Instructor’s Manual Gregory Cermignano Widener University
The Legal Environment of Business and Online Commerce Sixth Edition
Henry R. Cheeseman
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CONTENTS Chapter 1: Legal Heritage and the Information Age
1
Chapter 2: Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
7
Chapter 3: Court Systems and Administrative Law
13
Chapter 4: Alternative, Judicial, and E-Dispute Resolution
27
Chapter 5: Constitutional Law for Business and E-Commerce
33
Chapter 6: Torts and Strict Liability
43
Chapter 7: Criminal Law and Cyber Crimes
57
Chapter 8: International and World Trade Law
65
Chapter 9: Formation of Traditional and E-Contracts
72
Chapter 10: Performance of Traditional and E-Contracts
89
Chapter 11: Cyber Law and E-Commerce
107
Chapter 12: Sales, Leases, and Warranties
116
Chapter 13: Credit, Secured Transactions, and Bankruptcy
137
Chapter 14: Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses
156
Chapter 15: LLCs, LLPs, and Global Forms of Business
167
Chapter 16: Corporations and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
182
Chapter 17: Investor Protection and E-Securities Transactions
199
Chapter 18: Agency Law
212
Chapter 19: Equal Opportunity in Employment
222
Chapter 20: Employment Compensation and Worker Protection Law
232
Chapter 21: Labor and Immigration Law
238
Chapter 22: Intellectual Property and Cyber Piracy
247
Chapter 23: Antitrust Law and Unfair Trade Practices
257
Chapter 24: Consumer Protection and Global Product Safety
269
Chapter 25: Environmental Protection and Global Warming
275
Chapter 26: Estates, Leaseholds, and Regulation of Property
284
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PREFACE I am proud to be part of the team that supports the Cheeseman business law texts. Professor Cheeseman has done a wonderful job in writing The Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business and Online Commerce, Sixth Edition. In the supplements, I strive to add value to the tremendous amount of material already contained in the text. The Instructor’s Resource Manual has been divided into five parts. I. Teacher-to-Teacher Dialogue This portion of the manual allows me to personally communicate what I believe are some of the overriding teaching issues in each chapter and how teaching those issues have worked for me. I bring well over 20 years of teaching experience to this project, but know that I do not have all the answers about how material should be presented in class. By continuing this dialogue format, I want to encourage further exchange of information—teaching information, philosophies, and pedagogies. Each of us has unique contributions to bring to undergraduate law teaching, and this is my attempt to stimulate an exchange of viewpoints among our colleagues. I welcome your suggestions. I can be contacted at gpcermignano@mail.widener.edu. Some teaching tips have also been added throughout the text indicated by an→. These tips add even more value to the material to which they are attached. They include suggestions that have worked for some. II. Topic Outlines These are outlines that can be used by the professor as a point of reference or as part of a presentation. They are in boxed format so they can be used as an outline or as part of a power point presentation. They cover most of the main topics in a chapter and are meant to supplement an individual professor’s presentation. III. Text Materials Text materials are arranged in the order they appear in the text. So, for example, there might be a box, a case, a landmark statute, etc. Hopefully this will make the manual easier to work with as it exactly follows the text. The Cheeseman texts are famous for its boxes that include Contemporary Trends, Business Ethics, International Law, and Internet Laws & On-Line Commerce. Another feature of the Cheeseman text is current cases. These cases are briefed in this manual for reference purposes. IV. Answers to Legal Environment Cases At the end of each chapter, Professor Cheeseman has a number of critical legal thinking cases. Answers to these appear in section IV. If the cases are based on scenarios that are not actually decided cases, that information is also indicated. V. Answers to Business Ethics Cases At the end of each chapter, Professor Cheeseman has a number of business ethics cases. Answers to these appear in Section V. If these cases are based on scenarios that are not actually decided cases, that information is also indicated. ..
Chapter 1 Legal Heritage and the Information Age
What is the meaning of, “It’s the law”?
I. Teacher to Teacher Dialogue One of the most common dilemmas facing instructors of business law is the issue of topic choice. By the very nature of the subjects we teach, the breadth of materials is so wide that choosing what to focus on in the limited classroom time we have with our students can be a most daunting task. This problem is especially exacerbated when the topics we are dealing with are all of deep interest and can stand alone as separate courses. In this chapter, for example, we are asked to introduce students to topics ranging from the definitions and purposes of law to how our system affects business decisions, to some of the most important provisions found in the U.S. Constitution. Any one of these subparts can provide the raw materials for an entire course at the law school level. Our job must start with a self-evident, but sometimes forgotten, point: this is not law school. We are here not to train future lawyers but rather students who need to know enough about these issues to recognize that they are issues. The technical legal problems they may be facing later will ultimately need to be resolved using law and other practitioners. The plus side of this dilemma is that because we have such a diverse menu to select from, we are able to pick and choose our areas of emphasis. For example, if your particular teaching and research interests lie in the area of ethics and the schools of jurisprudential thought from which they are derived, then by all means, run with it! Rather than trying to be all things to all people, it is better to focus your efforts on your strengths. This does not mean that you can shortchange the other material. All key objectives of the chapter should be fully outlined and incorporated in both your lecture and materials outline. But if you have a particular interest and expertise in, for example, the Law and Economics School of jurisprudential thought, then use them as focal points of comparison in the evolutionary process that seeks to distinguish the older schools of jurisprudence from newer approaches to these issues. In any event, remember that philosophical studies of what law is and what its role is in the larger scheme of things have always posed questions virtually impossible to answer. This chapter represents attempts by great thinkers to answer the unanswerable. It would be far too presumptuous for us to think that we can teach, in a few hours, what the great philosophers of the world have tried to do over hundreds of years. Perhaps this is an early lesson in what wisdom is really all about: the more we know of history, the more we know of our own limitations. If we can get that point across, the course is off to a good start.
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Legal Heritage and the Information Age
II.
Topic Outline
What Is Law? ❖ The law consists of rules that regulate the conduct of individuals, businesses, and other organizations within society ❖ It is intended to protect persons and their property against unwanted interference from others ❖ The law forbids persons from engaging in certain undesirable activities ❖ It is often fair (but not always) ❖ The Law must be flexible
Functions of Law (1 of 3) ❖ Keeping the peace ❖ Including making certain activities crimes ❖ Shaping moral standards ❖ e.g., enacting laws that discourage drug and alcohol abuse ❖ Promoting social justice ❖ e.g., enacting statutes that prohibit discrimination in employment
Functions of Law (2 of 3) ❖ Maintaining the status quo ❖ e.g., passing laws preventing the forceful overthrow of the government ❖ Facilitating orderly change ❖ e.g., passing statutes only after considerable study, debate, and public input ❖ Providing a basis for compromise ❖ approximately 90 percent of all lawsuits are settled prior to trial
Functions of Law (3 of 3) ❖ Facilitating planning ❖ e.g., well-designed commercial laws allow businesses to plan their activities, allocate their resources, and assess their risks ❖ Maximizing individual freedom ❖ e.g., the rights of freedom of speech, religion, and association granted by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Case: ❖ Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ❖ Supreme Court reversed prior precedent of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ❖ Court held that the separate but equal doctrine violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution ❖ The case demonstrates that one Supreme Court can overrule prior Supreme Court cases to promote justice
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