Legal Environment of Business - Chapter 1: Legal Foundations

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts of Chapter 1 Legal Foundations, including definitions, sources, hierarchy, and categories of law.

Law

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

Federalism

The legal concept that allows federal and state governments shared powers.

Constitutional Law

The supreme law of the land that provides structure for federal and state governments, establishes individual civil rights, and provides procedural protections for U.S. citizens from wrongful government actions.

Statutory Law

The body of law consisting of statutes passed by legislative bodies and ordinances passed by local governing bodies.

Stare Decisis

The legal doctrine requiring that similar cases with similar facts should render similar judicial decisions.

Precedent

A principle or rule established in a previous court case that guides or binds courts in subsequent cases involving similar facts.

South Dakota v. Wayfair

A judicial decision highlighting the issue of whether courts should maintain strict adherence to precedent.

Hierarchy of Sources of Law

The legal structure ordering authority from highest to lowest: U.S. Constitution, Federal Statutes and International Agreements, Federal Administrative Law, Federal Common Law, State Constitution, State Statutory Law, State Administrative Law, and State Common Law.

Secondary Sources of Law

Legal sources that interpret and clarify primary sources of law, including Restatements of the Law, Model State Statutes, and Uniform Model Laws.

Remedies

The measures of judicial action intended to compensate an injured party in a civil lawsuit.

Remedies at Law

Judicial remedies that generally take the form of money damages.

Equitable Remedies

Judicial relief that generally includes an injunction or restraining order.

Injunction

A judicial order requiring a party to cease a certain activity, or perhaps to take a specific action.

Contracts for Sale of Goods

A category of contract law governed by statutory sources at the state level.

Contracts for Services

A category of contract law governed primarily by common law at the state level.

Copyright Law

A branch of intellectual property law governed by statutory and administrative sources strictly at the federal level.

Bankruptcy Law

A area of law sourced from statutory and administrative law operating at the federal level.

Zoning Ordinances

Statutory rules created and enforced exclusively at the local level to regulate land use.