Exam 1 Flashcards
Plaintiff
The party who begins a lawsuit by filing a complaint in the appropriate court.
Defendant
The party against whom a lawsuit is brought and from whom recovery is sought.
Stare decisions
The practice of relying on previous decisions in which similar disputes arose.
Common Law
The body of recorded decisions that courts refer to and rely upon when making later legal decisions.
Precedent
A model case that a court can follow when facing a similar situation.
Case Law
the effects of court decisions that involve the same or similar facts.
Statutory Law
The field of law involving statues which are laws passed by congress or by state legislatures.
Ordinance
A law that is passed by a local government such as a city council.
Administrative Law
The body of rules, regulations and decisions created by administrative agencies.
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)
a set of laws that govern various commercial transactions and that are designed to bring uniformity to the law of the states.
Moral Law
the “law” concerned with the unenforceable obligations that people have to one another
Jurisdicton
the authority of a court, as granted by a constitution or legislative act, to hear and decide case.
Constitutional law
is the study of the federal constitution, its interpretation by the federal courts, and its relationships to existing laws.
Civil Law
is the study of the and obligations of individuals and includes the law of property, the law of contracts, and the law of torts.
Criminal Law
is concerned with acts against society (criminal acts) and the regulations of criminal activity.
Administrative Law
is concerned with the conduct of governmental administrative agencies and their regulations. Examples are tax law and laws dealing with taxation and trade.
international law
is concerned with the conduct of nations and there relations with of nations.
Jurisdiction
Authority or power of a court to hear cases, as granted by a constitution or legislative act.
- a court may be limited in its power to certain cases or certain geographical areas.
- a court has original jurisdiction
Appellate Jurisdiction
The power to review the decisions of another court.
Special Jurisdiction
Courts that are limited in their power to hear only certain kinds of cases.
Sarbanes-Oxley
A federal statute that placed an onus on upper management to monitor closely the financial dealings and disclosures of their firms and that established a board to oversee accounting practices in the United States.
Morals*
Beliefs about what is fair and what is right or wrong
Ethnics*
the standards and principles for the behavior of individuals within a society.
Values*
Beliefs of standards considered worthwhile, and from which a society derives its moral rules.
Culture
The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterize a social, racial, religious, or corporate group.
Subculture
An ethnic, economic, regional, religious, or social group with attitudes or behaviors that distinguish it from others within a larger culture.
Code of ethnics
A set of rules that a company or other group adopts to express principals of ethnical behavior that are expected of it personnel.
Stakeholders
People or groups who may be affected by a firm’s actions or decisions.
Whistleblower
an employee who exposes unethical or illegal conduct within the federal government or one of its contractors
Statutes
that are designed to protect the public at large. the law enforcement authorities of federal, state, and local governments enforce specific laws.
Crimes
An offense against the public at large punishable by the official governing body of nation or state.
tort
A private wrong that injures another person’s physical well-being, property, or reputation.
Treason
the laving of war against the United States, or the giving of aid and comfort to the nation’s enemies.
Felony
A crime punishable by death or imprisonment in a federal or state prison for a term exceeding one year.
Misdemeanor
A less serious crime that is generally punishable by a fine and/or prison sentence of not more than one year.
White-collar crime
A term used to describe various crimes that typically do not involve force or violence committed by and against businesses.
Rico
One of the most successful laws used to combat white-collar crimes, RICO prohibits an organization’s employees from engaging in a pattern of racketeering activity.
Ponzi Scheme
A type of securities found in which involve gains are promised to investors, but in reality, newer investments are used to provide a return on older investments.
Arson
the willingly or malicious act of causing the burning of another’s property.
Burning to Defraud
a special category of crime providing for the punishment of persons who burn their own property with the aim of collecting insurance money
Larceny
The act of taking and carrying away the personal property of another without the right to do so.
Robbery
The taking of property in the possession of another person against that person’s will and under treat of bodily harm.
Burglary
The illegal entering of another person’s premises for the purpose of committing a crime.
Bribery
The act of offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting something of value to influence official action or the discharge of a public duty.
False pretenses
A broad category of crimes that involve activities intended to deceive others or to obtain goods by making false claims.
Forgery
The false making or alteration of a writing with the intent to defraud.
perjury
the crime of internationally giving false oral or written statements under oath in a judicial proceeding after having sworn to tell the truth.
Embezzlement
The wrongful taking of money or other property that has been entrusted to a person as a part of his or her job.
Extortion
The act of taking or demanding money or other property from someone by using force, threats of force, or economic harm.
Common torts
tort: a violation of the rights of an identifiable individual or business that has been wronged either individually or by negligence.
-the law of torts does not deal with duties imposed by contract but is concerned only with the collation of private rights.
Common torts include:
defamation, nuisance, conversion, negligence
Defamation
the harming of a person’s reputation and good name by the communication of a false statement.
read statement written
libel
the spreading of damaging statements in written form, including pictures, cartoons, and websites ect.
Slander
The spreading of damaging words or ideas about a person, directly or indirectly, in all other forms not considered libel. gestures actions
trade libel
Defamation that deals with an individuals title to property, or to the quality or conduct of a business.
Nuisance
an unlawful interference with the enjoyment of life or property
Private nuisance
A person who acts in a way that denies this right to a specific person or persons.
Public nuisance
Affects the community or the general public. loud music
Conversion
The wrongful exercise of domain and control over another’s personal property.
negligence
The failure to exercise necessary care to protect others from unreasonable risk of harm.
The reasonable Person
A completely fictitious individual who is assumed to have the judgement and skill one would expect from a person who the strength and limitations of the person whose behavior is being judged.
Vicarious negligence
charging s negligent act of one person to another.
negligence per se
when a defendant in a case of negligence has violated a law that was enacted in order to prevent the type of injury that occurred
Contributory negligence
A legal defense that involves the failure of an injured party to be careful enough to ensure personal safety.
Comparative negligence
A form of negligence that requires the court to assign damages according to the degree of fault of each party.
Express Powers
Those that are specifically stated in the federal Constitution.
Implied Powers
Those that have arisen as a result of interpretation of the express powers by the courts.
Bill of rights
The first 10 amendments of the U.S.
Judicial review
The process of deciding if a law is contrary to the Constitution.
Federalism
A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments.
Doctrine of preemption
a principle that states that when certain state or local laws are inconsistent with the federal law, the federal law must be followed
Commerce Clause
A provision of the Constitution the grants Congress the power to regulate trade with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.
Full Faith and Credit Clause
A provision of the Constitution that mandates that each state respect and enforce both the judgement awarded by courts in other states, and the statutes and case law of other states.
Supremacy Clause
A provision of the Constitution that requires state judges to follow federal law in the event of a conflict with the state law.
probable cause
A reasonable belief that a prudent police officer must have that a suspect has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime, thereby giving the officer the authority to conduct a search.
Procedural Due Process
a constitutional mandate that all persons affected by a legal proceeding receive notice of its subject matter, time, and place and that these proceedings be conducted by a judge who is fair and impartial
Substantive due process
A constitutional mandate that government not unreasonably interfere with an individual’s life, liberty, or property rights.
Rational basis
a test that measures whether the legislature had a reasonable, and not an arbitrary, basis for enacting a particular statute
Intermediate scrutiny
a test that measures whether a particular statute is substantially related to an important government objective
Strict Scrutiny
a test that measures whether the legislature had a compelling interest for enacting a particular statute
Administrative Agency
a governmental body responsible for the control and supervision of a particular activity or area of public interest
Legislative Branch
The branch of a government body that consists of elected representatives who have the responsibility for passing laws that represent the will of the people.
Executive Branch
The branch of a government body that consists of an elected executive, including his or her appointed staff.
Judicial Branch
The branch of a government body that determines if there have been violations of the law and interprets the law if there are questions about what the law means in particular situations.
Subpoena
An order requiring the recipient to appear at a legal proceeding to provide testimony.
administrative hearing
a trial-like judicial proceeding, without a jury, in which an administrative agency rules on matters of the law that the agency is charged with enforcing
