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Norris Business Department
Norris Business Department | ||||||||||||
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The first quarter of the first semester of this course (Business Law I) covers topics related to (1) what law is—and how law differs from ethics, (2) a review of the Constitution, (3)the system of law and the courts in the U.S., and (3) crimes and torts. The second quarter of the first semester covers the four fundamental elements of a contract and the definition of a contract. (A contract is a legally binding agreement. The four elements are agreement, consideration, capacity, and legality.) This quarter ends with the Statute of Frauds and the remedies available for breach of contract. When offered (depending upon student
enrollment numbers), the second
semester (Business Law II) covers whichever specialized types of contracts the
class votes to cover. The choices
include such items as insurance contracts, employment contracts,
landlord/tenant contracts, personal property leases (called bailments), sales
contracts, commercial paper (i.e., checks, negotiable warehouse receipts), and
business organizations (i.e., partnerships).
Anywhere from two to five topics are covered in a typical semester L to J. A complete list of the concepts covered in the semester is provided to the students on the first day of class. Every 3-4 class periods, an "L to J" quiz is given to the class so that the student/class can track progress through the semester. Every chapter test and the final (of course) will include randomly generated questions of concepts already covered. (By the end of the semester, the student should be ready for a truly comprehensive final--without having to cram. After all, the student has been learning these concepts over the semester and has had frequent opportunities to review.) Writing. Each quarter the student must find a newspaper or magazine article related to the class. Then the student must write a review of the article to be handed in for grading. These papers consist of three paragraphs: The first paragraph simply states which article was read. (“I read the article titled “XXXXXX.” It was published on pages PPPP in the [name of paper or magazine] on DATE.” The second paragraph is a summary of the article itself. This summary should take no more than one double-spaced page. The third paragraph is a REACTION to the article. The student can agree with the article (“I feel the punishment for the offender was appropriate in this instance because…” or “I feel the plaintiff is justified in bringing the suit and should win because…”), or the student may disagree with the article (“The judge in this case was off-track. I think the judge should have...” or “This suit is a waste of everyone’s time and money because...”). A sentence or two relating the article to the class is also included in the third paragraph. (“This article relates to class because the suit was filed in the federal district court since bank robbery is a federal offense” or “This article relates to class because we discussed ethics in Chapter 3.”) Grading. Grades for this class are based on workbook exercises and quizzes and on chapter tests. The chapter tests count three times; the workbook exercises and quizzes are worth one grade each. The semester test counts 20 percent of the final course grade Extra Credit. A student may do as many as two article reviews each week. The first article review handed in during a quarter counts as a full grade. All other article reviews earn three to five points of extra credit—depending upon their thoroughness and relationship to class. In addition, we play “Point of Law” three or more times each quarter. Whenever the jury (a team of students) selects the answer that agrees with the court, three bonus points are awarded. If the “jury” selects an answer that is considered “Fair,” one bonus point is awarded. If the “jury” selects an answer that is considered “Poor,” no bonus points are awarded for that case. We usually complete four or more cases in one class period. |
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