The Legal Environment of Business

by Bixby, Michael; Beck-Dudley, Caryn; Cihon, Patrick; Park, Susan

• ISBN13: 9781256159162
• ISBN10: 1256159166
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Loose-leaf
• Copyright: 2011-08-11
• Publisher: Pearson Learning Solutions

Summary

To succeed in the business world today, a fundamental knowledge of critical legal and regulatory issues is a necessity. In a language easily understood by non-law students, The Legal Environment of Businessaims to provide students with both the practical and academic insight into primary legal issues that business people face. The textbook contains coverage of both private and public law topics, exploring how and why these topics change over time. Designed for business students as well as business people who have not taken a law course recently, key topics include business ethics and corporate social responsibility, business torts and crimes, environmental law, judicial and alternative forms of dispute resolution, and employment law.   According to the authors, the book is not intended to create lawyers, but to help business students recognize, address, and avoid legal problems. The sections are designed to maximize the ;real world ; nature of legal principles presented, giving ample learning-by-doing exercises that have proven to significantly aid retention and understanding of the material.

Author Biography

Providing a combined 70 years of experience in teaching and practicing law, the authors have all been recipients of teaching awards at their respective schools.

 

Michael B. Bixby practiced law for 11 years before joining Boise State University as a professor of legal studies in business. In 2006, Professor Bixby was named the winner of the top teaching award at Boise State University.  He is the past president of the Pacific Northwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business and a member of the Governing Council of the Idaho Bar Association Business and Corporate Law Section and the State Bar of Michigan. 

 

Caryn L. Beck-Dudley, current Dean of the College of Business at Florida State University, previously taught business law, employment law, and business ethics at Utah State University. She is past president of the National Academy of Legal Studies in Business.

 

Patrick J. Cihon was on the Ontario Ministry of Labour before joining the Syracuse University School of Management as an associate professor of law and public policy. He was voted Outstanding Faculty Member by the Syracuse University Association of Graduate Business Students and by the Syracuse Chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma undergraduate honor society.

 

Susan Park practiced law in Boise, Idaho, and clerked at the Idaho Supreme Court before joining the faculty at Boise State University in 1997.  She currently teaches Legal Environment of Business and Commercial Law, and is the 2011-2012 President-Elect of the Pacific Northwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business.

Table of Contents

PART 1:  THE GLOBAL, LEGAL, REGULATORY, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS 1

1. Introduction to Law 1

2. The Legal System in the United States 23

3. Litigation and Alternate Dispute Resolution: Going to Court, or Not 57

4. The Constitution and Business 100

5. Administrative Law and Regulation 140

6. International Legal Issues in Business 172

7. Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility 221

 

PART 2:  LEGAL ISSUES IN BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS 255

8. Principal–Agent Relationships and Partnerships 255

9. Corporations and Other Business Entities 289

10. Securities Law and Protection of Investors 331

11. Business Torts and Crimes 357

 

PART 3:  COMMON LAW SUBJECTS AND THEIR CONTEMPORARY DIMENSIONS 396

12. Principles of Contract Law 396

13. Warranty and Liability Issues in the Sale of Products 429

14. Real and Personal Property: Ownership, Transfer, and Land Use Controls 467

15. Environmental Law and Regulation 498

16. Cyberlaw and Intellectual Property 538

 

PART 4:  LEGAL ISSUES INVOLVING CONSUMERS, COMPETITORS, AND SUPPLIERS 586

17. Antitrust Law: The Regulation of Corporate Behavior and Structure 586

18. Legal Rights of Consumers, Debtors, and Creditors 641

19. Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices and Advertising 678

 

PART 5:  EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE LEGAL ISSUES 705

20. Contemporary Legal Issues in Employment 705

21. Equal Employment Opportunity Law:

22. Other Statutory Regulation of Employment 773

23. Labor–Management Law and Regulation 810

 

Subject Index I1

Case Index I13