Understanding ‘Business Law and the Legal Environment 9th Edition’: A Deep Dive

Business Law: An Introduction

Business law, a fundamental necessity for operating any company, encompasses all the rules, regulations, and standards that govern how organisations do business with each other and the state. An understanding of laws and regulations allows companies to conduct operations in an efficient manner that reduces costs (money, resources, time, etc.) and meets obligations imposed in statute or contract . Business Law and the Legal Environment 9th Edition was developed to take a more thorough approach to this complex and fascinating field. Previous editions were instructional ‘textbooks’ which targeted a general business audience. Building on this foundation, Business Law and the Legal Environment 9th Edition is a more comprehensive ‘guide’ to the field; dealing with the core principles of law, such as contract law, and covering a wide range of issues in a detailed but organised manner that is easy to navigate.

The Legal Environment: An Overview

The legal environment refers to complex system of rules and principles that guide and oversee how businesses should conduct themselves. Businesses are subject to a plethora of laws and regulations, from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for corporate governance to the Fair Labor Standards Act for minimum wage, overtime and child labor requirements. Although the law is presented in many different forms, it can be divided into two broad categories: statutory law and common law.
Statutory law is the formal code or regulation that has been passed by Congress and signed by the president. Statutory law tends to be more general, dealing with the broad issues of business administration, such as mergers, securities, contracts and labor relations. Common law is what most people think of as law, the collection of legal principles developed by judges over time. Common law addresses many practical or day-to-day issues faced by small businesses, such as misrepresentation, defamation, tortious interference and the Uniform Commercial Code.

The Legal Environment Updated for 9th Edition

The 9th edition of "Business Law and the Legal Environment" provides the latest on new laws and trends in the law. From the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to the US v. Microsoft case to today’s hot topics the book updates the most significant developments in business law.
Part I has been fully updated to reflect the new Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which responds to the financial scandals. The treatment of the ethical theories of duty and utilitarianism has been strengthened and new integrated business ethics examples are incorporated throughout.
New focus on the World Trade Organization in Part II. The WTO dispute settlement procedure is explained, and an emphasis is placed on international agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trade Promotion Authority.
The text now includes a discussion of statutory limitations on religious freedom, new coverage of the doctrine of "constructive discharge," and expanded coverage of the Investor protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
A revised and enhanced Chapter 23 includes extensive coverage of the Business Judgment Rule and judicial approaches to evaluating the fairness of proposed transactions in both public and closely held companies. All references to the Trust Indenture Act have been deleted.
Part IV includes greater and expanded coverage of consumers’ rights under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA). Major revisions of the coverage of negotiability in sales contracts and contracts in general, including express, implied, and quasi contracts, with additional discussion of contracts for the sale of goods. Greater focus if focused on formation, performance, breach, and the resulting damages in contracts in general. Also includes an expanded discussion of negligence and strict product liability.
Part V examines the creation, operation and termination of corporations (including closely held, professional, and computer corporations) with a new discussion of the special duty of a corporate director or officer to disclose information to a shareholder who makes a direct request that the non-controlling shareholder be provided with access to corporate records.
Part VI features an expanded discussion of electronic payments, electronic drafts, and online banking activities with new problems and discussion of consumer protection under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and Regulation E.
Part VII discusses the major changes in the law pertaining to commercial paper, specifically the negotiability of commercial paper, liabilities of parties to a negotiable instrument, and cancellation and discharge of commercial paper.

Applying Business Law in the Real World

The real-world applicability of the principles of business law and the legal environment can be seen in the case studies and hypothetical scenarios covered throughout the text. In Chapter 1, for example, the authors provide a description of a fictitious company, Nephil Industries, that has operated in Houston for more than six decades without any serious legal issues. It is suddenly faced with a lawsuit claiming that its wastewater treatment facility has released effluent in violation of the Clean Water Act. This scenario illustrates how businesses can be brought into the legal arena even without their active involvement. The hypothetical provided to explain the three branches of government in Chapter 2 touches on constitutional law and the separation of powers between Congress, the President and the Courts. The text hypothetically posits that former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is visiting a fictitious country, in which the government has been overtaken by a ruler patently hostile to the U.S. The President of the United States imposes economic sanctions on this country in the form of sanctions, so that persons doing business directly with this country cannot receive goods or services from it, nor can they sell products or services to it. The authors pose the question whether a company in the U.S. owning a facility in a treaty country could order products from the treaty country to manufacture products for sale to the relevant country without violating the sanctions. (According to Brennan Center for Justice website, similar sanctions against Iran are currently the most widespread). These hypothetical scenarios are a valuable addition to the text because they illustrate the specific ways that businesses can become involved in litigation, as well as the real-world applicability of the legal principles that would then apply to resolve their issues.

Key Legal Concepts Entrepreneurs Should Know

Enron. MCI/Worldcom. Merrill Lynch. Lehman Brothers. When you read the names of these major corporations, do you think of the millions of Americans who (directly or indirectly) were financially destroyed as a result of the fraud, self-dealing and greed of those who ran these large corporations?
Most likely you don’t. But the law is creating greater responsibility for individuals who run corporations and businesses. Even if you do not own or run a corporation, as an investor, you are responsible for checking the credentials of those you deal with because the law is no longer a safety net between you and the crooks.
Michael A. Genender, author of Business Law and the Legal Environment 9th Edition, is professor of business law and ethics at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon , where he also specializes in undergraduate and graduate criminal law forensics. The book discusses how these changes are impacting entrepreneurial ventures—the risks and threats that ordinary corporations and entrepreneurs face on a daily basis.
Here are some of the book’s key concepts and issues that entrepreneurs and small business owners need to know about:
Importance of legal concepts to entrepreneurs and businesses:
Operation of the business—contractual agreements and responsibility for what happens while the business is operating. This includes contracts entered into during incorporation as well as post-incorporation (or business start-up) agreements.
Enforcement of the business—and how the law can be used to protect your rights as an owner and operator.
Protection of your business from outside influences.
Protection from those who you hire or who are hired by you.
Company organization and legal structure, including the most advantageous form of entity to adopt for your company.
A business entity should protect the owners from personal loss arising from the acts or liabilities of the business. On the other hand, the company must be able to protect itself from liability arising from its own acts, as well as the actions of its owners or employees.
The person forming a business must carefully consider the purpose of the business and the risks of operating it. This will determine which legal structure protects the owners and the business during operation.
Formation of a new business requires owners to do some legal planning, and this book is designed to help them understand the process.

Business Law and Ethics

Ethics occupies a vital role in business law and is a central theme in the 9th edition of Business Law and the Legal Environment, which goes into substantial detail about the intersection of the two. It includes discussion of the ethical issues that arise when parties in a contract experience issues with their agreement.
The book also includes a short section in the first chapter that explains how the law develops by incorporating ethics. The relationship between law and ethics can be seen in many different contexts. A typical example of the type of relationship seen in each chapter is a discussion of when security interests become perfected.
Professors using the book are free to adapt the teaching exercises provided in the book to apply ethics to the various chapters. Example questions include asking students whether a company should try to use an enforceable contract even when they likely will not be able to for the long term. This question can be adapted to many different scenarios.
Another question professors could consider is the issue, "What would you do?" in a given scenario. An example of this question is "What would you do if you were the manager of a major company and had a difficult decision in front of you."
Professors could also consider presenting a specific business case study where ethics played a role in the result, seeing if students can use the ethical principles discussed in the book while explaining how the good or bad result could have been avoided.

Using ‘Business Law and the Legal Environment’

While "Business Law and the Legal Environment 9th Edition" stands as an essential guide for businesspersons, these also serve as a valuable learning tool for law students, teachers and others interested in the subject. With stands alongside such classics as "Harrison on Remedies and Equitable Relief" as a must-show title to anyone involved with legal scholarship.
The book is written by Jeffrey F. Beatty, Susan M. Samuelson, and Patricia Sanchez Abril, three tenured professors at Boston College. Area specialists, each of these academicians brings depth and breadth to the project. Their joint effort truly sets this book apart from more basic titles in the field. Beatty and his colleagues tackle every facet of business law, including contracts, remedies, torts, crimes, bankruptcy, agency and project development laws. Each section is created to be as thorough as possible, without losing coherence or readability. Learning is made easier through links to relevant statutory law and jurisprudence for more complex topics . For example, in a discussion about direct and indirect appropriations of a person’s else’s property, the authors note that things will get progressively more difficult to understand unless students take the time to read a recent case before proceeding. Such litigation citations are complemented with thought-provoking questions to stimulate critical thinking. The authors have also included pertinent questions from the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice for a topical perspective on appraisal issues. "Business Law and the Legal Environment" is an essential study program for any undergraduate or graduate law class, particularly those teaching contract, tort and consumer protection laws. It is used as the primary text for many such courses and teaches advanced ideas as clearly and easily as simple principles and rules. "Business Law and the Legal Environment" 9th Edition is a widely used textbook spanning international borders. It has been used as a primary text in law schools and universities for many years, particularly in the United States. Its usage in other English-speaking countries remains less well known.