Questions and Answers of The Legal Environment

Benzaquin had a radio talk show in Boston. On the program, he complained about an incident earlier in the day, in which state trooper Fleming had stopped his car, apparently for lack of a proper
A defendant is strictly liable for harm caused by an ultrahazardous activity or a defective product.Strict liability means that if the defendant’s conduct led to the harm, the defendant is liable,
In a contributory negligence state, a plaintiff who is even slightly responsible for his own injury recovers nothing; in a comparative negligence state, the jury may apportion liability between
The plaintiff must persuade the court that he has suffered a harm that is genuine, not speculative.
For the defendant to be liable, the type of harm must have been reasonably foreseeable.
If an event physically leads to the ultimate harm, it is the factual cause.
If a legislature sets a minimum standard of care for a particular activity in order to protect a certain group of people, and a violation of the statute injures a member of that group, the defendant
Employers may be liable for negligent hiring.
A defendant breaches his duty of due care by failing to behave the way a reasonable person would under similar conditions.
If the defendant could foresee that misconduct would injure a particular person, he probably has a duty to her.
The five elements of negligence are duty of due care, breach, factual causation, foreseeable type of harm, and injury.
The related torts of privacy and publicity involve unreasonable intrusion into someone’s private life or unfair commercial exploitation by using someone’s name, likeness, or voice without
Tortious interference with business relations involves the defendant harming an existing contract or a prospective relationship that has a definite expectation of success.
Compensatory damages are the normal remedy in a tort case. In unusual cases, the court may award punitive damages to punish the defendant.
Battery is an intentional touching of another person in a way that is offensive. Assault involves an act that makes the plaintiff fear an imminent battery.
The intentional infliction of emotional distress involves extreme and outrageous conduct that causes serious emotional harm.
False imprisonment is the intentional restraint of another person without reasonable cause and without consent.
Defamation involves a false statement, likely to harm another’s reputation, which is uttered to a third person and causes an injury. Opinion and privilege are valid defenses. Public personalities
A tort is a violation of a duty imposed by the civil law.
Visit www.thomsonedu.com/westbuslaw/beatty. Find a book that was formerly censored. Find another volume that is currently banned, either in the United States or elsewhere. How have changing mores
ROLE REVERSAL Write an exam question that distinguishes between these three important Fifth Amendment protections: procedural due process, the Takings Clause, and substantive due process.
This case concerns unequal taxes on property.In Pennsylvania, a county tax commissioner appraises land, meaning that he sets a value for the land, and the owner then pays real estate taxes based on
David Lucas paid $975,000 for two residential lots on the Isle of Palms near Charleston, South Carolina. He intended to build houses on them.Two years later the South Carolina legislature passed a
Fox’s Fine Furs claims that Ermine owes$68,000 for a mink coat on which she has stopped making payments. Fox goes to court, files a complaint, and also asks the clerk to garnishee Ermine’s wages.
A federal statute prohibits the broadcasting of lottery advertisements, except by stations that broadcast in states permitting lotteries. The purpose of the statute is to support efforts of states
Gilleo opposed American participation in the war in the Persian Gulf. She displayed a large sign on her front lawn that read, “Say No to War in the Persian Gulf, Call Congress Now.” The city of
You begin work at Everhappy Corp. at the beginning of November. On your second day at work, you wear a political button on your overcoat, supporting your choice for governor in the upcoming election.
ETHICS In the landmark 1965 case of Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court examined a Connecticut statute that made it a crime for any person to use contraception. The majority declared the law
In the early 1970s, President Nixon became embroiled in the Watergate dispute. He was accused of covering up a criminal break-in at the national headquarters of the Democratic Party. Nixon denied any
President George H. W. Bush insisted that he had the power to send American troops into combat in the Middle East without congressional assent. Yet before authorizing force in Operation Desert Storm,
Dairy farming in Massachusetts became more expensive than in other states. In order to help its dairy farmers, the state began taxing all milk sales in the state, whether the milk was produced in
YOU BE THE JUDGE WRITING PROBLEM Scott Fane was a certified public accountant(CPA) licensed to practice in New Jersey and Florida. He built his New Jersey practice by making unsolicited phone calls
Michigan’s Solid Waste Management Act(SWMA) generally prohibited Michigan counties from accepting for disposal solid waste that had been generated outside that county. Fort Gratiot operated a
Generally, constitutional rights protect citizens only from the action of the government, not from actions of private organizations such as common interest developments.
The Equal Protection Clause generally requires the government to treat people equally. Courts apply strict scrutiny in any equal protection case involving race, ethnicity, or fundamental
A substantive due process analysis presumes that any economic or social regulation is valid and presumes invalid any law that infringes upon a fundamental right.
The Takings Clause prohibits a state from taking private property for public use without just compensation.
Procedural due process is required whenever the government attempts to take liberty or property. The amount of process that is due depends upon the importance of the liberty or property threatened.
Commercial speech that is false or misleading may be outlawed; otherwise, regulations on this speech must be reasonable and directed to a legitimate goal.
Obscene speech is not protected.
The government may regulate the time, place, and manner of speech.
Freedom of speech includes symbolic acts.Political speech is protected unless it is intended and likely to create imminent lawless action.
The federal courts adjudicate cases and also exercise judicial review, which is the right to declare a statute or governmental action unconstitutional and void.
The President’s key powers include making agency appointments, proposing legislation, conducting foreign policy, and acting as Commander in Chief of the armed forces.
Under the Supremacy Clause, if there is a conflict between federal and state statutes, the federal law preempts the field. Even without a conflict, federal law preempts if Congress intended to
A state may not regulate commerce in any way that will interfere with interstate commerce.
Under the Commerce Clause, Congress may regulate any activity that has a substantial effect on interstate commerce.
Article I of the Constitution creates the Congress and grants all legislative power to it.Article II establishes the office of President and defines executive powers. Article III creates the Supreme
The Constitution is a series of compromises about power.
Research some pending legislation in Congress. Go to www.thomsonedu.com/westbuslaw/beatty and click on “bills.” Choose some key words that interest you, and see what your government is doing.Read
ROLE REVERSAL Draft a multiple-choice question that highlights the path of legislation from the first congressional committee to the president’s desk.
Hiller Systems, Inc., was performing a safety inspection on board the M/V Cape Diamond, an ocean-going vessel, when an accident occurred involving the fire extinguishing equipment.Two men were
The Aviation Security Improvement Act(ASIA) states that the FAA can refuse to divulge information about airport security. The FAA interprets this to mean that it can withhold the data in spite of
A public interest group called Public Citizen, Inc., along with family members of those who had died at Lockerbie, wanted to know the details of airport security. What steps should they take to
Explain what “promulgated rules according to the informal rulemaking process” means.The following three questions begin with a deadly explosion.In 1988, terrorists bombed Pan Am Flight 103 over
Whitfield, who was black, worked for Ohio Edison. Edison fired him, but then later offered to rehire him. At about that time, another employee, representing Whitfield, argued that Edison’s original
Until recently, every state had a statute outlawing the burning of American flags. But in Texas v. Johnson,22 the Supreme Court declared such statutes unconstitutional, saying that flag burning is
Federal antitrust statutes are complex, but the basic goal is straightforward: to prevent a major industry from being so dominated by a small group of corporations that they destroy competition and
You sign a two-year lease with a landlord for an apartment. The rent will be $1,000 per month.A clause in the lease requires payment on the first of every month. The clause states that the landlord
YOU BE THE JUDGE WRITING PROBLEM An off-duty, out-of-uniform police officer and his son purchased some food from a 7-Eleven store and were still in the parking lot when a carload of teenagers became
ETHICS Suppose you were on a state supreme court and faced with a restaurant-choking case.Should you require restaurant employees to know and employ the Heimlich maneuver to assist a choking victim?
The four most important limitations on the power of federal agencies are statutory control in the enabling legislation and the APA; political control by Congress and the president; judicial review;
Agencies adjudicate cases, meaning that they hold hearings and decide issues. Adjudication generally begins with a hearing before an administrative law judge and may involve an appeal to the full
Agencies have broad investigatory powers and may use subpoenas and, in some cases, warrantless searches to obtain information.
Agencies may promulgate legislative rules, which generally have the effect of statutes, or interpretive rules, which merely interpret existing statutes.
Congress creates federal administrative agencies with enabling legislation. The Administrative Procedure Act controls how agencies do their work.
Campaign contributions and spending are largely uncontrolled.
Courts interpret a statute by using the plain meaning rule; then, if necessary, legislative history and intent; and finally, if necessary, public policy.
Bills originate in congressional committees and go from there to the full House of Representatives or Senate. If both houses pass the bill, the legislation normally must go to a Conference Committee
The common law bystander rule holds that, generally, no one has a duty to assist someone in peril unless the bystander himself created the danger.Courts have carved some exceptions during the last
The common law evolves in awkward fits and starts because courts attempt to achieve two contradictory purposes: predictability and flexibility.
Stare decisis means “let the decision stand” and indicates that once a court has decided a particular issue, it will generally apply the same rule in future cases.
Go to www.thomsonedu.com/westbuslaw/beatty and click on “Ethics Tools: Resolving Ethical Dilemmas(with Real-to-Life Examples).” Outline the steps you would take to resolve one of these dilemmas.
ROLE REVERSAL Write one or two paragraphs that could be used as an essay question describing an ethical dilemma that you have faced in your own life.
Genentech, Inc., manufactured Protropin, a genetically engineered version of the human growth hormone. This drug’s purpose was to enhance the growth of short children.Protropin was an important
Six months ago, Todd, David, and Stacey joined a large, prestigious accounting firm in Houston.On paper, these three novices look similar and each graduated from a top MBA program. All three were
Consider this complaint from an ethics professor:I make my living teaching and writing about ethics. . . . But in our own world—in our departments of philosophy and religious studies and medical
According to the Electronic Industries Association, questionable returns have become the toughest problem plaguing the consumer electronics industry. Some consumers purchase electronic equipment to
H. B. Fuller Co. of St. Paul is a leading manufacturer of industrial glues. Its mission statement says that the company “will conduct business legally and ethically.” It has endowed a university
Rap artist Ice-T and his band, Body Count, recorded a song called Cop Killer in which the singer gleefully anticipates slitting a policeman’s throat. (The lyrics to this song are available at
Mark is an executive for a multinational office equipment company that would like to enter the potentially vast Chinese market. The official tariffs on office equipment imported into China are so
Executives were considering the possibility of moving their company to a different state.They wanted to determine if employees would be willing to relocate, but they did not want the employees to
Joya is the head of the personal insurance division of a large insurance company. Six months before, she was almost promoted to vice-president, but she lost out to Bill, a colleague from another
A Harvard Business School alumna told this story about her life as an MBA student in the 1980s:During the spring of my first year, I took a Business Policy class. One of the young men in the class
The ethics checklist:• What are the facts?• What are the critical issues?• Who are the stakeholders?• What are the alternatives?• What are the ethical implications of each alternative?•
There are at least three reasons to be concerned about ethics in a business environment:• Society as a whole benefits from ethical behavior.• People feel better when they behave ethically.•
ROLE REVERSAL Write a multiple-choice question that illustrates the unique significance of summary judgment: that there is no need for a trial because there are no essential facts in dispute.
Imogene Williams sued the U.S. Elevator Corp.She claimed that when she entered one of the company’s elevators, it went up three floors but failed to open, fell several floors, stopped, and then
YOU BE THE JUDGE WRITING PROBLEM Apache Corp. and El Paso Exploration Co. operated a Texas gas well that exploded, burning out of control for over a year. More than 100 plaintiffs sued the two
Lloyd Dace worked for ACF Industries as a supervisor in the punchpress department of a carburetor factory. ACF demoted Dace to an hourly job on the assembly line, and Dace sued, claiming that ACF
Claus Scherer worked for Rockwell International and was paid more than $300,000 per year.Rockwell fired Scherer for alleged sexual harassment of several workers, including his secretary, Terry Pendy.
ETHICS Trial practice also is dramatically different in Britain. The parties’ solicitors do not go into court. Courtroom work is done by different lawyers, called barristers. The barristers are not
British discovery practice differs from that in the United States. Most discovery in Britain concerns documents. The lawyers for the two sides, called solicitors, must deliver to the opposing side a
Students are now suing schools for sexual harassment. The cases raise important issues about the limits of discovery. In a case in Petaluma, California, a girl claimed that she was harassed for years
Probationary schoolteachers sued the New Madrid, Missouri, school district, claiming that the school district refused to give them permanent jobs because of their union organizing activity. The
State which court(s) have jurisdiction as to each of these lawsuits:a. Pat wants to sue his next-door neighbor Dorothy, claiming that Dorothy promised to sell him the house next door.b. Paula, who
Solo Serve Corp. signed a lease for space in a shopping center. The lease contained this clause:“Neither Landlord nor tenant shall engage in or permit any activity at or around the Demised Premises
You plan to open a store in Chicago, specializing in beautiful rugs imported from Turkey. You will work with a native Turk who will purchase and ship the rugs to your store. You are wise enough to
An appeals court has many options. The court may affirm, upholding the lower court’s decision;modify, changing the verdict but leaving the same party victorious; reverse, transforming the loser
The verdict is the jury’s decision in a case. The losing party may ask the trial judge to overturn the verdict, seeking a judgment non obstante veredicto or a new trial. Judges seldom grant either.

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