Business Law Exam Questions and Answers Get an A (2025 Latest version).

Business Law Exam Questions and Answers Get an A (2025 Latest version). why do legal systems evolve? to encourage and promote stability and order define law a body of enforceable rules which govern relationships among and between individuals and society defin substantive law create rights, duties, and privileges consistent with public policy at the time of enactment examples of substantive law legislative acts and judicial pronouncements define procedural laws allow institutions to control their internal functions examples of public law Constitutional law, Administrative law, and Criminal law define public law involves cases or controversies involving a legislative body as a party or as the administrator of a legal process examples of private law Contracts, Torts, Property define private law the injured party seeks to recover for an injury from the party causing the injury define common law came from England. rules and analytical methods used by judges became law define civil law civil law countries have codified their laws US and State Constitutions the basis of the legal system. they represent supreme law other legislative acts must... be consistent with the Constitution or be rendered void constitutions prevail over statutes statutes prevail over judicial decisions vertical division of powers the federal government has limited authority to interfere in state matters horizontal division of powers the branches of government have separate functions and may exercise checks and balances over the other branches define judicial review the power of the judiciary to review the actions of the other branches and to set them aside if in violation of the Constitution What does legislation include? acts and orders of legislative bodies: Congress, state legislatures, city councils criminal and taxing laws are... narrowly construed remedial statues are... broadly construed uniform state laws enacted by the federal government or proposed by the NCCUSL define stare decisis once a case has established a precedent, it should be followed in subsequent cases involving the same issues common law courts are bound by stare decisis... unless a court decides a precedent should no longer be followed inherent problem in case law: not compiled in a coherent fashion, the sheer volume means most lawyers do not know the law at any given time. precedents conflict and may be cited by opposing lawyers in a particular case which state's laws apply when a transaction involves more than one state? the substantive law of the appropriate state may be used in a foreign jurisdiction, but the forum may use its procedural laws. define natural law a system of ethics and morals inherent in human nature define legal positivism posits the only rights we have come from the state define legal realism the development of the law is shaped by social and technological forces define remedy allows a litigant to enforce or to be compensated for an injury to a right or privilege two types of remedies legal or equitable equitable remedies: injunctions, decrees, specific performance, rescission/reformation of a contract, etc. if the remedy at law was inadequate... a litigant may seek a remedy in equity criminal law does public policy consider the wrong as one against society as a whole civil law does public policy consider the wrong as one against an individual private law the dispute is between private individuals public law the government is involved in the dispute national law the dispute involves the law of a particular nation international law the dispute involves the interests or agreements between more than one nation why do courts exist? to provide resolution to disputes which cannot be settled by an agreement between the parties what are three great powers judges have in our system? judicial review; interpretation of statutes; and creation of law thru precedent trial judges preside over trials. they hear testimony and make evidentiary and other legal rulings. trial judges exercise original jurisdiction over disputes and act as protectors of constitutional limitations and guarantees of litigants appellate judges review trial proceedings for errors of law or facts which prevented a litigant from receiving a fair trial. rarely deal with litigants. reviewing courts issue opinions which affect society as a whole by... affecting similar cases in the future what do trial judges study? witnesses and use their experience to prepare for their decisions what do appellate judges study? briefs, the trial record, and evaluate oral arguments to reach their decisions what document gives the right to trial by jury? first arises in the Magna Carta jury in civil matters? in some states, the plaintiff must request and pay a fee for a jury trial define quotient verdicts non-unanimous verdicts if a criminal jury is less than twelve jurors... the verdict must be unanimous voir dire questioning a prospective juror looking for bias each court must have jurisdiction over two things in order to hear the case jurisdiction over the subject matter and the litigants diversity of citizenship exists... where all of the plaintiffs reside in states different from those of all the defendants appeals to Circuit Courts... are by right appeals to the Supreme Court... are by writs of certiorari how many justices does it take to decide a case will be heard by the Supreme Court? 4 if the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy... the matter was filed in a law court (money) if a legal remedy was considered inadequate... the plaintiff sought an equitable remedy types of equitable remedies: injunctions, decrees, specific performance procedures for equity courts to decide cases: equity will not suffer a right to exist without a remedy, where there is equal equity law must prevail, those who come into equity must do so with clean hands who is the plaintiff in a criminal prosecution? the State or Federal government who is the plaintiff in a civil prosecution? a private entity: a person, a group, or a business define appellant the party bringing the appeal define appellee the party responding to the appeal define standing to maintain a law suit, the plaintiff must have a stake in the outcome can standing ever be waived? no, it is always at issue define jurisdiction the power to hear the case and grant a remedy two components of jurisdiction personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction define personal jurisdiction the ability of the court to compel the appearance of the parties in court and impose a remedy on the defendant how is jurisdiction over the defendant accomplished? by serving a summons define long-arm statute allows the court to exercise jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant if it comports with notions of fairness and substantial justice. the defendant must have sufficient minimum contacts with the forum state define venue has the suit been filed in the proper territorial area? venue is proper where... the case arose or where the defendant lives define complaint a document containing a statement of the plaintiff's reasons for suing the defendant define answer defendants response to plaintiff's allegations and any defenses available to the defendant define discovery procedures to uncover facts known or held by the adverse party, ensures all of the evidence is available to both parties what is the function of the jury? to decide which party has met its burden of proof on a question of fact define voir dire a process by which the judge and counsel examine a prospective juror to determine fairness and impartiality define peremptory challenges can dismiss a juror just because, judge cannot overrule and other side cannot object define direct examination no leading questions are allowed. a party subjects its witnesses to direct examination define cross examination leading questions are permitted. adverse witnesses are subject to cross examination define directed verdict a motion which asks the court to rule in its favor as a matter of law name two options for the losing party move for a new trial, or for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict define judgement notwithstanding the verdict a reasonable jury would not have reached the result based upon the evidence appellate court reviews... legal questions and factual errors which amount to errors of law name three votes for the appellate court affirm, reverse, or remand what document regulates the lives of citizenry? the Bill of Rights number of Senators... based on two per state number of Representatives... based on decennial census federal powers: regulate interstate and international commerce, borrow money on the credit of the US, establish bankruptcy laws, issue patents and copyrights state powers: regulate public safety, health, welfare and morals, allow state to regulate business define privileges and immunities clause intended to protect nonresidents from discrimination by the states in the nonresident's dealings with residents define full faith and credit clause judicial acts and rights secured in one state are honored in all states commerce clause gives Congress the broadest authority to regulate commerce among the states and business active commerce clause are the goods moving in interstate commerce or is the intrastate activity, in the aggregate, likely to have a substantial impact on interstate commerce? dormant commerce clause used to prevent one state from discriminating against business emanating from another state supremacy clause the US Constitution and the laws made thereunder are the supreme law of the land Preemption Doctrine to the extent the two regulations overlap, the federal law applies strict scrutiny test is the state's action necessary to accomplish a compelling state interest and is it the least burdensome means to achieve that interest? intermediate scrutiny is the state's action substantially related to an important governmental interest? rational relationship is the government's action rationally related to a legitimate exercise of governmental authority the government cannot suppress free speech... but speech may be subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions attempts to suppress political speech... must pass strict scrutiny attempts to suppress commercial speech... subject to intermediate scrutiny due process the government may not deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law procedural due process did the individual have notice of the intended deprivation; was there a hearing before the action was taken; did the individual have an opportunity to appeal an unfavorable disposition of the hearing? substantive due process is the deprivation fair to the individual equal protection people who are similarly situated must be treated similarly before the law all laws create classifications some people are benefitted by a law and some are burdened if a state action creates a suspect classification or infringes a fundamental right... the government's action is subject to strict scrutiny examples of suspect classification: race, religion, alienage, national origin, ethnicity if a state action creates classifications based upon sex, gender, or legitimacy... subject to intermediate scrutiny where state action affects social welfare and/or economic matters... the action is subject to rational basis scrutiny opening statements are... not part of the trial. propaganda. burden of proof in a criminal trial beyond a reasonable doubt burden of proof in a civil case clear and convincing and preponderance of the evidence a bill is not a law until... the president signs it 2 reasons president can be impeached high crimes and misdemeanors if a power to be exercised by Congress cannot be found in Article 1 section 8... it is automatically found unconstitutional strict scrutiny government will almost always lose the case intermediate scrutiny government wins about half rational relationship government will almost always win appellate judges actively question litigants before making a decision in a case on appeal false discovery is a process for uncovering facts held by the adverse party true all states have an intermediate court of appeal between the trial and supreme courts false diversity of citizenship jurisdiction requires the plaintiff to claim an injury under federal law or an invasion of a constitutional protection false purposeful injection of a business into the forum state by television advertising can serve as sufficient minimum contacts for long-arm jurisdiction true the admissibility of evidence at trial is a matter of law in the control of the judge true the jury decides which party has met its burden of proof on questions of fact true trial judges must consider the impact of their decisions on society as a whole false in general, states do not allow quotient verdicts by juries false state trial courts are courts of general subject matter jurisdiction true state and federal constitutions create governments of three co-equal branches with separate functions true English Common Law evolved from the Norman Conquest of 1215 AD false Procedural laws create rights and duties but not privileges false private law allows an injured party to seek recovery directly from the party alleged to have caused the injury true laws are enforceable rules protecting one's protected interests true in the American legal system, judicial pronouncements have greater authority than legislative acts false the doctrine of Separation of Powers allows the federal government unlimited authority to intervene in the affairs of state governments false under early common law, the laws and doctrines were rules and methods of analysis used by courts to resolve disputes brought before them true legislative acts and judicial pronouncements are examples of procedural laws false the principal of judicial review, the submission of laws and acts to the courts for constitutional examination is mentioned in the Constitution under Article III false