Weeks 1 & 2: What is Business Law? ............................................................................................................... 2
Weeks 2 & 3: Online Free Speech vs. Hate Speech .......................................................................................... 4
Weeks 4&5: Contracts Law ............................................................................................................................... 5
Weeks 6 & 7: Discharge/Damages .................................................................................................................. 11
Week 8: Property Law ..................................................................................................................................... 13
Weeks 9 & 10: Creditor-Debtor Relations....................................................................................................... 16
Week 13: Franchise.......................................................................................................................................... 20
1
,Weeks 1 & 2: What is Business Law?
I. What is The Law?
Rules that bring order and structure in society.
Legal definition: Enforceable rules governing relationships among individuals and between Individuals and
their society
-> taxes
-> traffic rules
- the law sets out rights, duties and obligations of citizens
Result = “Stability and Predictability”
Why? The Law regulates conduct in society
a. Personal Level
➢ Citizens need to be able to determine “right from wrong”
b. Business Level
➢ Degree of “Legal Certainty” in business dealings
▪ It’s No Exaggeration:
Fortunes are made and lost on legal questions such as:
- Can I rely on my counterparty?
- What if this deal turns sour?
- Will we end up in court?
- Will the Law stand behind us?
Simple Question: From a business point of view, what is legally right and wrong? A: It depends.
How stable is the legal environment where you intend to do business?
▪ Look to the particular country where you are sitting at particular moment in history
▪ The Law has dealt with business issues in very different ways at different times and places in history
The Law is constantly evolving:
▪ Nomadic tribes
▪ Code of Hammurabi (Ancient Babylonian)
▪ Greek concepts of Democracy
▪ Roman Code (533)
▪ Early Common Law courts (1066)
▪ Napoleonic Code (1804)
▪ Today’s modern laws/court decisions
What is The Law?
• Reflects values and beliefs of society or its ruling group
• Close relationship between morality and any rule that society will enforce
II. INFLUENCES ON THE LAW
➢ Especially important in the international business context
▪ What is the current Legal Environment?
▪ Society’s current attitudes?
▪ Can the Law be “behind the times”?
▪ Noteworthy trends?
Key Questions for International Businesspersons
How will the local, legal environment affect my business decision making?
▪ Degree of predictability?
▪ Business implications?
▪ Many different laws can affect a single business decision
Case Study on Hyundai: Key Legal Qs for Int'l Expansion
FACTS:
• Congratulations, you have been named the new President & CEO of Hyundai Motor North America. Hyundai
is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Hyundai
currently holds 10% market share in the U.S. Eager to increase its US market share, the company has
2
, recently announced that Hyundai intends to build a $5.5 billion manufacturing facility near Savannah,
Georgia (U.S.). It plans to employ 8,100 workers to work in its electric vehicle assembly plant and an adjacent
electric vehicle battery factory. In the initial stage, the plant will produce 300,000 vehicles per year.
Scheduled for completion in 2025, this will be the largest single economic development project in the history
of the state of Georgia.
YOUR TASK: How did the local laws of the state of Georgia influence Hyundai’s decision to build on this new site?
What areas of the law will Hyundai need to continue to focus on as the plant kicks into operations? Provide
examples. Be specific!
III. INTERNATIONAL PRIVATE LAW
• Set of rules or procedural law that regulates relationships between persons (or entities) of different
nationalities
• Determines which legal systems and law of which jurisdiction will apply to a legal dispute among individuals
involving a foreign element
• Also known as “Conflict of Laws”
INTERNATIONAL LAW
Transnational rules that national courts use to regulate three primary relationships:
▪ relationship between two nations
▪ relationship between a nation and an individual
▪ relationship between persons/entities from different countries
Sources:
▪ int’l conventions & treaties; customs/general practice
▪ widely accepted general principles of law and
▪ all other sources used in national law (such as judicial decisions & scholarly writings)
Examples of international conventions & treaties? Treaty of Rome, Treaty of Versailles
IV. CIVIL VS. COMMON LAW
Civil Law: “Continental European Approach”
▪ Oldest & most influential legal system
▪ Roman-Germanic: codified law based on
▪ Roman Code
▪ Legal rules set out in one comprehensive & systemized code and accompanying statutes
- Ex: family law, property law, succession law, law of obligations, commercial law, labor law, criminal
law, etc.
Common Law: “Anglo-Saxon Tradition”
▪ Law is found on a “case-by-case basis”
▪ Law is based on court decisions rather than formal codes: “precedent”
▪ Overall accumulation of judicial decisions - law is developed and pronounced by courts
▪ Stare Decisis (stand by the decision): requires courts to follow their own precedents; binds all of the
lower courts of a jurisdiction to determinations of the highest court in that same jurisdiction
Homework:
Based on your reading of International Law: 100 Ways It Shapes our Lives (see, Canvas Course materials), list 3
ways that international law has helped shape your life personally.
CASE STUDY ON CONFLICT OF LAWS: YAHOO! VS CONTRLE LE RACISME ET L’ANTISEMITISME
Why free speech…. An American obsession?
- U.S. declaration of independence
-> document that declared the American colonies independent from England
-> July 4, 1776
- U.S. constitution: fundamental law of the U.S. which was ratified by the states in 1788
-> creates three branches of government
-> protects individual rights by limiting the government (s ability to restrict those Rights
- Bill of rights
-> first 10 amendments to U.S. constitution
3
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