business law final

Lobbying is the process of influencing public officials to support or oppose legislation

• the public to support or oppose legislation or political candidates
• Cyber advocacy (internet communication)

• thousands of lobbiest live in washington
• over 2 billion spent on lobbying each year
• Pharmaceutical, oil, and financial spend the most

• Instruments through which business and other groups of like minded people raise money or donate to political candidates in order to influence political outcomes and decisions
• is a form of lobbying
• Over 4000 PACs officially registered by the Federal Election Committee.

• groups joing forces to achieve common goals
• important when power is dispersed

• 2. Monitor legislation and protect firms against surprises
• 3. Establish communication channels with regulatory bodies
• 4. Provide issue papers on anticipated effects of legislative activity and influence legislation by
• 5. Draft legislation, ad campaigns and direct-mail campaigns
• 6. Assist companies in coalition building around issues
• 7. Organize grassroots efforts
• 8. Help members of Congress get reelected

• 1. umbrella
• 2. trade associations
• 3. company-level

Typically the higher the organizational level of lobbying, the more problems in reaching consensus on priorities and even positions.

• Broad Representation - represent multiple industries, “business interests” in general
• .e.g., Chamber of Commerce of the Unites States

Midrange representation - represent firms in an indusdry

• Narrow/specific representation of one company
• Use informal executive lobbying as well as professional lobbyists
• Use of this type of lobbying offers the firm more control of content, but is more expensive

funds provided by Congress that specify a recipient or location, or are so specific that only one recipient can qualify

BCRA banned soft money to national political parties and prevented special interest groups from airing “issue ads” within a certain period before elections or from corperations from using general treasury funds to put up ads

Under federal election law, an individual, group (such as a PAC), or party committee may make unlimited "independent expenditures" in connection with federal elections.An independent expenditure is one made without any kind of coordination with the candidate’s campaign

reimburse the plaintiff for the actual value of the injury or loss

designed to punish particularly egregious (flagrant, very bad) conduct and deter similar conduct in the future.

Intentional Tort: A wrongful act committed knowingly and with the intent to commit the act (not necessarily with the intent to do harm).

A wrongful act committed without knowledge of its wrongfulness or without the intent to commit the act.

1. Assault and Battery. - 2. False Imprisonment. 3. Infliction of Emotional Distress. 4. Defamation. 5. Invasion of Privacy. 6. Fraudulent Misrepresentation 7. Business Torts.

• a) Self-Defense
• b) Defense of Others
• c) Defense of Property(With reasonable force

• v A misstatement or omission of material fact
• v made without knowledge of its falsity and without ­the intent to decieve
• v on which an injured party actually and justifiably relied to her detriment

A landowner may be liable for injuries to children enticed to enter the property by, e.g., a swimming pool or an abandoned building.

Initiating a lawsuit out of malice and without probable cause is a tort.

• Using a legal process against another in an improper manner or to accomplish a purpose for which it was not designed is also a tort.
• – A plaintiff need not prove malice to prove abuse of process.

involve wrongful interference with a contract or business relationship

• • When the person who committed the harmful act does not intend the consequences of the act or believe they will occur.
• • But actor’s conduct creates a foreseeable risk of injury
• • To succeed in a negligence claim, plaintiff must prove:
• – Defendant owed Plaintiff a duty of care and breached that duty;
• – Plaintiff suffered legal injury caused by defendant’s breach

How reasonable person should act not necessarily how he would, act

• 1. Assumption of Risk.
• 2. Superceding Intervening Cause.
• 3. Contributory or Comparative Negligence.
• 4. Plaintiff failed to prove the existence of one or more of the required elements for negligence.

• Contributory Negligence - the plantiff caused himself harm as is barred from recovery
• Comparative Negligence - where the court reduces the damages percentage based on the plantifs contribution to the damage he recieved

Many jurisdictions hold that a business, and in some jurisdictions an individual, that served alcoholic beverages to a person after he or she arrived intoxicated or became intoxicated is liable for any injuries caused by the intoxicated patron or guest.

absolves Internet service providers (“ISPs”) from liability for disseminating defamatory material

• prohibits certain types of spamming activities
• false return address
• haarvesting emails in a random generation

• “No fault” Liability
• Liability even if the person used the utmost care

Conduct may be treated as negligence per se if individual violates a law providing for a criminal penalty and that violation causes another to be injured.

• Negligence
• Misrepresentation
• Strict Liability

• Product Defects
• Three types of product defects:
• – Manufacturing defects.
• – Design defects.
• – Warning Defects.

Theory of liability when multiple defendants contributed to manufacture of defective product

– Varies by state, but usually must bring suit within 2 to 4 years of discovering it or no more than 2 to 4 years after it should have been discovered.

when you are hired, you are agreeing to act under the employer’s control for the employer’s benefit (within reasonable limits

• 1. Agreement - express concent
• 2. Ratification - the princ. agrees to an agreement made by a non agent
• 3. Estopple - a person without agency convinces that they are an agent
• 4. Operation of Law - bases on social duty or emergency

• Performance:
• Notification:
• Loyalty:
• Obedience:
• Accounting:

• Compensation:
• Reimbursement:
• Indemnification: compinsate for all wrong doing done with following the leagle and principils requests
• Cooperation:
• Safe Working Conditions

Anything an agent obtains by virtue of the agency relationship belongs to the principal; therefore, a principal may sue to recover any benefits retained by the agent.

In the event that the agent breaches her contract with the principal, the principal may elect to avoid any contract he entered into with the agent. (If you breach contract A, you can refuse contract B if you want)

To the extent that the agent’s breach causes harm to some third party, who then sues the principal, the principal may seek indemnification ( compensation) from the agent.

Employer is vicariously liable (liable without regard to employer’s fault) for employee’s negligent torts committed within the agent’s “course and scope of employment.”