Assignment 1
Business Law
Oct 28th 2014

Common law is defined as “law developed by judges who issued their opinions when deciding a case.” (Cheeseman, 2013). The principles in these early cases have taken precedent for later judges that are deciding similar cases. English common law is divided into cases which are decided by three different courts. These courts are: law courts, equity courts, and merchant courts. Law courts deal with matters of the law, such as administering it and upholding it. Equity courts deal with issues arising from decisions made by the judges in law courts. The equity court was run by the Lord Chancellor; this court enabled people to seek relief from decisions made in law courts they felt were unfair. Merchant courts were established to handle commercial disputes. English common law is the primary source of American law. Law, equity and merchant courts have all been merged in the United States so that most courts permit seeking any kind of remedy. Of all the states in the United States, Louisiana is the only state which doesn’t base its legal system on English common law. Louisiana law is based from French law and the Napoleonic Code. This type of law takes a civilian approach. “Civilian law is based on scholarly research and the drafting of legal code which is passed into law by the legislative branch. It is then the judge's job to interpret that intent more than to follow judicial precedent.” (La-Legal, 2014). The Constitution of the United States of America is known as the “law of the land” because it reigns supreme over all other laws. If any law conflicts with it, it will be deemed unconstitutional and unenforceable. The United States Constitution established the federal government which we still have today. It created three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. Congress makes up the legislative branch,