• What are the four primary sources of
law in the United States?
• What is the common law tradition?
• What is a precedent? When might a
court depart from precedent? 
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• What is the difference between
remedies at law and remedies in
equity?
• What are some of the important
differences between civil and
criminal law?
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• Knowledge of “black letter” law is not
enough.
• Many different laws affect a single
business transaction.
• Ethics and business decision making.
–Ethics: what constitutes right or wrong
behavior. 
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• Constitutional Law.
–Found in text and
cases arising from
federal and state
constitutions.
–U.S. Constitution is the
supreme law of the
land.
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• Statutory Law
–Laws enacted by federal and state
legislatures.
–Local ordinances.
–Uniform Laws (e.g., Uniform
Commercial Code).
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• Administrative Law.
–Rulemaking--Rules, orders and
decisions of administrative agencies,
federal, state and local.
–Administrative agencies can be
independent regulatory agency such as
the Food and Drug Administration. 
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• Administrative Law (cont’d).
–Adjudication--agencies make rules,
then investigate and enforce the rules
in administrative hearings.
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• Case Law and Common Law
Doctrines.
–Much of the common law is still used
today.
–Common law governs all areas not
specifically covered by statutory or
constitutional law. 
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• Case Law and Common Law
Doctrines (cont’d).
–Restatements of the Law: modern
compilations of common law principles
found, e.g., in contracts, torts,
property and agency.
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• Early English Courts of Law
–King’s courts started after Norman
conquest of 1066.
–Established the common law—body
of general legal principles applied
throughout the English empire.
–King’s courts used precedent to build
the common law.
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• Stare Decisis.
–Practice of deciding new cases based
on precedent.
–A higher court’s decision based on
certain facts and law, is a binding
authority on lower courts.
–Helps courts stay efficient.
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• Equitable Remedies and Courts of
Equity.
– Remedy: means to enforce a right or
compensate for injury to that right.
– Remedy at Law: in king’s courts,
remedies were restricted to damages in
either money or property. 
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• Equitable Remedies and Courts of
Equity (cont’d).
– Equitable Remedy: based on justice and
fair dealing a chancery court does what
is right.
– Today, legal and equitable remedies are
found in the same court.
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• Schools of Legal Thought.
–The Natural Law Tradition.
• Oldest and most significant view of law,
basis for natural rights.
• Government and legal system should
reflect universal moral and ethical
principles.
• These principles are inherent in human
nature, can be discovered through right
reason.
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• Schools of Legal Thought (cont’d).
–Legal Positivism (or Positive Law).
• Applies only to citizens of that nation or
society.
• No higher law than the nation’s highest
governing body or court.
• Laws must be obeyed regardless of
whether they are just or unjust.
• No view of “natural” rights.
• Morality of a law is irrelevant.
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• Schools of Legal Thought (cont’d).
–The Historical School.
• Emphasizes the evolutionary process of
law.
• Concentrates on the origin and history of
legal system.
• Looks to the past to determine laws for
present.
• Law derives legitimacy from precedent.
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• Schools of Legal Thought (cont’d).
–Legal Realism.
• Law must be viewed within the social
context, and judges should take
economic and social realities into
account.
• Sociological jurisprudence tends to be
activistic, e.g., civil rights decisions.
• Do not feel bound by past decisions.
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• Substantive vs. Procedural Law
–Substantive: laws that define and
regulate rights and duties.
–Procedural: laws that establish
methods for enforcing and protecting
rights. 
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• Civil Law and Criminal Law
–Civil: private rights and duties between
persons and government.
–Criminal: public wrongs against society.
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• National and International Law
–National: laws of a particular nation.
–Civil vs. Common Law: Civil law
countries based on Roman code (e.g.,
Latin America).
–International: body of written and
unwritten laws observed by nations
when dealing with each other.
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• Finding Statutory and Administrative
Law.
–United States Code (USC).
–State Codes.
–Administrative Rules.
• Finding Case Law (Case Citations).
–Supreme Court Cases at Findlaw.com.
–Federal Court Cases at Findlaw.com.
–State Court Cases at Findlaw.com.
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Legal cases are identified by a “legal
citation” (or a “cite”) as the sample
below:
Singer v. Raemisch, 593 F.3d 529 (7th
Circuit, 2010).
Title: First Party is Plaintiff, second
party is Defendant. The parties are
either italicized or underlined.
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Legal cases are identified by a “legal
citation” (or a “cite”) as the sample
below:
Singer v. Raemisch, 593 F.3d 529 (7th
Circuit, 2010).
The case is found in the Federal
Reporters, the 3rd Edition, Volume 593,
page 529.
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permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
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Legal cases are identified by a “legal
citation” (or a “cite”) as the sample
below:
Singer v. Raemisch, 593 F.3d 529 (7th
Circuit, 2010).
The case was decided by the United
States Court of Appeals, for the
Seventh Circuit, in 2010.
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permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
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