Instructor Manual: Miller, Business Law Today – Standard Edition: Text & Summarized Cases 13e 2022,
9780357634943; Chapter 1-36
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 1
website, in whole or in part.
Instructor Manual
Miller, Business Law Today – Standard Edition: Text & Summarized Cases 13e 2022, 9780357634943;
Chapter 1: Law and Legal Reasoning
Table of Contents
Purpose and Perspective of the Chapter…………………………………………………………………………………………2
Cengage Supplements…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..2
Chapter Objectives……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….2
Key Terms……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2
What’s New in This Chapter…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5
Chapter Outline……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………6
Discussion Questions……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………9
Additional Activities and Assignments…………………………………………………………………………………………..10
Additional Resources ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….11
Cengage Video Resource …………………………………………………………………………………………………………11
Instructor Manual: Miller, Business Law Today – Standard Edition: Text & Summarized Cases 13e 2022,
9780357634943; Chapter 1-36
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 2
website, in whole or in part.
Purpose and Perspective of the Chapter
The purpose of this chapter is for students to learn how business law and the legal environment
affect business decisions. The laws may change, but the ability to analyze and evaluate the legal (and
ethical) ramifications of situations as they arise is an invaluable and lasting skill. Students will learn how
to think about the law and the legal environment and develop critical-thinking and legal reasoning skills.
Cengage Supplements
The following product-level supplements provide additional information that may help you in preparing
your course. They are available in the Instructor Resource Center.
Transition Guide (provides information about what’s new from edition to edition)
Test Bank (contains assessment questions and problems)
Solution and Answer Guide (offers textbook solutions and feedback)
PowerPoint (provides text-based lectures and presentations)
Guide to Teaching Online (provides technological and pedagogical considerations and resources
for teaching online)
MindTap Educator Guide (describes assets in the MindTap platform with a detailed breakdown
of activities by chapter with seat time)
Chapter Objectives
The following objectives are addressed in this chapter:
1.Explain how common law and civil law differ.
2.Explain the creation and development of the common law.
3.Explain the creation and development of statutory law.
4.Explain how common law and civil law systems differ.
5.Define stare decisis.
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Key Terms
Adjudicate: to render a judicial decision; adjudication is the trial-like proceeding in which an
administrative law judge hears and resolves disputes involving an administrative agency’s regulations.
Administrative agency: a federal, state, or local government agency created by the legislature to
perform a specific function, such as to make and enforce rules pertaining to the environment.
Instructor Manual: Miller, Business Law Today – Standard Edition: Text & Summarized Cases 13e 2022,
9780357634943; Chapter 1-36
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 3
website, in whole or in part.
Administrative law: the body of law created by administrative agencies in order to carry out their duties
and responsibilities.
Administrative law judge (ALJ): one who presides over an administrative agency hearing and has the
power to administer oaths, take testimony, rule on questions of evidence, and make determinations of
fact.
Administrative process: the procedure used by administrative agencies in fulfilling their three basic
functions: rulemaking, enforcement, and adjudication.
Allege: to state, recite, assert, or charge.
Binding authority: any source of law that a court must follow when deciding a case.
Case law: the rules of law announced in court decisions; case law interprets statutes, regulations,
constitutional provisions, and governs all areas not covered by statutory or administrative law.
Case on point: a previous case involving factual circumstances and issues that are similar to those in the
case before the court.
Citation: a reference to a publication in which a legal authority—such as a statute or a court decision—
or other source can be found.
Civil law: the branch of law dealing with the definition and enforcement of all private or public rights, as
opposed to criminal matters.
Civil law system: a system of law derived from Roman law that is based on codified laws (rather than on
case precedents).
Common law: the body of law developed from custom or judicial decisions in English and U.S. courts,
not attributable to a legislature.
Concurring opinion: a court opinion by one or more judges or justices who agree with the majority but
want to make or emphasize a point that was not made or emphasized in the majority’s opinion.
Constitutional law: the body of law derived from the U.S. Constitution and the constitutions of the
various states.
Criminal law: the branch of law that defines and punishes wrongful actions committed against the
public.
Cyberlaw: an informal term used to refer to all laws governing electronic communications and
transactions, particularly those conducted via the Internet.
Defendant: one against whom a lawsuit is brought (i.e., the accused person) in a criminal proceeding.
Instructor Manual: Miller, Business Law Today – Standard Edition: Text & Summarized Cases 13e 2022,
9780357634943; Chapter 1-36
© 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible 4
website, in whole or in part.
Dissenting opinion: a court opinion that presents the views of one or more judges or justices who
disagree with the majority’s decision.
Enabling legislation: a statute enacted by Congress that authorizes the creation of an administrative
agency and specifies the name, composition, purpose, and powers of the agency being created.
Equitable maxims: general propositions or principles of law that have to do with fairness (equity).
Historical school: a school of legal thought that looks to the past to determine what the principles of
contemporary law should be.
International law: law that governs relations among nations.
Interpretive rules: nonbinding rules or policy statements issued by an administrative agency that explain
how it interprets and intends to apply the statutes it enforces.
Jurisprudence: the science or philosophy of law.
Law: a body of enforceable rules governing relationships among individuals and between individuals and
their society.
Legal positivism: a school of legal thought centered on the assumption that there is no law higher than
the laws created by a national government; laws must be obeyed, even if they are unjust, to prevent
anarchy.
Legal realism: a school of legal thought that holds that the law is only one factor to be considered when
deciding cases, and that social and economic circumstances should also be taken into account.
Legal reasoning: the process of reasoning by which judges harmonize their opinions with the judicial
opinions in previous cases.
Legislative rules: administrative agency rules that carry the same weight as congressionally enacted
statutes.
Liability: the state of being legally responsible (liable) for something, such as a debt or obligation.
Majority opinion: a court opinion that represents the views of the majority (more than half) of the
judges or justices deciding the case.
National law: law that pertains to a particular nation (as opposed to international law).
Natural law: the oldest school of legal thought, based on the belief that the legal system should reflect
universal (“higher”) moral and ethical principles that are inherent in human nature.
Ordinance: a regulation enacted by a city or county legislative body that becomes part of that state’s
statutory law.