Legal Environment of Business, The: A Critical Thinking Approach, 8th edition

Published by Pearson (January 5, 2016) © 2017

  • Nancy K. Kubasek Bowling Green University
  • Bartley A. Brennan Bowling Green University
  • M Browne Bowling Green University

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For courses in business law and the legal environment of business.

Help Students Understand the Legal Aspect of Business by Incorporating Critical Thinking and Ethical Analysis

The Legal Environment of Business: A Critical Thinking Approach introduces students to the legal side of business using a clear, well-developed, eight-step critical thinking model. This book uses some of the most significant real-life legal cases to help students develop their knowledge about the relationship between business and the legal system. Distinguishing itself by emphasizing the critical thinking skills necessary to survive in today’s competitive global business environment, the text also incorporates ethical analysis and considers the impact of values on legal outcomes.

This Eighth Edition has been updated with more current cases, new suggested readings, and new chapters concerning immigration law and the America Invents Act, which significantly impacts patent law. The text further sets itself apart through additional features that connect the law to other disciplines beyond business, introduces a balanced mix of current and classic cases, and presents lists to encourage further reading and exploration of various topics.

Develop Critical-Thinking Skills Through a Superior, Comprehensive, One-of-a-kind Approach

  • An explicit critical thinking model from the author of the best-selling critical thinking textbook is presented in the first chapter:
    • The eight-step method has as its base the traditional method of case analysis, but adds crucial critical thinking questions to incorporate ethical analysis.
    • Each step is clearly explained and outlined in the text, and students are encouraged to apply the steps to every case in the text.
  • Questions for further explanation, including both critical thinking and ethical analysis sections, are incorporated at the beginning of each chapter and after selected cases to reinforce the skills students learn in the model.
  • “Thinking Critically about Relevant Legal Issues” essays give students additional opportunities to develop their critical thinking skills. Located at the end of each chapter, these essays let students extend their use of their newly developed critical thinking skills beyond cases to the kinds of arguments they will encounter in their daily lives.

Emphasis on the Global Environment

  • Both stand-alone and infusion approaches are presented.
  • Focus on the global environment of business helps prepare students for working in countries outside of the U.S., or for U.S. companies with dealings in foreign companies or countries (Chapter 9).
  • Global considerations are integrated into every chapter through global dimension sections and the Comparative Law Corner feature, which shows students how U.S. law compares to that of other nations around the world.

Additional Features to Distinguish This Text’s Teaching and Learning Advantages

  • “Linking Law and Business” boxes in every chapter explain clearly how the law affects or is affected by core business concepts, including accounting, management, and marketing.
  • A balanced mix of classic and current cases, including key U.S. Supreme Court decisions handed down as recently as 2013 is included. Well-known classic and contemporary cases were chosen to interest students while demonstrating important concepts.
  • “Applying the Law to the Facts” features hypothetical situations to which students may apply the legal concepts they’ve learned, allowing them to check their understanding of new concepts as they read.
  • For Future Reading features encourage students to continue learning about the law by providing a short list of books and articles related to the material in each chapter.
  • NEW! An in-depth section concerning immigration law (Chapter 19) is now included.
  • NEW! Discussion of the America Invents Act, which had a significant impact on patent law (Chapter 12) has been added.
  • UPDATED! Example cases have been significantly updated, and many have been replaced by more current cases that are of greater interest to students, illustrating the most current changes in the law. Examples of new cases include American Express Co. vs. Italian Colors Restaurant (U.S. Supreme Court, 2013), Plum Creek C.A. v. Oleg Borman (Illinois State Court of Appeals, 2013), Mutual Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. v. Barlett (U.S. Supreme Court, 2013), American Broadcasting Company, Inc. et. al. v. Aereo, Inc. (United States Supreme Court, 2014), Quality Car & Truck Leasing, Inc. v. Sark (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013), Reya C. Boyer-Liberto v. Fontainebleau Corporation (Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, 2015), and Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. et. al. (Uni

Additional Features to Distinguish This Text’s Teaching and Learning Advantages

  • An in-depth section concerning immigration law (Chapter 19) is now included.
  • Discussion of the America Invents Act, which had a significant impact on patent law (Chapter 12) has been added.
  • UPDATED! Example cases have been significantly updated, and many have been replaced by more current cases that are of greater interest to students, illustrating the most current changes in the law. Examples of new cases include American Express Co. vs. Italian Colors Restaurant (U.S. Supreme Court, 2013), Plum Creek C.A. v. Oleg Borman (Illinois State Court of Appeals, 2013), Mutual Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. v. Barlett (U.S. Supreme Court, 2013), American Broadcasting Company, Inc. et. al. v. Aereo, Inc. (United States Supreme Court, 2014), Quality Car & Truck Leasing, Inc. v. Sark (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013), Reya C. Boyer-Liberto v. Fontainebleau Corporation (Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, 2015), and Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. et. al. (United States Supreme Court, 2013).
  • UPDATED! Approximately one-third of the case problems from the seventh edition have been replaced with more current case problems.
  • UPDATED! Suggested readings at the end of each chapter have been updated to emphasize more current legal issues.

Brief Contents

I. Introduction to the Law and Legal Environment of Business

  1. Critical Thinking and Legal Reasoning
  2. Introduction to Law and the Legal Environment of Business
  3. The American Legal System
  4. Alternative Tools of Dispute Resolution
  5. Constitutional Principles
  6. White-Collar Crime and the Business Community
  7. Ethics, Social Responsibility, and the Business Manager
  8. The International Legal Environment of Business

II. Private Law and the Legal Environment of Business

  1. The Law of Contracts and Sales I
  2. The Law of Contracts and Sales II
  3. The Law of Torts
  4. Product and Service Liability Law
  5. Law of Property: Real and Personal
  6. Intellectual Property
  7. Agency Law
  8. Law and Business Associations I
  9. Law and Business Associations II

III. Public Law and the Legal Environment of Business

  1. The Law of Administrative Agencies
  2. The Employment Relationship and Immigration Laws
  3. Laws Governing Labor-Management Relations
  4. Employment Discrimination
  5. Environmental Law
  6. Rules Governing the Issuance and Trading of Securities
  7. Antitrust Laws
  8. Laws of Debtor-Creditor Relations and Consumer Protection

Nancy Kubasek is a Professor of Legal Studies at Bowling Green State University, where she teaches the Legal Environment of Business and Environmental Law courses. For eight years she team-taught a freshman honors seminar on critical thinking and values analysis. She has published another undergraduate textbook with Pearson Education, Environmental Law (8th edition, 2012) and more than 75 articles. Professor Kubasek’s articles have appeared in such journals as the American Business Law Journal, the Journal of Legal Studies Education, the Harvard Women’s Law Journal, the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, and the Harvard Journal on Legislation. She received her J.D. from the University of Toledo College of Law and her B.A. from Bowling Green State University.

Active in her professional associations, Professor Kubasek has served as president of the TriState Regional Academy of Legal Studies in Business, and president of the national professional association, the Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB). Committed to helping students become excited about legal research, she organized the first Undergraduate Student Paper Competition of the ALSB’s Annual Meeting, an event that now provides an annual opportunity for students to present their original legal research at a national convention. She has also published several articles with students and has received her university’s highest award for faculty–student research.

Bartley A. Brennan is an Emeritus Professor of Legal Studies at Bowling Green State University. He is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (B.S. International Economics); the College of Law, State University of New York at Buffalo (J.D.); and Memphis State University (M.A. Economics). He was a volunteer in the United States Peace Corps, was employed by the Office of Opinions and Review of the Federal Communications Commission, and worked in the general counsel’s office of a private international corporation. Professor Brennan has received appointments as a visiting associate professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and as a Research Fellow at the Ethics Resource Center, Washington, D.C. He is the author of articles dealing with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended; the business judgment rule; law and economics; and business ethics. He has published numerous articles in such journals as the American Business Law Journal, University of North Carolina Journal of International Law, and the Notre Dame University Journal of Legislation. He is a coauthor of Modern Business Law (3d edition). He has testified on amending the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act before the Sub-Committee on International Economics and Finance of the House Commerce, Energy, and Telecommunications Committee.

M. Neil Browne is a Distinguished Teaching Professor of Economics, director of IMPACT, an Honors Residential Learning Community Centered around the Principles of Intellectual Discovery and Moral Commitment, and coach of the Mock Trial Team at Bowling Green State University. He received a J.D. from the University of Toledo and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas. He is the coauthor of seven books and more than a hundred research articles in professional journals. One of his books, Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking (6th edition), is a leading text in the field of critical thinking. His most recent book, Striving for Excellence in College: Tips for Active Learning, provides learners with practical ideas for expanding the power and effectiveness of their thinking. Professor Browne has been asked by dozens

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