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Business Law Notes

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Chapter One: The Legal Environment 1. Business activities and the legal environment

2. Sources of American law

1) Primary sources of law * Constitutional law (The U.S. Constitution, state constitutions) * Statutory law ( federal statutes, state statutes, ordinances; uniform laws) * Administrative law (administrative agencies: federal, state, local) * Case law 2) Secondary sources of law * Books , articles

3. The common law tradition

1) Stare decisis * Two aspects * Controlling precedents (binding authorities) * Departures * Persuasive authorities

2) Equity * Remedy, courts of law(king’s courts), remedies at law(legal remedies) * Equity, chancellor, courts of equity(chancery courts), remedies in equity(equitable remedies) * Plaintiffs, defendant * Action at law, action in equity * Merging * Equitable principles and maxims

3) Schools of legal though
Jurisprudence
* The natural law school * Legal positivism * The historical school * Legal realism, sociological school

4. Classifications of law 1) Substantive law & Procedural law 2) Civil law & Criminal law 3) National law & International law
Chapter Two: Constitutional Law 1. The constitutional powers of government 1) Federal form of government: national government and the states share sovereign power. 2) Separation of powers: a system of checks and balances * Legislative branch * Executive branch * Judicial branch 3) The commerce clause * State regulatory power – police power * “dormant” commerce clause – negative aspect of commerce clause: the states do not have the authority to regulate interstate commerce (positive aspect: national government has the exclusive authority to regulate commerce that substantially affects trade and

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