BUSINESS LAW 5 LECTURE HIGHLIGHTS go BL5 home home page Chapter 2 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Click above to navigate to the desired chapter top Chapter 2: Resolution of Disputes, pg. 1 In this chapter, lectures zeroed in on how a lawsuit is initiated (filing a complaint and filing an answer) and what transpires between the time the answer is filed and a trial commences (if a trial does occur) which is called the discovery phase. We established an understanding that a complaint is a document that contains the plaintiff's allegations and that the plaintiff has the burden of proving the allegations at trial by a preponderance of the evidence. The allegations contained in the complaint are just that, allegations! A statement by a party in a lawsuit of what that party hopes to prove is essentially the definition of an allegation. In the answer, the defendant generally denies the allegations in the complaint. When this occurs there exists a factual dispute. However, not every lawsuit involves a factual dispute. There are some lawsuits in which both the plaintiff and the defendant agree on the facts but disagree about the law. In these situations there is not factual dispute. You are expected to understand the discovery process and what the parties are attempting to accomplish during discovery. Each side attempts to learn as much as possible about the facts of the case. The parties attempt to gather as much evidence as they can so that they can come to a realistic assessment of the facts and strength or weakness in their and the opponent's case. How is this accomplished? Interrogatories, depositions, admissions and requests for the production of documents are the means used to discover evidence. Interrogatories is an inexpensive to obtain information. Only a party to the lawsuit can be served with interrogatories. A Deposition is a procedure wherein the deponent must answer questions under oath. It provides an opportunity to assess how the deponent will do when testifying at trial. A deposition is an effective discovery tool but can be quite expensive. The lawyer(s) must be paid and the deposition transcript (which is prepared by the court reporter who was present at the deposition) can be quite costly. A Request For Admissions is an attempt to narrow the issues in the lawsuit by getting the other party to admit to certain facts. When this occurs, it takes less time to try the actual case because the need to prove the facts that have been admitted is no longer necessary. A Request For the Production of Documents can prove quite valuable to the requesting party when documents are produced that assisting proving some or all of the contested facts. Pre Trial Motions There was also discussion about the types of pre trial motions that are filed and what a party filing such a motion is attempting to accomplish.Motion to Dismiss, Motion For Summary Judgment, Demurrer are the more common pretrial motions that parties file. A pretrial motion that is granted by the trial court will result in an early victory in favor of the party that filed it and obviously eliminate the need to proceed further to trial. Students are expected to know the difference between the various types of pretrial motions. Filed after plaintiff files complaint Motion to Dismiss but before answer Motion for Judgment Filed after both complaint and on the pleadings answer are on file Specific type of Motion to Dismiss Demurrer (failure to state valid claim) Motion for Summary Based on there being no triable Judgment issue of fact A trial is a contest between the parties with each trying to prove the facts that best support their own position, and with each trying to disprove the facts being relied on by the opponent. As previously discussed, not every fact in every lawsuit is the subject of a dispute. In some cases, the parties agree to the facts (stipulate to the facts). There are motions that are raised in connection with the trial: • General verdict : Jury decides who wins and how much compensation should be given • Special verdict : Jury decides only the facts (who to believe) and judge applies the law • Directed verdict : It is a request of the judge to rule in favor of moving party. This is done before case reaches jury and is done to avoid having the jury reach the decision • Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict : This is a judgment NOV and is a request of the judge that she enter a verdict in favor of the moving party in spite of the fact fact the jury has already ruled otherwise. • Motion for New Trial : This motion can be predicated on any of several reasons (new evidence, attorney misconduct, misapplication of the law, etc.) Briefing the Cases Case briefing is an essential component to this class. Much time was devoted to a discussion of the importance of learning how to brief cases and why each student should make the effort to learn the technique. By briefing cases a student will better understand the issues presented in the case and will be in a better position to do well on the quizzes because I will allow students to use the case brief templates when taking the quizzes Emphasis was placed on the fact that briefing cases is a learned technique and that - with some hard work and focus - this technique can be learned with the first few weeks of the semester. The Procedural History of the particular case is covered in the left column of the template. Pretrial motions and their outcome, verdicts at trial (and whether the trial was a jury or court trial) and the appellate history of the particular case are all covered in this section of the case brief template. To find this information should not be difficult. Once you locate it, merely fill in the template. By knowing which party prevailed and at what stage of the proceeding the party prevailed should help to give you a better overall view of the particular case you are reading. The Substantive aspect of the case is dealt with in the right hand column of the template. The substantive aspects of the case have to do with the alleged and/or stipulated facts, proven facts, and the law that the court applies (applicable rule of law)or instructs the jury to apply in resolving the case. Some cases will involve disputes wherein the plaintiff and defendant agree to the facts (meaning the facts are stipulated) and the dispute will involve the law. In other cases, the plaintiff and defendant will dispute one another's version of the facts. When this happens, the trier of fact (jury or judge depending on whether it is a court or jury trial) will be obliged to decide what actually happened (what the facts are) before the law can be applied. As you become more familiar with the briefing process, you will not have any difficulty knowing the difference between stipulated facts and a factual dispute. Cases are decided by an application of the law to the facts of the particular case. The source of the applied law is either the Restatement, the Uniform Commercial Code, and/or precedent (case law). The law that is applied to the case will be in the form of a rule of law (rol). I expect you to know the rule of law in each and every assigned primary case! top Chapter 9: Introduction to Contracts, pg. 18 In this chapter we cover a substantial amount of new vocabulary. Terms such as valid contract, void agreement, executory contract, partially executed and partially executory contract, unenforceable contract, voidable contract, unilateral contract and bilateral contract are discussed among other definitions. I emphasize that it is your responsibility to learn the vocabulary terms and that these terms will (in one form or another) appear on your unit examination. Chapter nine serves as a window to the contract law that will be covered over the course of the semester. Each of the assigned chapters coversa particular component of a contract and it is only after we complete chapter 18 that we are able to look back and fully understand the many elements that make up a valid contract. We address the distinction between a promise and a contract. We learn that every contract contains promises (express or implied) but that every promise or exchange of promises do not necessarily create a contract. A contract is an agreement which both parties intend to be a binding legal commitment. A contract creates both legal rights and duties and is enforceable in a court of law. Thus, an agreement between two friends to meet for lunch at a given place and time would be an agreement but not an enforceable contract because it is most reasonable to infer that they merely intended a social meeting or commitment. Fairness & Equity The concepts of Promissory Estoppel and Quasi Contract are also discussed in this chapter. These contract principles are applied in circumstances when no valid contract has been formed between the parte is and when unfairness would result if the court chose to do nothing at all (because there was no valid contract). Quasi contract (implied in law contract) recovery occurs if, according to the facts of the particular case, one party would otherwise be unjustly enriched at the expense of the other party. This involves circumstances where one party provides something of value to the other and both parties know (or should know) that the person who provided the benefit did so with the expectation of being paid.