NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Leonard N. Stern School of Business
Department of Accounting,
Taxation and Business Law
C10.0006.01 & C10.0006.03
Law, Business and Society (LBS)
Spring 2008
C10.0006.01
Monday/Wednesday: 9:30am – 10:45am
Room: Tisch LC10
C10.0006.03
Monday/Wednesday 3:30pm – 4:45pm
Room: Tisch UC61
Professor Jeanne Calderon
Department of Accounting, Taxation and
Business Law
KMEC: Room 10-83 (10th Floor)
Office Hours: Monday 11:00am – 3:00pm
Wed. 1:30pm – 3:00pm
Tel: (212) 998-0058
Fax: (212) 995-4004
E-mail: jcaldero@stern.nyu.edu
LAW, BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
COURSE OUTLINE
DESCRIPTION
Every professional business person must be aware of how our legal system works
and impacts business decisions. The interaction between law and business is
multidimensional involving social, political, ethical and technological considerations.
Students will gain an understanding of how the legal system has evolved and continues to
evolve in relation to business and society. The overriding objective of this course is to
provide students with the opportunity to critically and analytically think, read and write
about the interface between the law, business and society.
COURSE MATERIALS
a.
Required Textbook:
Managers and the Legal Environment – by Bagley & Savage, Thomson/West,
Fifth Edition. It will be accompanied by a study guide. Students are required to
purchase the textbook and study guide.
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Handouts also will be distributed in class, or posted on Blackboard, when
necessary to supplement the text. See c. below.
b.
Internet research access: LEXIS-NEXIS (one of the world’s primary legal
databases) is accessible through NYU’s Bobst Library online database. Go to the
NYU Home page, click on Bobst Library, click on “articles via databases”, under
popular databases, click on “Lexis-Nexis”, log on using your NYU Net ID.
c.
Use of Blackboard:
We will be using a web-based software package called “Blackboard” in this
course. I assume that most, if not all, of you have used it before. It can be
accessed through your web-browser at: http://sternclasses.nyu.edu. Log in with
your Stern netID/password. You will be able to download, for example, this class
syllabus, hand-outs, etc., as well as check for announcements that I might make.
Blackboard is an integral part of this course and you are responsible for any
information that is posted there. I also frequently send announcements via email.
Therefore, please be sure your Stern email account is functioning.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
1.
During the week of February 3, 2008, I will give you the opportunity to select a
partner or I will select one for you if you are unable to do so on your own. You
will be required to prepare homework assignments and the position paper
assignment with your partner.
2.
Attendance in every class is extremely important and mandatory. Absences may
by excused only in the case of documented serious illness, family emergency,
religious observance or civic obligation. Recruiting activities are not acceptable
reasons for class absence. Attendance will be taken. In the event you must miss a
class, you should contact me in advance of class by means of a brief e-mail
message stating the reason for your absence. Also, if you do miss a class, it is
your responsibility to find out from your partner what materials were covered,
what additional assignments were given and what items may have been
distributed in class.
3.
As a courtesy to your classmates and to me, you are expected to arrive to class on
time and stay to the end of the class period. Chronically arriving late or leaving
class early will have a negative impact on a student’s grade. Students may enter
class late only if given permission by me and can do so without disrupting the
class.
4.
I will be prepared for every class and expect that you will do the same. You
should carefully read all of the assigned materials (such as textbook chapters,
handouts, etc.) prior to the class session in which they will be discussed. You also
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should work with the relevant chapters of the study guide before and/or after
class.
5.
Be prepared to discuss any assigned material if called upon during class. Since I
frequently call on students whose hands are not raised, you should let me know
before the start of class if some emergency has made it impossible for you to
adequately prepare for that class.
6.
Given the importance of class participation, I will seek to learn your names as
quickly as possible and I want you to learn each other’s names as well. To
facilitate that, I will ask you to do several things. First, please select a seat that
you will be comfortable with for the entire term. I will circulate a seating chart
during the third session. I will ask you to tape a photograph of your face to this
seating chart. Please copy the photo from your NYU ID card for these purposes.
Also, please use a name card throughout the course so that your classmates and I
can easily see your name and refer to you by your name.
7.
As stated above, this course requires classroom participation. I am interested in
the quality, not quantity, of your contribution to class discussions. You do not
need to speak frequently or in every class meeting. In fact, a student who
participates only occasionally during the semester but contributes high quality
comments to the discussion can receive full class participation credit whereas a
student who talks a lot but contributes little of substance will lose class
participation credit. I am aware that some of you may be shy about speaking out
in the classroom. I respect this but strongly encourage you to participate
nevertheless. Please make me aware of any reason why you find it difficult to
speak in the classroom.
8.
Chiara Szczesny is my secretary/administrative assistant (not one of my teaching
assistants) who assists me with administrative tasks. She sits at the front desk of
KMEC Suite 10-180 (10th Floor). Chiara can be reached at (212) 998-0043 or
cszczesn@stern.nyu.edu.
9.
I have listed my e-mail address on the first page. If I fail to respond to an e-mail
message in a timely fashion, you should assume that your message got lost in
cyberspace. If that happens, please leave me a voicemail message and contact my
assistant, Chiara Szczesny. See paragraph 8 above.
10.
Please do not use e-mail to send me written assignments: always submit a hard
copy. However, you must retain an electronic copy of your work until your final
grades are posted on Albert. If so requested, you must supply an electronic copy
to me. Not submitting a copy of your work upon request will result in automatic
failure in the assignment and possible failure in the class.
11.
As indicated on the first page, my office hours will be held on Monday from
11:00am – 3:00pm and on Wednesdays from 1:30pm – 3:00pm in my office,
Room KMEC 10-83.
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12.
There will be two teaching assistants for this course who will be available to assist
you. Zhimin Lin is a second year law student at NYU Law School
(zhiminlin@nyu.edu). She graduated with honors from the University of
California at Berkeley School of Business. Zhimin also is working towards her
CPA licensure in California.
Shawn Pelsinger is a second year law student at NYU Law School
(shawn.pelsinger@nyu.edu). He graduated with honors from the Pennsylvania
State University with a BA in economics and political science. I will announce in
class the specific days, times and place where Zhimin and Shawn will be holding
office hours. They also will be available via email. Zhimin and Shawn will assist
me in reviewing your written work.
13.
Students who may need special consideration because they have a disability
should see me during office hours early in the semester. If you have a qualified
disability and will require academic accommodation during this course, please
contact the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities (http://www.nyu.edu/csd/
or call 998-4980) and provide me with a letter from the Center verifying your
registration and outlining the recommended accommodations.
14.
Laptops, cell phones, smartphones and other electronic devices are a disturbance
to both your classmates and me. All electronic devices must be turned off prior to
the start of class.
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADES
The purpose of grading in this course, as in all courses, is twofold. One purpose
is to evaluate your performance for purposes of the academic system. The other (and
more important) purpose is to provide feedback to you and me on your ability to develop,
utilize and share ideas concerning the covered topics and situations.
The final grade for this course will be based (approximately!) on the components
set forth below. I present these percentages just to give you some sense of the relative
importance of each assignment. All course requirements must be completed to pass this
course.






Class Attendance and Participation
Homework
Midterm Examination
Position Paper
Group Project
Final Examination
Total:
10%
10%
20%
20%
20%
20%
100%
Grade for this course will be distributed following the recently enacted Stern Grading
Guidelines for Core Courses in the Undergraduate College:
25-35% A’s – awarded for excellent work
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50-70% B’s – awarded for good or very good work
5-15% C’s (or below) – awarded for adequate or below average work
Midterm and Final Examinations
There will be a midterm and final examination. The final examination will be
non-cumulative. Each of the exams will include material covered in the textbook,
handouts and class sessions. A make-up exam is allowed only if I am notified prior to the
scheduled examination and the appropriate medical or personal documentation is
provided. I strongly discourage your from requesting a make-up exam.
The homework assignments will take various forms, as I will explain in class.
The position paper format will be explained in class. Four students will work on the final
group project’s written and oral presentation aspects, as I will explain in class.
POLICY ON CHEATING
All students are expected to follow the Stern Code of Conduct
(http://www.stern.nyu.edu/uc/codeofconduct).
Academic dishonesty undermines the school’s student code of conduct and is
unfair to other students. I will refer any instances of academic dishonesty to the Stern
School Discipline Committee. Academic dishonesty may take many forms. Copying the
work of another and submitting it as one’s own, failing to attribute credit to a reference
source, allowing another to copy one’s work and copying from another during an exam
are a few examples of academic dishonesty. You can find a good definition of plagiarism
and help in avoiding it at http://www.stern.nyu.edu/Faculty/citl/articles/cheating.html.
COURSE SCHEDULE
The schedule set forth below is subject to change as the need arises. All
changes will be announced in class, in an email message and/or on Blackboard.
If you miss a lecture it is your responsibility to know about any announced
changes. You should ask your partner to pick up a copy of any handouts and to give to
you notes missed in the event of your absence.
All chapter references are to your textbook: Managers and the Legal Environment.
Date
Jan 23
Subject
Courts, Sources of Law & Litigation
Jan 28
Cont’d
Jan 30
Constitutional Bases for Business Regulation
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Assignment
Ch. 3
Ch. 2
Feb 4
Contracts I: Introduction to Contracts
Ch. 7
Feb 6
Cont’d
Feb 11
Contracts II: Sales and E-Commerce
Feb 13
Cont’d
Feb 18
President’s Day Holiday
NO CLASS
Feb 20
Contracts III: Employment Agreements
Ch. 12
Feb 25
Contracts IV: Civil Rights and Employment
Discrimination
Ch. 13
Feb 27
Torts
Ch. 9
Mar 3
Cont’d
Mar 5
Product Liability
Mar 10
Cont’d
Mar 12
MIDTERM EXAMINATION
Mar 17-21
Spring Break Week
NO CLASSES
Mar 24
Property Rights I: Intellectual Property
Ch. 11
Mar 26
Cont’d
Mar 31
Property Rights II: Real Property
Ch. 18
April 2
Agency
Ch. 5
Position Paper Due
April 7
Cont’d
April 9
Forms of Business Organization
April 14
Cont’d
Ch. 8 (skip p.267-273, 277279)
Ch. 10 and Ch. 8 (p.267-273)
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Ch. 19
April 16
Directors, Officers and Controlling Shareholders
April 21
Cont’d
April 23
Securities I: Public and Private Offerings
Ch. 22
April 28
Securities II: Fraud and Insider Trading/Criminal
Law
Ch. 23/Ch. 14 (Emphasize
pages 514-519, 522-535, 539541)
April 30
Debtor-Creditor Relations and Bankruptcy
Ch. 24
May 5
Group Presentations
Final Group Project Due
May 7-14
FINAL EXAMINATION
7
Ch. 20