when deciding a case.
Persuasive authority
Any legal authority or source of law that a court may look to for guidance but need not follow when making its decision.
Legal reasoning
(1) The process of evaluating how various laws apply to a given situation. (2) The process by which a judge harmonizes his or her opinion with the judicial decisions in previous cases.
Cases on point
A previous case involving factual circumstances and issues that are similar to those in the case before the court.
Jurisprudence
The science or philosophy of law.
Natural Law
The oldest school of legal thought, based on the belief that the legal system should reflect universal (“higher”) moral and ethical principles that are inherent in human nature.
Legal positivism
A school of legal thought centered on the assumption that there is no law higher than the laws created by a national government. Laws must be obeyed, even if they are unjust, to prevent anarchy.
Historical school
A school of legal thought that looks to the past to determine what the principles of contemporary law should be.
Legal Realism
A school of legal thought that holds that the law is only one factor to be considered when deciding cases and that social and economic circumstances should also be taken into account.
Substantive law
Law that defines, describes, regulates, and creates legal rights and obligations.
Procedural law
Law that establishes the methods of enforcing the rights established by substantive 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 the public.
Cyberlaw
An informal term used to refer to all laws governing electronic communications and transactions, particularly those conducted via the Internet.
Citation
A reference to a publication in which a legal authority—such as a statute or a court decision—or other source can be found.
Parallel citation
When more than one reporter is cited for the same case
Plaintiff or petitioner
The party initiating a lawsuit
Defendant or respondent
 The party against whom a lawsuit is broughtÂ
Appellant
The party who takes an appeal from one court to another.
Majority opinion
A court opinion that represents the views of the majority (more than half) of the judges or justices deciding the case.
Concurring opinion
A court opinion by one or more judges or justices who agree with the majority but want to make or emphasize a point that was not made or emphasized in the majority’s opinion.
Dissenting opinion
A court opinion that presents the views of one or more judges or justices who disagree with the majority’s decision.
Plurality opinion
A court opinion that is joined by the largest number of the judges or justices hearing the case, but fewer than half of the total number.
Per curiam opinion
By the whole court; a court opinion written by the court as a whole instead of being authored by a judge or justice.
Moral Minimum
The minimum degree of ethical behavior expected of a business firm, which is usually defined as compliance with the law.
Triple bottom line
The idea that investors and others should consider not only corporate profits, but also the corporation’s impact on people and on the planet in assessing the firm. (The bottom line is people, planet, and profits.)
Ethical reasoning
A reasoning process in which an individual links their moral convictions or ethical standards to the particular situation at hand.
Duty based ethics
An ethical philosophy rooted in the idea that every person has certain duties to others, including both humans and the planet. Those duties may be derived from religious principles or from other philosophical reasoning.
Outcome based ethics
An ethical philosophy that focuses on the impacts of a decision on society or on key stakeholders.
Principle of rights
The principle that human beings have certain fundamental rights (to life, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness, for example). A key factor in determining whether a business decision is ethical under this theory is how that decision affects the rights of others, such as employees, consumers, suppliers, and the community.
Categorical imperative
A concept developed by the philosopher Immanuel Kant as an ethical guideline for behavior. In deciding whether an action is right or wrong, or desirable or undesirable, a person should evaluate the action in terms of what would happen if everybody else in the same situation, or category, acted the same way.
Utilitarianism
An approach to ethical reasoning in which ethically correct behavior is related to an evaluation of the consequences of a given action on those who will be affected by it. In utilitarian reasoning, a “good” decision is one that results in the greatest good for the greatest number of people affected by the decision.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
The concept that corporations can and should act ethically and be accountable to society for their actions.
Stakeholders
Groups, other than the company’s shareholders, that are affected by corporate decisions. Stakeholders include employees, customers, creditors, suppliers, and the community in which the corporation operates.
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