Quiz 1: The Legal Environment

Business

What is the Union Commercial Code?

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Essay

The NCCUSL and the American Law jointly created the Uniform Commercial Code ( UCC ) comprising nine separate articles. It was first issued in 1952. All the articles in the UCC has been adopted by most states in the U.S. The UCC is a standard set of rules that facilitate commercial transactions among the states. It provides a uniform, yet flexible, set of laws. The UCC ensures business persons that their valid contracts will necessarily be enforced.

Q 2

Binding versus Persuasive Authority. A county court in Illinois is deciding a case involving an issue that has never been addressed before in that state's courts. The Iowa Supreme Court, however, recently decided a case involving a very similar fact pattern. Is the Illinois court obligated to follow the Iowa Supreme Court's decision on the issue? If the United States Supreme Court had decided a similar case, would that decision be binding on the Illinois court? Explain

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Binding authority: It is the monitoring authority. The courts are bound to follow a particular source of law that is considered to be a binding authority decision making. The types of law that are binding include, in order of authority are as below: 1. U.S. Constitution 2. State Constitution 3. U.S. Supreme Court cases 4. Federal Laws 5. State Laws 6. Absolute government regulations 7. Jurisdiction court decisions Persuasive Authority: It is referred as first impression from the court. Persuasive authorities present when in the absence of precedents in decision making. Public policies are rules created by local, state and national government that are widely based on societal values. The decision can be inferred with comparing binding vs. persuasive authority as shown below: The Illinois court doesn't obligate to follow the Iowa Supreme Court's decision on the issue; however, if the Iowa Court's decision was based on a case with the same specific issue it may have persuasive weight in the Illinois court. Additionally, the Illinois court may look to the Iowa decision for precedence if the issue is the same and the circumstances are reasonably similar to the ones in the case that they are considering. In order for Illinois to consider the precedence, the decision must not violate Illinois state constitution of statutes. Alternatively, other states may have addressed the issue and decided the matter differently. All of the stare decisis in case law that is available and significant to the issue may be considered in the court's determination.

Q 3

Suppose that the California legislature passes a law that severely restricts carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles in that state. A group of automobile manufacturers files a suit against the state of California to prevent the enforcement of the law. The automakers claim that a federal law already sets fuel economy standards nationwide and that these standards are essentially the same as carbon dioxide emission standards. According to the automobile manufacturers, it is unfair to allow California to impose more stringent regulations than those set by the federal law. Using the information presented in the chapter, answer the following questions. 1. Who are the parties (the plaintiffs and the defendant) in this lawsuit? 2. Are the plaintiffs seeking a legal remedy or an equitable remedy? Why? 3. What is the primary source of the law that is at issue here? 4. Read through the appendix that follows this chapter, and then answer the following question: Where would you look to find the relevant California and federal laws?

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(a)Plaintiff is the one who files the lawsuit while defendant is the one against whom the lawsuit is filed. The parties in this lawsuit are group of automobile manufacturers and the state of California, where the former is the plaintiff and the latter is the defendant. (b)Legal remedies award economic compensation (money) to cover up the damage or loss suffered by an individual due to the wrongful act of another. Equitable remedies, on the other hand, involve the judgement by the court ordering the party which has committed wrongful act to do or not to do things that will compensate the damage or loss suffered by the other party. The group of automobile manufacturers opposes California in enforcement of the law that severely restricts carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles. It does not want such a law to come into existence. Thus, the group is seeking an equitable remedy. (c)As per the claim of automakers, the federal government had already set standards relating to fuel economy. Since the federal government has a separately written constitution setting general automobile fuel economy standards, constitutional law is the primary source of law at issue in this case. (d)California laws can be found in the Pacific Reporter (P., P.2d, or P.3d) unit of the National Reporter System, published by West Group. The Pacific Reporter (P., P.2d, or P.3d) specifically covers California State. Federal laws, however, can be found in the unofficial publications named: • West's Federal Supplement (F. Supp. or F.Supp.2d)• West's Federal Reporter (F., F.2d, or F.3d)• West's Bankruptcy Reporter (Bankr.)• United States Reports (U.S.)• West's Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct)• Lawyers' Edition of the Supreme Court Reports (L.Ed. or L.Ed.2d)

Q 4

The following multiple-choice question is representative of the types of questions available in one of the four sections of ThomsonNOW for Business Law Today, ThomsonNOW also provides feedback for each response option, whether correct or incorrect, and refers to the location within the chapter where the correct answer can be found. Civil law can best be described as A) the law that governs relations between persons and between persons and the government. B) the common law of taxes. C) federal, not state, law. D) the law governing the relations among nations.

Multiple Choice

Q 5

Answers to the even-numbered questions in this For Review section can be found in Appendix F at the end of this text. What is the common law tradition?

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Q 6

Remedies. Arthur Rabe is suing Xavier Sanchez for breaching a contract in which Sanchez promised to sell Rabe a Van Gogh painting for $150,000. 1. In this lawsuit, who is the plaintiff, and who is the defendant? 2. If Rabe wants Sanchez to perform the contract as promised, what remedy should Rabe seek? 3. Suppose that Rabe wants to cancel the contract because Sanchez fraudulently misrepresented the painting as an original Van Gogh when in fact it is a copy. In this situation, what remedy should Rabe seek? 4. Will the remedy Rabe seeks in either situation be a remedy at law or a remedy in equity? 5. Suppose that the court finds in Rabe's favor and grants one of these remedies. Sanchez then appeals the decision to a higher court. Read through the subsection entitled "Parties to Lawsuits" in the appendix following this chapter. On appeal, which party in the Rabe-Sanchez case will be the appellant (or petitioner), and which party will be the appellee (or respondent)? 1-3

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Q 7

Answers to the even-numbered questions in this For Review section can be found in Appendix F at the end of this text. What is a precedent? When might a court depart from precedent?

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Q 8

Legal Systems. What are the key differences between a common law system and a civil law system? Why do some countries have common law systems and others have civil law systems?

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Q 9

Answers to the even-numbered questions in this For Review section can be found in Appendix F at the end of this text. , What is the difference between remedies at law and remedies in equity?

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Q 10

Hypothetical Question with Sample Answer. This chapter dis-cussed a number of sources of American law. Which source of law takes priority in each of the following situations, and why? 1.A federal statute conflicts with the U.S. Constitution. 2 .A federal statute conflicts with a state constitution. 3 .A state statute conflicts with the common law of that state. 4 .A state constitutional amendment conflicts with the U.S. Constitution. 5. A federal administrative regulation conflicts with a state constitution.

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Q 11

Answers to the even-numbered questions in this For Review section can be found in Appendix F at the end of this text. What are some important differences between civil law and criminal law?

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Q 12

Philosophy of Law. After World War II ended in 1945, an international tribunal of judges convened at Nuremberg, Germany The judges convicted several Nazi war criminals of "crimes against humanity" Assuming that the Nazis who were convicted had not disobeyed any law of their country and had merely been following their government's (Hitler's) orders, what law had they violated? Explain.

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Q 13

Reading Citations. Assume that you want to read the court's entire opinion in the case of Menashe v. V Secret Catalogue, Inc.,. 409 IiI.Supp.2d 412 (S.D.N.Y. 2006). The case focuses on whether "SEXY LITT' E THINGS" is a suggestive or descriptive trademark and which of the parties to the suit used the mark first in commerce. (Nate that this case is presented in Chapter 5 of this text as Case 5.2.) Read the section entitled `Finding Case Law" in the appendix that follows this chapter, and then explain specifically where you would find the court's opinion.

Essay

Q 14

Stare Decisis. In the text of this chapter, we stated that the doc-trine of stare decisis "became a cornerstone of the English and U.S. judicial systems." What does stare decisis mean, and why has this doctrine been so fundamental to the development of our legal tradition?

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Q 15

Court Opinions. Read through the subsection entitled "Case Titles and 'terminology" in the appendix following this chapter. What is the difference between a concurring opinion and a majority opinion? Between a concurring opinion and a dissenting opinion? Why do judges and justices write concurring and dissenting opinions, given that these opinions will not affect the outcome of the case at hand, which has already been decided by majority vote?

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Q 16

A Question of Ethics-Stare Decisis. On July 5, 1884, Dudley, Stephens, and Brooks-"all able-bodied English seamen"-and a teenage English boy were cast adrift in a lifeboat following a storm at sea. They had no water with them in the boat, and all they had for sustenance were two onepound tins of turnips. On July 24, Dudley proposed that one of the four in the lifeboat be sacrificed to save the others. Stephens agreed with Dudley, but Brooks refused to consent- and the boy was never asked for his opinion. On July 25, Dudley killed the boy, and the three men then fed on the boy's body and blood. Four days later, the men were rescued by a passing vessel. They were taken to England and tried for the murder of the boy. If the men had not fed on the boy's body, they would probably have died of starvation within the fourday period. The boy, who was in a much weaker condition, would likely have died before the rest. [Regina v. Dudley and Stephens, 14 Q.B.D. (Queen's Bench Division, England) 273 (1884) 1. The basic question in this case is whether the survivors should be subject to penalties under English criminal law, given the men's unusual circumstances. You be the judge and decide the issue. Give the reasons for your decision. 2. Should judges ever have the power to look beyond the written "letter of the law" in making their decisions? Why or why not?

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Q 17

Critical Legal Thinking. Courts of equity tend to follow general rules or maxims rather than following common law precedent; as courts of law do. Some of these maxims were listed in this chapter's Landmark in the Law feature on page 15. Why do equity courts give credence to such general maxims rather than to a hard-and-fast body of law?

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Q 18

Critical Thinking and Writing Assignment for Business. John's company is involved in a lawsuit with a customer, Beth. John argues that for fifty years, in cases involving circumstances similar to this case, judges have ruled in a way that indicates that the judge in this case should rule in favor of John's company. Is this a valid argument? If so, must the judge in this case rule as those other judges have? What argument could Beth use to counter John's reasoning?

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