Essentials Business Law I Essentials OpenStax Rice University 6100 Main Street MS-375 Houston, Texas 77005 To learn more about OpenStax, visit https://openstax.org. Individual print copies and bulk orders can be purchased through our website. ©2019 Rice University. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). 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The future of education. openstax.org TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface 1 1 American Law, Legal Reasoning, and the Legal System 3 1.1 Basic American Legal Principles 3 1.2 Sources and Types of Law 5 1.3 Important Business Laws and Regulations 7 2 Disputes and Dispute Settlement 15 2.1 Negotiation 15 2.2 Mediation 19 2.3 Arbitration 22 3 Business Ethics and Social Responsibility 31 3.1 Business Ethics 31 3.2 Social Responsibility 35 4 Business and the United States Constitution 43 4.1 Commerce Clause 43 4.2 Constitutional Protections 47 5 Criminal Liability 53 5.1 Common Business Crimes 53 5.2 Civil vs: Criminal Liability 57 6 The Tort System 63 6.1 Intentional Torts and Negligence 63 6.2 Product and Strict Liability 67 7 Contract Law 75 7.1 Consideration and Promissory Estoppel 75 7.2 Capacity and Legality 78 7.3 Breach of Contract and Remedies 80 8 Sales Contracts 85 8.1 The Nature and Origins of Sales Contracts 85 8.2 Warranties and Sales Contracts 91 9 Employment and Labor Law 97 9.1 Employment, Worker Protection, and Immigration Law 97 9.2 Labor Law 101 9.3 Equal Opportunity in Employment 105 10 Government Regulation 113 10.1 Administrative Law 113 10.2 Regulatory Agencies 117 11 Antitrust Law 123 11.1 History of Antitrust Law 123 11.2 Antitrust Laws 127 12 Unfair Trade Practices and the Federal Trade Commission 133 12.1 Unfair Trade Practices 133 12.2 The Federal Trade Commission 136 13 International Law 141 13.1 Introduction to International Law 141 13.2 Sources and Practice of International Law 145 14 Securities Regulation 151 14.1 Liability Under the Securities Act 151 14.2 The Framework of Securities Regulation 154 This OpenStax book is available for free at http://cnx.org/content/col30149/1.5 Index 167 This OpenStax book is available for free at http://cnx.org/content/col30149/1.5 Preface 1 Preface Welcome to Business Law I Essentials, an OpenStax resource. 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Format You can access this textbook for free in web view or PDF through openstax.org, and for a low cost in print. 2 Preface About Business Law I Essentials Business Law I Essentials is a brief introductory textbook designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of courses on Business Law or the Legal Environment of Business. The concepts are presented in a streamlined manner, and cover the key concepts necessary to establish a strong foundation in the subject. The textbook follows a traditional approach to the study of business law. Each chapter contains learning objectives, explanatory narrative and concepts, references for further reading, and end-of-chapter questions. Business Law I Essentials may need to be supplemented with additional content, cases, or related materials, and is offered as a foundational resource that focuses on the baseline concepts, issues, and approaches. 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