Introduction
what2use
CommercialLaw
CommercialLawincludesallaspectsofbusiness,includingadvertisingandmarketing,collectionsandbankruptcy,banking,
contracts,negotiableinstruments,securedtransactions,andtradeingeneral.Itcoversbothdomesticandforeigntrade;it
alsoregulatestradebetweenstates.
Thetermcommerciallawdescribesawidebodyoflawsthatgovernsbusinesstransactions.TheUniformCommercialCode
(UCC),whichhasbeenadoptedinpartbyeverystateintheUnitedStates,istheprimaryauthoritythatgovernscommercial
transactions.TheUCCisdividedintoninearticles,coveringabroadspectrumofissuesthatariseincommercial
transactions.Thesearticlesgovernthefollowing:salesofgoods,leasesofgoods,negotiableinstruments,bankdeposits,
fundtransfers,lettersofcredit,bulksales,warehousereceipts,billsoflading,investmentSecurities,andsecured
transactions.
[Summary from Commercial Law, TheFreeDictionary.com, http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/
De initions
Commercial+Law (last visited Oct. 14, 2013).]
Agent—Onewhoisauthorizedtoactfororinplaceofanother;arepresentative.
Attachment—Thecreationofasecurityinterestinproperty,occurringwhenthedebtoragreestothesecurity,receives
valuefromthesecuredparty,andobtainsrightsinthecollateral.
EquityofRedemption—Therightofamortgagorindefaulttorecoverpropertybeforeaforeclosuresalebypayingthe
principal,interest,andothercoststhataredue.
Escrow—Alegaldocumentorpropertydeliveredbyapromisortoathirdpartytobeheldbythethirdpartyforagiven
amountoftimeoruntiltheoccurrenceofacondition,atwhichtimethethirdpartyistohandoverthedocumentor
propertytothepromisee.
Foreclosure—Alegalproceedingtoterminateamortgagor'sinterestinproperty,institutedbythelender(themortgagee)
eithertogaintitleortoforceasaleinordertosatisfytheunpaiddebtsecuredbytheproperty.
Guaranty—Apromisetoanswerforthepaymentofsomedebt,ortheperformanceofsomeduty,incaseofthefailureof
anotherwhoisliableinthe irstinstance.
Insolvency—Theconditionofbeingunabletopaydebtsastheyfalldueorintheusualcourseofbusiness.
NegotiableInstrument—Awritteninstrumentthat(1)issignedbythemakerordrawer,(2)includesanunconditional
promiseorordertopayaspeci iedsumofmoney,(3)ispayableondemandoratade initetime,and(4)ispayabletoorderortobearer.
SecurityInterest—Apropertyinterestcreatedbyagreementorbyoperationoflawtosecureperformanceofanobligation
(especiallyrepaymentofadebt).
StudyAides
Statutes
†Allde
initionscomefromBlack’sLawDictionary
O’Connor’sBusiness&CommerceCodePlus—RichardF.Dale—Thiscompilationprovidesanannotatedlookatthe
Business&CommerceCodeandincludessecuredtransactionforms,trademarksforms,andchartsrelatedtonon-compete
agreementsandtheDeceptiveTradePracticesAct.KFT1352.A29O361stFloorReserves.
UniformCommercialCode—This2,000+pagebookcontainstheUCCwithof icialcomments.TheAppendixesinclude
amendmentsandthepre-revisionversionofsomearticles.KF879.A15U551stFloorReserves.
PaymentsLawinaNutshell—SteveH.NicklesandMaryBethMatthews—“Thisstudyguideoutlinesthelawof
paymentsbycash,check,electronicfundtransfer,etc.Atableofstatutesandregulationsisincluded”(summaryfromYale
LawLibrary).KF957.Z9N52820051stFloorReserves&OASP.
UniformCommercialCodeinaNutshell—BradfordStoneandKristenDavidAdams—“Thisbasicstudyguidecoversthe
processofselling,leasing,payment,negotiation,shipping,storage,and inancingsales”(summaryfromYaleLaw
Library).KF889.3.S6820121stFloorReserves.
Ifyouhaveanyquestionsabouttheseorotherresources,orwouldlikemoreassistancewithresearchinga
particulartopic,pleasestopbytheReferenceDeskorcontactoneoftheReferenceLibrarians.
OtherBooksofInterest
AndersonontheUniformCommercialCode—RonaldA.Anderson—Multi-volumetreatiseprovidinga“complete
analysisofUCCarticles,”aswellas“commentaryoncommerciallawpractices”and“relatednon-codelawsaswellascase
andstatutorydevelopments”(summaryfromThomson/West).KF879.514.A53UpperBasement.
FoundationsofCommercialLaw—RobertE.ScottandGeorgeG.Triantis—“Thisreaderexaminesthefoundational
principlesofcommerciallaw,includingthechoicebetweendefaultrulesandmandatoryrules,betweenliabilityand
propertyrules,betweenrulesandstandards,andbetweenlegislativeandjudge-madelaw.”Thebookiscomprisedof
articlesarrangedbycategory,suchassaleslawandpaymentsystems(summaryfromLexisNexis).KF889.S352010
1stFloorReserves.
UniformCommercialCode—JamesJ.WhiteandRobertS.Summers—The6thedition“dealsnotonlywiththe1999
revisionstoArticle9butalsowiththe2001revisionstoArticle1.Thiseditionalsoaddressestheearlierrevisionsto
Articles5,3,and4.IthaslimitedcoverageofthefailedattempttoreviseArticle2”(summaryfromThomson/West).
KF890.W45320101stFloorReserves&OASP.
Websites
WhiteandSummers’UniformCommercialCode,5thand6th—JamesJ.WhiteandRobertS.Summers—Thisfour-volume
textprovidesanalysisoftheCodelanguage,extensivelycoveringspeci icUCCarticles(i.e.,volume4coversArticle9)and
issuessuchasstatuteoffrauds,paroleevidencerule,gap illers,andremedies.KF890.W451stFloorReserves&OASP.
TexasConstitutionandStatutesOnline:http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/—SponsoredbytheTexasLegislature
Online,thiswebsiteprovidesaccesstotheTexasBusinessandCommerceCode.UsethedropdownmenutoviewtheCode.
UniformCommercialCodeFullText:http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/ucc.table.html—TheLegalInformation
InstituteofCornellUniversityLawSchoolprovidesaccesstotheUniformCommercialCode.Theof icialcomments,which
arecopyrighted,arenotincluded.
UniformCommercialCode:http://law.duke.edu/lib/researchguides/ucc—TheDukeLawSchoolLawLibrary’s
websiteprovidesanexplanationoftheUCCandrecommendationsforadditionalresources,includingareporterand
treatises.
UniformCommercialCodeLocator:http://www.law.cornell.edu/uniform/ucc.html—CornellUniversity’sLegal
InformationInstitutelistsadoptionofUCCarticlesbystate.
UniformCommercialCodeResearchGuide:http://www.law.georgetown.edu/library/research/guides/
commerciallaw.cfm—GeorgetownLawLibrary’sCommercialLawResearchGuidegivesanoverviewoftheUCCand
suggestsprintandelectronicresourcesforfurtherresearch.
SubscriptionDatabases
UniformLawCommission:http://uniformlaws.org/Default.aspx—Theof icialwebsiteoftheNationalConferenceof
CommissionersonUniformStateLawscontainsinformationabouttheuniformlawdraftingprocessandthetextofuniform
laws.ForeachArticleoftheUCC,thesiteprovidesasummaryandaLegislativeFactSheetwhichlistsenactmentbystate.
UsetheFindLegislationlinkundertheLegislationtabto indalistoflegislationbasedontheUCC(oranyuniformlaw)for
eachstate.
BloombergLaw:IntheSearch&Browsetab,chooseAllLegalContent.IntheSelectSourcesbox,searchforresourceslike
TheABC’softheUCC,orCommercialFraudManual,bytyping“abc”or“commercialfraud”(orjusttheword“commercial”)
intheboxandmakingaselectionfromthelistthatautopopulates.
BloombergLawcontainstheBankruptcyLawReporter,whichcoverscommerciallawissues.UndertheSearch&Browse
tab,chooseBNALawReportsontheright.BankruptcyLawReporterisundertheBankruptcyheading. LexisAdvance:BrowseTopics—UsetheCommercialLaw(UCC)linktolocatedocumentsintopicslikeLettersofCredit,
NegotiableInstruments,andSecuredTransactions.
BrowseSources—SecondaryMaterials—Search“Commercial”to indresourceslikeCommercialLawEmergingIssues;
CommercialLawandPracticeGuide;andCommercialLawJournal.
AnotheroptionistosearchinCommercialLaw(UCC)fromtheLexisAdvancehomepageundertheAllPracticeAreas&
Topicsdropdownfeature.
WestlawNext:UnderBrowse—Topics—CommercialLaw,WestlawNextprovidesresourceslikeRegulations,Secondary
Sources,Forms,andProposed&EnactedLegislation.
UnderTools—WestKeyNumberSystem,56:BillsandNotes,246:LostInstruments,and349A:SecuredTransactionsmay
provideguidancein indingrelatedmaterials.