Semester:             Spring 2004                                                                                                                         Version:  (01/15/04)

Course:                 BUSN 440 The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business [Harrogate]

                                BUSN 440Z  Senior Writing Requirement

Time:                     Thursday 6:30 – 9:15 p.m.

Instructor:            Melinda G. Hickman, J.D. Office:                    DB 317                  

Telephone:            423-869-6264

                                                                                                E-Mail:  ozlaws63@yahoo.com OR hickmanm@lmunet.edu

                                                                                                Webpage:              http://sharepoint.lmunet.edu/hickmanm

 

Description:         Survey of legal issues directly relating to business including the court system, legal forms of business, torts, contracts, strict and vicarious liability, product liability, and federal and state regulation of business activities. 

3  credit hours.

 

Goals:                    This class will help students to develop a level of understanding of

·         the U.S. court system

·         the major legal systems of the U.S. and the world

·         government regulation of business

·         business formation

·         torts

·         business crimes

·         contracts and remedies for breach

·         the U.C.C. and contracts

·         product liability

As well as a level of practice experience in

·         working in small groups

·         analyzing legal decisions

·         analyzing and forming legal arguments

·         informal and formal presentations

 

Text:                       Business Law Today:  The Essentials, 6th Ed., Miller & Jentz, Thomson-Southwestern, 2002.

Materials:             Business Law Today on the Web:  http://blt.westbuslaw.com

                                Serpent on the Rock:  Crime, Betrayal, and the Terrible Secrets of Prudential Bache, Kurt Eichenwald, 1995.

 

Re Disability:       “Any student with a disability requiring accommodation(s) should make an appointment with the Vice President for Student Affairs (423-869-6393) to discuss specific needs.”

Academic

Integrity:               It is the aim of the faculty of Lincoln Memorial University to foster a spirit of complete honesty and a high standard of integrity.  The attempt of any student to present as her/his own any work which he/she has not honestly performed is regarded by the faculty and administration as a very serious offense and renders the offender liable to severe consequences and possible suspension.

                                1.   Cheating: dishonesty of any kind on examinations or written assignments, unauthorized possession of examination questions, the use of unauthorized notes during an examination, obtaining information during an examination from another student, assisting others to cheat, altering grade records, or illegally entering an office are instances of cheating.

                                                2.   Plagiarism: offering the work of another as one’s own without proper acknowledgment is plagiarism; therefore, any student who fails to give credit for quotations or essentially identical material taken from books, magazines, encyclopedias, web sources or other reference works, or from the themes, reports, or other writing of a fellow student has committed plagiarism.  (LMU Catalog)

 

Plagiarism:          Anti-plagiarism software licensed by Lincoln Memorial University for faculty use may be used to evaluate writing assignments in this class.

 

Grading:                                                                                A             95-100                                     A-            90-94

B+           88-89                                       B             85-87                                       B-            80-84      

C+           78-79                                       C             75-77                                       C-            70-74

D+           68-69                                       D             65-67                                       D-            60-64

F              0-59

 

Requirements:     Attendance             5%                        Participation                          15%                        Homework             20%

                                Examinations         30%                        Analytical Paper                   20%                        Readings               10%

 

Schedule:

Date

Discussion

Assigned

DUE

01/15

Introduction

Read Chapter 1    

Definitions:  Chapter 1

Preview:  Chapter 1

 

01/22

Chapter 1:  The Historical and Constitutional Foundations

Read Chapter 2

Definitions:  Chapter 2

Preview:  Chapter 2

Analytical Paper: Topic

Definitions:  Chapter 1

Preview:  Chapter 1

 

01/29

Chapter 2:  Ethics and Social Responsibility

Read Chapter 3

Definitions:  Chapter 3

Preview:  Chapter 3

Definitions:  Chapter 2

Preview:  Chapter 2

 

02/05

Chapter 3:  Traditional and Online Dispute Resolution

Read Chapter 4

Definitions:  Chapter 4

Preview:  Chapter 4

Reading Assignment #1

Reading Assignment #2

Definitions:  Chapter 3

Preview:  Chapter 3

Analytical Paper: Problem

  Statement and Questions

02/12

Chapter 4:  Torts, Intellectual Property, and Internet Law

Read Chapter 5

Definitions:  Chapter 5

Preview:  Chapter 5

Definitions:  Chapter 4

Preview:  Chapter 4

02/19

Chapter 5:  Criminal Law    

 

Definitions:  Chapter 5

Preview:  Chapter 5

02/26

Examination 1:  Chapters 1-5          

Read Chapter 6

Definitions:  Chapter 6

Preview:  Chapter 6

 

03/04

Chapter 6:  Contracts:  Nature, Classification, Agreement,

  .and Consideration

Read Chapter 7

Definitions:  Chapter 7

Preview:  Chapter 7

Definitions:  Chapter 6

Preview:  Chapter 6

 

03/11

Chapter 7:  Contracts:  Capacity, Legality, Assent, and Form

Read Chapter 8

Definitions:  Chapter 8

Preview:  Chapter 8

Definitions:  Chapter 7

Preview:  Chapter 7

Reading Assignment #1

03/18

Chapter 8:  Contracts:  Third Party Rights, Discharge,

  Breach, and Remedies

Read Chapter 9

Definitions:  Chapter 9

Preview:  Chapter 9

Read Chapter 10

Definitions:  Chapter 10

Preview:  Chapter 10

Definitions:  Chapter 8

Preview:  Chapter 8

Analytical Paper:  Rough Draft

03/26

Spring Break – No Class

 

 

04/01

Chapter 9:  Sales and Leases:  Formation, Title, and Risk

Chapter 10:  Sales and Leases:  Performance and Breach

 

Definitions:  Chapter 9

Preview:  Chapter 9

Definitions:  Chapter 10

Preview:  Chapter 10

04/08

Examination 2:  Chapters 6-10

Read Chapter 11

Definitions:  Chapter 11

Preview:  Chapter 11

 

04/15

Chapter 11:  Warranties, Product Liability, and Consumer Law

Read Chapter 15  

Definitions:  Chapter 15

Preview:  Chapter 15

Read Chapter 16

Definitions:  Chapter 16

Preview:  Chapter 16

Read Chapter 20

Definitions:  Chapter 20

Preview:  Chapter 20

Definitions:  Chapter 11

Preview:  Chapter 11


 

04/22

Chapter 15:  The Entrepreneur’s Options

Chapter 16:  Corporations

Chapter 20:  Antitrust Law

Read Chapter 18

Definitions:  Chapter 18

Preview:  Chapter 18

Read Chapter 19

Definitions:  Chapter 19

Preview:  Chapter 19

Definitions:  Chapter 15

Preview:  Chapter 15

Definitions:  Chapter 16

Preview:  Chapter 16

Definitions:  Chapter 20

Preview:  Chapter 20

Analytical Paper:  Final Draft

04/29

Chapter 18:  Agency and Employment

Chapter 19:  Employment Discrimination

 

Definitions:  Chapter 18

Preview:  Chapter 18

Definitions:  Chapter 19

Preview:  Chapter 19

Reading Assignment #2

05/06

Final Examination:  Chapters 1-11, 15-16, 18-20