Ch. 5 The Legal Environment Flashcards
______ refers to moral principles of right and wrong.
ethics
___________ theories about ethics are based on the notion that ethical behavior is guided by duties or obligations.
deontological
________ rights demand that we not harm anyone’s life, health, or liberty.
natural
______ rights are memorialized in our Declaration of Independence. They are natural (not created by gov’t), _________ (apply to everyone), and inalienable (they can’t be transferred.
Natural; universal
__________ imperative mandates particular actions, regardless of their consequences or our personal preferences.
categorical
Consequentialism views ethical behavior in terms of its ____________. It sees an action as morally right if its consequences are morally appropriate or “the ends justify the means.”
consequences
_______________ maintains that an action is justified as long as it does the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
utilitarianism
______ ethics refers to the rules of ethics that govern the practice of law and the conduct of lawyers. Most states base their rules on the American Bar Association’s “_______ rules of Professional Conduct.
legal; modern
__________ constitutes conduct that is improper or unethical. It’s a tort action of negligence against lawyers for failing to satisfy their professional duty of care owed to their client.
malpractice
The ________/_______ privilege protects communications b/w an attorney and their client so that neither party can be compelled to disclose such communication in court. The client can _____ the privilege and allow an attorney to discuss confidential communications.
attorney/client; waive
_____________ conflict of interest arises when the representation of one client will be directly adverse to another client OR there is significant risk that the representation of a client will materially limit the lawyer’s ability to provide effective representation to another client.
concurrent
A lawyer cannot enter into a business ________ with a client or knowingly acquire an interest adverse to a client unless the client consents in writing, is given an opportunity to seek independent legal advice about the transaction, and both the terms and the process by which the transaction occurs are fair, reasonable, and fully disclosed in writing.
transaction
A client’s consent must be an __________ consent. The lawyer must share with the client the conflict and not only explain the material risks but also make available a reasonable ___________.
informed; alternative
Corporate _______ ___________ refers to the idea that corporations should be concerned with the impact of their policies on the broad range of stakeholders and constituents that are affected by those policies
social responsibility
In shareholder __________, the corporation is viewed as owning a duty only to shareholders and their financial concerns.
primacy
A host of federal and state statutes require the corporation to pay heeds to other _____________, including employment laws, environmental laws, and laws regulating consumer affairs.
constituents
The government creates _____________ agencies to perform specific legislative functions and administer particular federal statutes. They are created by acts known as _________ acts.
administrative; enabling
The __________ _______________ Act also requires agencies to provide citizens with information they request, unless the information falls within certain exempted categories such as information pertaining to national defense or trade secrets.
Federal Information
Claims regarding administrative agency rules are brought before the administrative agency in hearings by their own judges, knows as ______________ ____ ________.
administrative law judges
The _________________ ____________ Act sets standards for federal agency rule making as well as standards for hearings conducted by such agencies. Administrative agencies allow their decisions to be appealed to one or two _______ boards within the agency. They may also be appealed in courts if not resolved.
Administrative Procedure; review
Courts should not ________ agency actions unless they are found to arbitrary or capricious, or not in accordance with the law.
overturn
The collection of laws, statutes, policies, regulations, and treaties that protect and preserve the environment are referred to as ________________ law.
environmental
The _________ _______________ ________ Act (NEPA) was enacted along with various federal environmental statutes to protect the environment from the actions of public and private actors.
National Environmental Policy Act
NEPA established a Council on Environmental _______ to be responsible for gathering information on the quality of the environment and for advising the president on the preparation of the Environmental Quality _______.
Quality; Report
The _________________ ___________ ________ EPA, was established to oversee pollution control efforts and they set __________ for private and public actors and ensure compliance.
Environmental Protection Agency; standards
____ ____________ refers to chemicals and other harmful pollutants in the atmosphere, is responsible for many deaths and respiratory diseases as well as eroding natural resources.
Air pollution
The _____ Air Act authorizes the EPA to determine what constitutes appropriate levels of common air pollutants and set standards for meeting those levels.
Clean
Standards on air quality are called the _________ Ambient Air Quality Standards and are designed to reduce the presence of pollutants in the air to levels that are consistent with promoting good health and preserving the environment.
National
The most prominent federal statute aimed at protecting the nations water supply is the ______ ______ Act. This ________ the discharge of pollutants into the water.
Clean Water; regulates
CERCLA or Comprehensive __________ Response, Compensation and ________ Act focuses on the clean up of abandoned or historical hazardous waste sites. They used a fund called the __________ to locate, investigate, and clean up such sites.
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; Superfund
Particularly bad sites are placed on a __________ _________ list, and become the ___’s priority for clean up and remediation. Previous and current owners are ______ for cleaning up sich sites.
National Priorities list; EPA’s; liable
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act requires anyone that handles _________ wastes to keep records of their activities and comply to rules and standards regarding ________. This focuses primarily on disposal rules for active waste sites.
hazardous; disposal
The _____ Substances Control act regulates chemical substances to protect the nation’s natural resources.
Toxic
The Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act regulates the handling of _________ being exported and imported into the US.
pesticides
Both federal and state laws regulate the offers and sales of securities. The primary federal statutes are the _________ Act and the __________ Act.
Securities; Exchange
The Exchange Act created by the __________ and Exchange Commission (SEC) oversee the regulation of these federal securities laws. States also have laws aimed at regulating securities transactions, that are referred to as “____ ___” laws.
Securities; blue sky
An investment ________ represents:
a. an investment of _______
b. in a common enterprise
c. when the purchaser is led to expect profits
d. solely or primarily from the efforts of others.
Contract; money
Section 5 of the Securities Act provides that securities cannot be offered or sold unless they have been _________ with the SEC, using a registration statement.
registered
In the registration statement is a __________, which is a document containing information that must be delivered to investors prior to their securities’ purchase.
prospectus
Once a company issues its securities pursuant to this registration process, it is referred to as a ______ company.
public
Section 12(a)(1) imposes civil liability on anyone who offers or sells a ________ in violation of section 5 (not registered). Only a statutory seller is liable for such violation and have _______ to this action. They are:
a. person who directly sold securities to the purchaser OR
b. someone who _________ the purchaser for a financial gain or for the seller’s interests
security; defense; solicited
Section 11 imposes civil liability for materials __________________ or omissions in the registration statement. Liability extends to the issuer, its directors, the CEO, the CFO, the underwriter, and any ______ (such as lawyer or accountant).
misrepresentations; expert
__________ causation means demonstrating that the plaintiff’s damages were caused by something other than the misrepresentation or omission.
Negative
Some try to use the ___ diligence defense, depending on if they were an expert or the statement occurred in an __________ portion of the registration statement (financial statements or legal opinions) and they can prove they had no reasonable basis to believe that the registration statement contained _______ misstatements or omissions.
Due; expertised; material
Section 12(a)(2) imposes civil liability for material misstatements or omissions in a __________ or oral statements that relate to a prospectus. The seller can avoid liability by showing ____________ causation, the plaintiff knew that the statements were not true at the time of their purchase, OR the seller did not know and could not have reasonably known the statements were not true.
prospectus; negative
The Securities Act exempts some transactions from registration. Section __ exempts transactions by:
a. a person other than an issuer or underwriter AND
b. any transaction that does not involve a public offering.
4
Anyone who is helping the corporation distribute its shares is called an ____________.
underwriter
A transaction that does not involve a public offering is also referred to as a _______ placement. This is a sale to persons who do not need the protection of the securities laws.
private
Regulation __ provides specific categories of transactions that qualify as private placements.
D
Accredited ________ include institutional investors, people with over a million dollars in net worth, venture capital firms, trusts with assets over 5 million dollars, directors and executive officers of the issuing company, and other specified investors
investor
3 categories of exempted transactions - what are the rule numbers?
Rule 504, 505, and 506
Rule ___: allows an exemption for offers in which the aggregate prices is less than $1 million. There are no restrictions on the number of people in the offering. There are resale ________ but no general advertising or solicitations.
504; restrictions
Rule ___: allows an exemption for offers in which the aggregate offering prices is less than $5 million and the number of purchases is less than 35, excluding accredited investors. There ____ resale restrictions AND restrictions on general advertising/solicitations.
505; are
Rule ___: does not have a dollar limit, but allows exemptions only when there are less than 35 people (excluding accredited investors) in the offering and all the people are sophisticated. There ____ resale restrictions AND restrictions on general advertising/solicitations.
506; are
True/False: Securities may be offered to an unlimited number of accredited investors w/out exemption so long as the other requirements are met.
True
Regulation __ provides an exemption for certain small offering while Rule 704 allows exemptions for offering that occur primarily within one _______.
A; state
Regulation __ establishes an exemption for securities sold outside of the ___ and section 701 exempts transactions involving offerings to __________.
US; employees
The Securities Act also restricts the ________ of securities purchased in a private offering or securities sold on behalf of a control person, which are ________, officers, and owners of more than 10% of a corporation’s shares.
resale; directors
Rule 144 establishes certain rules for the proper resale, including requirements that such securities must be held for a least ____ year (s) and sold through a _______ in a transaction that involves a limited percentage of securities.
one; broker
The ___________ Act regulates the issuance of securities and the Exchange Act regulates all other aspects of securities transactions.
Securities
The Exchange act regulates fraud, stock __________, over the counter markets, and individuals who assist investors with _______ activities.
exchanges; trading
______ __________ are organizations that provide a location for the purchase and sale of securities such as NYSE. Other ____ the ______ _______ relate to securities transactions that occur by computer or phone such as NASDAQ.
Stock Exchanges; over the counter markets
A company that is subject to the Exchange Act is referred to as a __________ company. They issues shares to the public, have securities registered on a national securities exchange, has assets in excess of $5 million and at least 500 shareholders, or voluntarily register.
reporting
They are called reporting companies b/c they are required to file periodic ______ containing financial and other material information including an _____ ______ (10K), quarterly reports (10Q) and current reports (8K)
reports; annual report
One of the Exchange Act’s most prominent prohibitions is that against securities fraud and ______ trading. Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 prohibit securities ______.
insider; fraud
To be held liable for securities _____ the following elements must be proven:
a. Misstatement or omission
b. Materiality
c. In connection with a securities transaction
d. _______ (intent to deceive or defraud)
e. Reliance
f. Causation AND
g. Damages
fraud; Scientor
A _____ refers to a group of corporations or businesses that combine together in order to enhance their economic strength and market power. Trust tend to eliminate competition in the market and create a _______>
trust; monopoly
Antitrust laws are aimed at preventing _____ or monopolies that would lead to a company’s ability to ______ the market that would disadvantageous for consumers.
trusts; control
The ______ ____ _________ (FTC) regulates trusts and monopolies.
Federal Trade Commission
Congress passed the _______ Act as prohibit agreements among corporations that would restrain trade or create monopolization in an industry.
Sherman