• Write a 3 paragraph paper on the movie “A Civil Action”
– Insert a header: Name, A Civil Action, Date
– Paragraph 1: Summary of the movie
– Paragraph 2: Challenges of being a lawyer and the reasons it is
“more than just about the money”
– Paragraph 3: Reasons you would or would not like to be a lawyer
– Grading Guidelines
• Header
• One full page
• Size 12 Times New Roman or Callibri
• Double Spaced
• 3 paragraphs

Protection through Government
Action

• Consumer-individual who acquires goods that are intended primarily for personal, family or household use

• Caveat emptor—let the buyer beware
• Caveat venditor—let the seller beware

• Class actions—allows one or several persons to sue not only on behalf of themselves but also on behalf of others similarly wronged

• Cease-and-desist --an order requiring the company to stop the specified conduct
• Consent order—a voluntary, court enforceable agreement to stop an illegal or questionable practice
• Restitution—which permits a party to a contract to recover money or property given to the other party

• Licensing—professions: doctors, nurses, teachers, pharmacists, realtors, insurance agents…etc.
– Businesses: hospitals, private schools, insurance companies
• Unsafe Products—
– CPSC—Consumer Product Safety Commission—issues safety standards for most consumer protection
– FDA—Food and Drug Administration—requires production facilities be clean
• Adulterated—products that do not meet the minimum standards for purity and quality set by the FDA

• Unfair trade practice—any method of business that is dishonest or fraudulent or that illegally limits free competition
– Federal Trade Commission Act: prevent unfair trade practices in interstate commerce (business conducted between two or more states) and intrastate commerce (business conducted within one state)
• Competition—keeps prices low for consumer, price fixing is illegal

• Price fixing
• Misleading Advertising
• Illegal lotteries
• Unfair Pricing
• Mislabeled goods

• Bait and Switch—improper business practice involving luring buyers to the store with an understocked, low priced good and then redirected them to a more expensive product
– Not deceptive if number of item is stated

• Corrective Advertising-requires the advertiser to admit the wrongdoing and state the truth in prescribed number of future advertisements

• Confidence games—fraudulent device whereby the victim is persuaded to trust the swindler with the victim’s money or other valuables in hopes of a gain (pyramid schemes)