Active Outline

General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
BUSD018.
Course Title (CB02)
Business Law I
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2023
Course Description
This course introduces students to the American legal system with a focus on laws applicable to business. Topics include sources of law, law and ethics, the structure of the federal and state court systems, the litigation process, alternative dispute resolution methods, contracts, torts, agency law, criminal law and process, legal research methods, and the corporate form of business organization.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This CTE course is transferable to CSU and UC and belongs on the Business A.A. and A.S.-T degrees. The course provides students of business with essential foundations in business law.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
Yes
Foothill Course ID
BUSI F018.

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to both UC and CSU
C-IDArea(s)StatusDetails
BUSBusinessApprovedC-ID BUS 125

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
5.0
Maximum Credit Units
5.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours5.010.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
60.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
60.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
120.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
120.0

Prerequisite(s)

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

BUS D010.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids

Guest speakers

Discussion of reading assignments

Discussion of video materials

Collaborative learning and small group exercises

Homework

Assignments

  1. Required reading assignments from textbook
  2. Viewing video materials

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Analysis of simple tort and contract cases wherein the student is required to identify and distinguish between legal and factual issues and apply appropriate legal rules to fact patterns to reach defensible legal conclusions.
  2. Midterm and final examinations that appraise comprehension and require synthesis and application of course material.

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None.
Essential College Facilities:
  • None.

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
*Beatty, Jeffrey F. and Susan S. Samuelson. "Essentials of Business Law", 6th Ed. Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning, 2018
Clarkson, Kenneth W., Roger LeRoy Miller, and Frank B. Cross, "Business Law: Text and Cases", 14th Ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning, 2017
*Mann, Richard A. and Barry S. Roberts, "Essentials of Business Law and the Legal Environment," 13th Ed. Cincinnati, OH: Thomson Learning/Southwest, 2018

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
None.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Explain the historical development of U.S. law, the operation of the court system, and the principal sources of U.S. law.
  • Appraise the relationship between law and ethics.
  • Explain the relationship between the state and federal court systems, the concept of jurisdiction, and the benefits of alternative dispute resolution methods to the participants.
  • Identify the principal types of government agencies, the three powers of most government agencies, and the chief limits on those powers imposed by legislatures and courts.
  • Describe the Constitutional basis for federal government regulation of business, including limits on government power.
  • Distinguish between torts and crimes and describe the respective purposes of criminal and tort law.
  • Evaluate when a promise is enforceable and the elements of a contract, and distinguish between contracts governed the Uniform Commercial Code and those governed by the common law of contracts.
  • Evaluate when a contract has been performed, the remedies available in the event of a breach, and the ways that Third Parties can acquire rights or duties under a contract.
  • Utilize the Internet to research legal issues, and employ appropriate legal terminology to summarize research findings and defend legal conclusions.
  • Describe agency roles and relationships, and the rights and duties agents and principals have toward one another.
  • Explain a corporation's legal structure and differentiate it from other forms of business organization. Explain limited liability for owners and describe the relationship of a corporation's various stakeholders to one another.

CSLOs

  • Demonstrate a knowledge of basic legal terminology and basic tort, constitutional, criminal, administrative and contract law.

  • Identify ethical issues in a business law context and evaluate factually simple contract issues using basic common law or UCC rules.

Outline

  1. Explain the historical development of U.S. law, the operation of the court system, and the principal sources of U.S. law.
    1. Explain the historical development of U.S. law.
    2. Explain the structure and operation of the state and federal court systems in the United States.
    3. Identify the principal sources of U.S. law.
  2. Appraise the relationship between law and ethics.
    1. Appraise the relationship between law and ethics.
    2. Explain the concept of corporate social responsibility.
    3. Explain the stakeholder model concept.
  3. Explain the relationship between the state and federal court systems, the concept of jurisdiction, and the benefits of alternative dispute resolution methods to the participants.
    1. Explain the roles of the federal and state court systems.
    2. Explain the rules regarding when the federal and state court systems will have jurisdiction over a case.
    3. Identify and explain the roles that trial courts, courts of appeal, and Supreme courts play in the federal and state court systems.
    4. Identify the phases of civil procedure.
    5. Describe the roles of compensatory and punitive damages in civil court.
    6. Identify and describe the elements of compensatory damages.
    7. Identify and describe the equitable remedies available in civil court.
    8. Describe the roles of judges, juries, and attorneys in civil and criminal trials.
    9. Identify the principal methods of alternative dispute resolution and their chief benefits and disadvantages compared to litigation.
  4. Identify the principal types of government agencies, the three powers of most government agencies, and the chief limits on those powers imposed by legislatures and courts.
    1. Identify the principal types of government agencies.
    2. Identify and describe the three powers of most government agencies, and the chief limits on those powers imposed by legislatures and courts.
  5. Describe the Constitutional basis for federal government regulation of business, including limits on government power.
    1. Describe the Constitutional basis for federal government regulation of business.
    2. Explain how federal power is limited by the check-and-balance powers the three branches of the federal government have over each other.
    3. Explain how the Bill of Rights, and in particular Amendments 1, 4, 5, 6, and 8, limit both federal and state government power.
    4. Explain how the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses limit government power.
  6. Distinguish between torts and crimes and describe the respective purposes of criminal and tort law.
    1. Identify and describe the torts of assault, battery, defamation, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and the required elements of each.
    2. Identify the principal defenses against the torts of assault, battery, defamation, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
    3. Identify and describe the tort of negligence, its required elements, and the principal defenses against it.
    4. Identify the two main situations where a party will be held to strict liability in tort: ultrahazardous activities and the sale of defective manufactured products.
    5. Identify and describe the torts of tortious interference with a contract and tortious interference with prospective advantage, and the required elements of each.
    6. Analyze simple tort cases, identifying and distinguishing between legal and factual issues and applying appropriate legal rules to fact patterns to reach defensible legal conclusions.
    7. Describe the purposes of criminal law. Identify the elements of a crime. Describe the constitutional rights of the criminally-accused. Describe some of the crimes that harm businesses. Describe some of the crimes committed by businesses.
  7. Evaluate when a promise is enforceable and the elements of a contract, and distinguish between contracts governed the Uniform Commercial Code and those governed by the common law of contracts.
    1. Identify and describe the essential elements of a contract.
    2. Describe the remedies of promissory estoppel and quasi-contract and their applications.
    3. Identify when a contract will be enforceable and when it will not.
    4. Identify when a contract will be governed by the Uniform Commercial Code and when it will be governed by the common law of contracts.
    5. Analyze simple contract cases, identifying and distinguishing between legal and factual issues and applying appropriate legal rules to fact patterns to reach defensible legal conclusions.
  8. Evaluate when a contract has been performed, the remedies available in the event of a breach, and the ways that Third Parties can acquire rights or duties under a contract.
    1. Identify and describe the circumstances under which a Third Party may incur a right or duty under a contract, either through an assignment or delegation or because they were an intended Third-Party Beneficiary.
    2. Identify and describe the conditions under which a party may be discharged from a contract, including but not limited to contract conditions and personal satisfaction contracts.
    3. Identify and describe the Substantial Performance doctrine. Describe the concept of material breach.
    4. Describe the chief remedies available in the case of a contract breach.
    5. Describe how compensatory damages are typically calculated in the case of a breach either of a contract for the sale of goods or a contract governed by common law.
  9. Utilize the Internet to research legal issues, and employ appropriate legal terminology to summarize research findings and defend legal conclusions.
    1. Utilize the Internet to research legal issues.
    2. Employ appropriate legal terminology to summarize research findings and defend legal conclusions.
  10. Describe agency roles and relationships, and the rights and duties agents and principals have toward one another.
    1. Describe agency roles and relationships.
    2. Describe the rights and duties agents and principals have toward one another.
  11. Explain a corporation’s legal structure and differentiate it from other forms of business organization. Explain limited liability for owners and describe the relationship of a corporation’s various stakeholders to one another.
    1. Explain a corporation’s legal structure and differentiate it from other forms of business organization.
    2. Explain limited liability for owners.
    3. Describe the relationship of a corporation’s various stakeholders to one another.
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