Role and Functions of Law By: Cleveland Ivery Date: 12/02/2013 Class: Law/421 Instructor: Tiffany Brady

A former president once quoted that,” No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it.” This quote sums up the importance and vastness of our legal system. Laws serve many purposes in both business as well as society. The following paper will discuss the roles and functions of law in both business and society. It will also discuss the role of law in the bartending industry.
According to Melvin (2011), Law is defined as: “body of rules of actions or conducts determined by a regulation authority as well as having legal binding force.” There are at least eight different functions of law: to keep peace, to influence and enforce standards of conduct, to maintain the status quo in certain aspects of society, to facilitate orderly change, to provide for maximum self-assertion by the individual, to facilitate planning and the realization of reasonable expectations, to promote social justice, and to provide a mechanism for compromise solutions between polar principles and positions ("World Academy Online", 2010-2012). These foundations of what a law is to do for the community is what holds the basis of why we have laws. Laws help society run more effectively and efficiently. Many expectations and ethical standards are supplied through different laws. There are four primary sources of law that have both federal and state levels; Common Law, Statutory Law, Administrative Law, and Constitutional Law. All of these laws can work together or independently. Common Law is made up