Business Law Spring 2012 Syllabus

Welcome to Business Law  at Chabot College for Spring 2012!  We meet every Monday and Wednesday in Room 1613.  In this syllabus, you will find a course overview, your class calendar--including assignments and key dates, the course grading structure, and information about your textbook.

Course Overview

Businesses operate within a clear but quite complex legal environment.  To become an effective business leader or business owner, you need to understand that environment.  In this course, you'll be introduced to the important concepts of torts, contracts, agency, business structures, and much more.  We'll study employment law, negligence, intellectual property, product liability, and many more critical legal issues that are common in the business world.  You'll develop legal research and critical thinking skills, and a solid appreciation for the benefits and constraints of our legal system.  Most importantly, you'll understand your legal rights as a consumer and employee, and your legal obligations as a businessperson.

You'll learn the basics of court and trial procedure.  You'll also learn how to minimize your business' legal risks, and how to maximize your legal protections.  You will learn to evaluate both sides of any legal issue, to carefully consider your legal options, to conduct some preliminary research before contacting an attorney.  You'll also learn important teamwork and communication skills that will be important in your career.

We'll do all of this by researching legal issues, by engaging in mock trials, by analyzing cases and preparing legal plans, by debating legal issues with your classmates.  We'll compare the legal system as popularized by movies to the real legal system you'll encounter as a business leader.  You'll research a legal topic of your choice in depth to build your legal analysis skills.

This will be a fast-paced, intensive, interesting class.  You've made a good decision to focus on building your knowledge of business law.  Let's make that happen, and have some fun while we're at it!

Course Communications

You can reach me at:

• jnovak@chabotcollege.edu
• 510/723-6690 (office)
• Office:  454B (the new Instructional Office Building)
• Office hours: 
  • Mondays, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
  • Tuesdays, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
  • Wednesdays, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
  • Thursdays, 1:00-2:00 p.m. (online only)
  • and by appointment

I am always in my office during office hours, and you can call me there if stopping by is inconvenient.  I'm also there many other times, so just call.  I check my email often, and this is the best way to reach me.  Also, remember to check this course website often for course materials and news.

Course Calendar and Assignments

More detail on weekly assignments is in each week's learning module.

DATES	TOPICS	ASSIGNMENTS DUE
January 18	Course Overview
January 23	Introduction to the Law	Read Chapter 1
January 25	Courts and ADR	Read Chapter 2 plus Appendix A
January 30	Court Procedures	Read Chapter 3
February 1	Constitutional Law	Read Chapter 4
February 6	Intentional Torts Mock Trial Overview	Read Chapter 6 Online Quiz #1 Due:  Chapters 1-4
February 8	Negligence and Product Liability	Read Chapter 7 and product liability  handout
February 13	Intellectual Property Exam Review	Read Chapter 8
February 15	Exam #1:  Chapters 1-4, 6-8 and product liability	Exam #1:  Chapters 1-4, 6-8 and product liability
February 20	HOLIDAY:  No class
February 22	Mock Trial Team Day	Online Quiz #2 Due:  Chapters 6-8 and product liability
February 27	Criminal Law Introduction to Contracts	Read Chapters 9 and 10
February 29	Agreement and Consideration Research Project Overview	Read Chapters 11 and 12 Mock trial case strategy due
March 5	Capacity and Legality Mistakes, Fraud & Voluntary Consent	Read Chapters 13 and 14
March 7	Statute of Frauds Library Orientation	Read Chapter 15 Online course evaluation due (extra credit)
March 12	Third Party Rights	Read Chapter 16 Online Quiz #3 Due:  Chapters 9-15
March 14	Contract Performance and Discharge	Read Chapter 17 Mock Trial Individual Outlines Due
March 19	Breach of Contract and Remedies Contract Summary	Read Chapter 18
March 21	Mock Trial and Legal Research Project Team Day
March 26	Mock Trial	Mock Trial:  J. B. White v. Sandhill
March 28	Mock Trial	Mock Trial:  Killian V. RAGE
April 2	Agency Law	Read Chapters 32 and 33
April 4	Agency Law (continued)	Legal research project sources due
April 9 & 11	SPRING BREAK	Have fun!
April 16	Employment Law	Read Chapter 34
April 18	Employment Discrimination	Read Chapter 35
April 23	Employment Discrimination (continued)	Legal research project outline due
April 25	Overview of Business Organization Project Exam Review	Online Quiz #4 Due:  Chapters 16-18, 32-35
April 30	Exam #2:  Chapters 10-18, 31-34	Exam #2:  Chapters 10-18, 32-35
May 2	Business Organization Overview Sole Proprietorships and Franchises	Read Chapter 36 New business idea due
May 7	Partnerships and LLPs	Read Chapter 37 Legal research paper due Team evaluation due
May 9	LLCs	Read Chapter 38 Last day to submit extra credit assignments
May 14	Corporate Formation and Financing, Directors, Officers, and Shareholders	Read Chapters 39 and 40 Final course evaluation due (extra credit)
May 16	Business Organization Team Day	Online Quiz #5 Due:  Chapters 36-40
May 23:  Final exam date	Business Organization Presentations	Business organization paper due Business organization presentations

Other key dates include:

• February 5th:  Last day to add or DROP a course if course is not to appear on transcript
• April 13th:  Last day to drop a course with a "W" on your transcript.

YOU are responsible for dropping the course, but I may drop you if you miss two consecutive weeks of class or more than six total class sessions.

Grading Structure

Your grade will be determined as follows:

Pop quizzes and in-class assignments	105 points
Quizzes:   5 @ 40 points each	200 points
Assignments: Mock trial:  150 points Legal research project:  150 points Business organization project:  50 points	350 points
Exams:  2 @ 150 points	300 points
Class participation	50 points
TOTAL	1005 POINTS

 

You may also earn up to 20 extra credit points.  You can earn 10 extra credit points by completing the business owner interview presentation, or by completing a "case in the news" paper.  You can earn 5 points each for completing the interim and final course evaluations.  To encourage you to visit me in my office, I'll also award 5 extra credit points for the first two office hours visits. 

 

The grading scale is as follows:

 

A = 900 -1005 points

B = 800 - 899 points

C = 700 - 799 points

D = 600 - 699 points

F = less than 600 points

 

You'll also receive a "Get Out of Jail Free" card that you can use to:

• Drop your lowest online quiz score

• Drop your lowest two pop quiz scores

• Earn 5 extra credit points (this is in addition to the 20 you can otherwise earn)

You will need to devote 6-8 hours outside of class each week to read the text and complete your quizzes and assignments.  Note that late work will NOT be accepted without prior approval.  You are responsible for submitting your assignments to the instructor by start of the class session in which it is due--in person or by email.

 

Textbook/Required Resources

Required Course Text:  West’s Business Law, 12th Edition, by Clarkson, Miller & Cross, Thomson/South-Western, 2012, Chabot College Custom Edition, ISBN:9781133046653.  You do NOT need the access code.  This custom version contains only the chapters we cover in this course.  It is far less expensive and lighter weight than a new copy of the standard edition, but can only be purchased and resold at the Chabot bookstore.  Buy online at http://www.chabotbookstore.com. You can also RENT the textbook from the Chabot bookstore while rental supplies last.  This is a paperback book with a lime green cover with photos.  You can also use the standard edition (pictured to the left), which includes 22 additional chapters that we don't study in this course (the ISBN for the standard version is 9780538470827).  Please do NOT purchase the 11th edition of the book, as there have been very substantial changes in the new edition.

Helpful Websites:

Course website:  https://clpccd.blackboard.com
Textbook website:  http://tinyurl.com/7s56tds
Chabot Blackboard Help:  http://www.chabotcollege.edu/online/faq/

Learner Accommodation Needs

If you are a disabled student and need special accommodations this semester, please let me know.  For more information, visit the Chabot Disabled Student Resource Center.

Academic Integrity

Teamwork is encouraged in this course, but cheating and plagiarism won't be tolerated.  Unless otherwise directed, your work should be original and the product of your OWN hard work and intellect.  Please refer to the handout on academic integrity distributed in class.  If cheating or plagiarism is detected on any quiz, exam, or other assignment, you will, at minimum, receive a zero on that assignment.  Note that Blackboard has tools that make it fairly easy to detect cheating.

Note

This syllabus is subject to change throughout the semester.  Any changes will be announced in class and on the course website, and the syllabus posted on the website will always be the most current version.

"Live as if you will die tomorrow.  Learn as if you will live forever."                                                                          Gandhi