Chapter 1:

Law is the uniform set of rules the public deems acceptable enough to follow. The law is used to
resolve disagreements between people, change socially accepted behavior, and limit damaging
activities hindering sociopolitical goals. There are two types of law, one is enacted directly,
whereas the other is developed through cultural practices and values.
Solve disagreements, limit damaging behavior, integrity control, and change socially accepted
behavior. (keeps economy SLICK)
Law is a way to change social values and resolve disagreements. For example, businesses keep
the resolution of disputes professional when they are private through alternative laws. Other
public disputes are made more accessible to reach resolutions.
Lower-income countries often evade the law or have no legal system to determine acceptable
behavior. A natural disaster in Haiti caused many officials to put a price tag on help going to
those in need. Higher-income countries have more stable governments who are legally required
to help without payment. In other words, a stricter legal system increases living standards.
The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land that separates the government into three
distinct branches, the judicial, executive, and legislative (JEL). The constitution assigns powers
to different areas of the government.
State constitutions are longer, easier to change, and assign powers to the (JEL).
The legislative branch includes Congress, who have all power to craft the instructions and
penalties of federal statutory law. Also, they can give power to the executive branch to make
administrative agencies and pass laws to enforce their actions.
The executive branch has the President, who signs or vetoes the laws Congress passes. The
president can create new laws requiring agencies to do something within their scope. The chief
executive assigns the duties these agencies can perform.
The judicial branch includes the courts, which check the other branches to ensure their actions
are legal. The judicial branch also creates new common laws to stand on previously made
decisions from similar cases. Precedents are used to make new law under stare decisis to keep
the legal system updated and fair.
Davis V. Baugh was first held in a trial court, where a hired contractor, Baugh, was not found
liable for their faulty pipe installation because the previous similar precedent decided contractors
were not liable once work was fully accepted. However, the appeal to the Supreme Court found
the Davis party liable. The previous precedent no longer applies when fully inspecting the
contractor's work is complicated due to modern construction, which is obscured underground.
Public law governs rules on legal ties between different people, while private law resolves
common law disagreements between different people's relationships. Criminal law is used to
prosecute people who break the rules, resulting in a fine and/or imprisonment via felonies or
misdemeanors when guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Lastly, civil law can protect the inherent
duties/rights people have when lesser evidence suggests a fault to an injured party that makes
them stop doing an action or pay. The substantive law is the law courts enforce after the
procedural law is followed in hearings, documents, and lawsuit filing.
International law related to entire countries uses court codes to decide cases and is about treaties
and trade agreements. Businesses are required to follow the law where they are located and
founded in.
Successful use of ethics occurs when professionals follow and apply the correct behavior society
expects of them with high morality to create integrity. Big businesses are viewed poorly.
Companies create compliance programs and codes to ensure their employees follow laws and
correct behavior in online education for legal protection of the brand.
Lamson V. Crater Lake Motors was a case where Lamson claimed the company was falsely
advertising all cars on sale. He argued the company illegally fired him for calling them out
because he wasn’t willing to sell customers cars with hidden costs and false advertising.
However, the court didn’t find any wrongdoing enough to justify wrongful discharge because the
legal rules are separate from the ethical wrongdoing the company did.

Chapter 2:
Lower courts of original jurisdiction are trial courts where cases are first brought to find the facts
that the law needs to be applied to. Appellate jurisdiction courts confirm or reverse lower court
decisions.
After the President appoints a federal judge, a two-thirds vote from the U.S. Senate guarantees
their lifetime position unless Congress impeaches them.
State judges serve fixed 1–11-year terms to award higher in lawsuits for injuries when elected
and prefer in-state companies over out-of-state when appointed.
All judges are protected from lawsuits over their decisions to maintain a neutral and
objective analysis.
Hartsoe V. Christopher: Hartsoe sued state judge Christopher in federal and state courts because
he claimed his decision violated several constitutional rights. The state judge was granted
judicial immunity because the decision he reached was not unlawful or beyond his power.
There is at least one of the 94 federal district courts called first trial courts in each state where
judges verify the facts or direct magistrates to reach a decision.
Cases first tried in federal district courts can be appealed to at least one of the 12 federal courts
of appeals in the circuit location where most final decisions are made. All judges within the
circuit are rarely used to resolve cases via en banc proceedings.
Specialized federal courts have the limited right to decide cases. The federal appeals courts hear
cases from the FDC over copyright issues and issues related to tax and trade.
The U.S. Supreme Court hears about 70-80 cases from each term that begin on the first Monday
of October and March in Washington, D.C. Unless more 4 or more of the nine justices accept the
writ of certiorari from the FCA’s, FDC’s, and the highest courts, the lower decision made is final.
The typical state court system has a general district court to correct the facts of a case for
amounts over $2,000 to $5,000, where a decision can be appealed to a state appellate court or
straight to the state supreme court to review the law.
Small claims courts are practically cheap district courts that are convenient for resolving cases
for sums less than $5,000 to $10,000 because attorneys are not required, and appeals restart the
cases from the beginning (trial de novo).
Courts must obtain jurisdiction over the person/property, and the constitution/statute subject
matter to make valid case decisions
Subject-matter jurisdiction: Requirements on the amount in the dispute and the areas of law
the court can cover.
The constitution claims that when the U.S. is a party and at least one person is an out-of-state
resident seeking over $75,000 or the question is federal, the power to decide the federal outcome
is obtained (subject-matter jurisdiction).
Parties in international contracts state where disputes will be made. The London commercial
court has one judge who quickly decides the loser who must pay the attorney fees and applies the
same precedents made uniformly to the rest of the world.
Personal jurisdiction over defendants occurs when notified in a summons to appear before the
court while traveling through the state, if business is done, or agreed to by contract.
Out-of-state businesses are summoned by courts through the long arm statute if they are in the
state where the business was founded, once operated, or located near the main headquarters.
Indirect physical sales with contacts are enough to long-arm, but not when purely informational.
There needs to be proof that transactions are being made to subject them to long-arm.
Blimka V. My Web Wholesaler LLC: Blimka sued My Web Wholesaler because she made a
transaction for products over the phone and didn’t receive the quality discussed. The court
claimed enough contact was made to summon the company to a hearing where they were forced
to reward Blimka for fraud.
In rem jurisdiction allows courts to resolve disputes on physical and nonphysical property where
the property is originally located regardless of where the owners are situated.
Federal courts can only hear cases related to federal crimes, patents, copyright, and federal
questions, whereas states can only hear cases related to adoption and divorce. Federal law always
overrides the laws of the state legislature when conflicts arise.
Concurrent jurisdiction exists when federal and state courts can hear a case involving diversity of
citizenship with claims over $75,000, unless the issue is exclusively federal, or state courts are
historically deemed inappropriate. The plaintiff’s choice of court depends on their prosecutors'
familiarity with the law, rules of procedure, local relationships with state judges, and whether the
location is placed in the defendant's state home to avoid appeals to the federal court.
For concurrent jurisdiction, the applied law is the most relevant law that influences the case’s
outcome or is needed to resolve the dispute. If the issue involves common law (adaptable law to
historical decisions), then federal courts only apply state statutory and common law unless the
issue is constitutional. Federal courts cannot make up their common law.
Erie RR Co. V. Tompkins: Tompkins sued Erie RR Co. for damages after an object that stuck out
from a train struck him while he was walking along the tracks at night. He sought over $75,000
in damages and the diversity-of-citizenship was granted by a federal court because the train
company was founded in New York and the plaintiff lived in Pennsylvania. The court settlement,
which applied federal common law to claim that Erie was responsible, was reversed after Erie
appealed because federal courts are only supposed to apply state common laws unless the issue is
constitutional. The Supreme Court reversed the decision as a result.
When injuries occur in multiple states, conflict-of-law rules state the origin of where the contract
was made is the applicable law unless a preference is explicitly stated. However, plaintiffs who
claim to suffer an injury somehow apply the law exactly where the injury occurred or where it is
most relevant to the outcome of the dispute at hand.
Venue referring to the appropriate location for a lawsuit can be changed if a forum selection
clause exists, if the defendant requests a change for fairness, or under the doctrine of forum non
conveniens where a court considers event location, witnesses, and party burdens to determine a
convenient court to be used instead after dismissal.
Always choose the option that has most right answers included.