Michael J. O'Hara Office Hours

CBA 502 UNO Omaha NE 68182 Monday & Wednesday 9:30 - 10:00 a.m.

(402) 554-2823 (with voice mail) Monday & Wednesday 11:30 - noon

mohara@unomaha.edu Monday and Tuesday 5:30 - 6:00 p.m.

fax (402) 554-2680 and by appointment

web http://unicron.unomaha.edu/faculty/mohara/web/ohara.htm

 

 

BUSINESS LAW ONE

Spring 1999

LAWS 3910-001 # 01653 Monday & Wednesday 10:00 - 11:15 a.m. CBA 404

the final exams will be on Monday, May 3 in a room TBA

 

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

3 credit hours. "Business Law 3910 is the first and most basic of the two required courses in the legal environment of business in the College of Business Administration. This course is a basic introduction to the legal system of the United States. It includes a study of the common law and the Uniform Commercial Code as well as alternative forms of dispute resolution. It is not intended to duplicate law school study nor is it intended to allow a business person to act as his or her own attorney. The course should, however, allow the individual to be a very informed individual so that they are better managers, citizens, and clients; and are able to recognize legal issues and problems. While emphasis in the course will be upon business transactions and the business environment, it will also allow the individual to benefit greatly from the knowledge and skills gained. The impact of the relationship between law and economics, management, marketing, finance, accounting, including developing information technology will be emphasized." Prerequisites of the Course: ENGL 1150, SPCH 1100.

 

 

GRADED EVENTS:

An "A" is earned with a total course percentage of 90.0% or more; a "B+" is earned with 85.0% or more; a "B" is earned with 80.0% or more; etc. Assignment grades and course grades will be posted on Dr. O'Hara's web page.

 

100% EXAMS and QUIZZES

EXTRA CREDIT

A student may reasonably expect a class mean of between 70 and 80 on Exams #1, #2, #3, #4, and the Solo Final; as well as reasonably expect a class mean of between 80 and 90 on the Group Final. Reflecting differences in study effort, a student may reasonably expect a large variance around the class mean. A reasonably expected range on these exams would be from 45% to 95%, with the 45% being far more likely than the 95%. See the professor's web page for grades of past classes. Thus, without extra credit, the low end of the expected class mean for the course is a 71.2% while the high end of the expected class mean for the course is an 82.8%. A wise student will plan on attempting to earn all of the extra credit points if the student plans on earning a course grade of "B" or better.

 

 

TEXTS:

 

 

STYLE OF TEACHING AND LEARNING:

 

 

As you progress through college you will move increasingly away from the high school pupil-teacher roles and move increasingly towards university student-professor roles. Pupils typically are passive recipients of information, while students typically are active gathers and active synthesizers of knowledge. Students do far more studying than do pupils. Teachers typically are dispensers of information, while professors act as guides in the pursuit of knowledge. In this course, many of you will need to and will make a major change in your customary roles.

Professors reasonably expect students to: [1] give assigned readings a close reading prior to lecture and [2] learn what can be learned from the text. Professors explore issues in depth rather than providing learners with their initial exposure to the material.

Jargon is necessary for precise and efficient communication. Translating legal jargon "into your own words" is a laudable goal and an excellent learning technique. Successful translation is measured by learning and using the jargon. Mastery of legal jargon will be one of your main tasks in this course.

It is not the object of this course to make you a lawyer. Rather, the course objective is to develop your abilities to think and to talk like a lawyer. Why? The prime objective of this course is to prepare you to be an efficient and knowledgeable consumer of legal services during your business career.

 

EXAMS and QUIZZES:

 

 

There are six exams: five completed working alone (i.e., Exam #1, Exam #2, Exam #3, Exam #4, and the Solo Final) and one completed by the Study Group (i.e., Group Final). All final exams are comprehensive. There are two Quizzes, each worth 2% of the course grade.

 

Questions on Exam #1, Exam #2, Exam #3, Exam #4, and the Solo Final will reflect the text and the lectures. All of these exam questions will be True-False and are very difficult because each requires you to actually know the material. Mere familiarity will not be sufficient. Like the law, each question is binary: either it is True or it is False. In the law, for a narrow question of law, 90% correct is 100% wrong.

 

On Exams #1, #2, #3, and #4 there will be thirty-five True/False statements, graded as if there are thirty-three. On the Solo Final Exam there will be one hundred and five True/False statements, graded as if there are one hundred. All of the Solo Final Exam questions will be developed from the questions on Exams #1, #2, #3, and #4. Some will appear unchanged, others may have minor, but material, changes (e.g., a "not" is deleted or added), and some will undergo a substantial metamorphous while still reflective of the topics [note plural] of the original question. Keep your old exams and answer keys as they will be valuable study aides.

 

The surplus questions on each exam will be the only curve any exam receives. Also note, the existence of surplus questions will render any single or two ambiguous questions as a harmless error. Thus, a student wishing to claim an injury in an appeal of answer key errors must identify at least one more ambiguous questions than the number of surplus questions.

 

The Group Final Exam will have twenty (20) "no guess" multiple choice questions with the option to answer a, b, c, all, none, a+b, a+c, or b+c. The questions for the Group Final Exam will be transplanted largely unchanged from the Solo Final Exam. For the Group Final Exam, each group may repeatedly submit their exam for grading where the correctly answered questions will be identified. As time allows, the Study Group may be this up to four (4) times.

 

The Major Topics list will be used by your professor to construct your exams. When you are preparing to read the text and when you are preparing to attend a lecture you should consult this list of Major Topics. The Major Topics List is a list of questions to guide your legal analysis, not a list of statements. Also, this is a list of your major memorization tasks. For the items on the Major Topics List, when material is written on the blackboard, is in a class handout, or is displayed on an overhead, then you will be expected to commit that material to memory (e.g., "fraud" = a knowing and intentional misrepresentation of a material fact that induces justifiable reliance and causes injury). The exam questions covering items on the Major Topics list will be very detailed (e.g., T F "Fraud" is a knowing and intentional misrepresentation of a material fact that induces reliance and causes injury.).

 

Exam #1 is scheduled for Monday February 8 and is worth 10% of the course grade.

 

Exam #2 is scheduled for Wednesday March 3 and is worth 10% of the course grade.

 

After Exam #2 and before Exam #3 there will be two Quizzes each worth 2% of the course grade. These Quizzes are placed to counteract an otherwise very predicable reduction in student effort. Quiz #1 will be administered on the Wednesday preceding (i.e., March 10) Spring Break and Quiz #2 will be administered on the Monday following (i.e., March 22) Spring Break. Each Quiz will have six (6) True-False questions based on that day's assigned readings from the textbook. Each Quiz will be administered at the start of class, prior to any lecture. There is no Make-Up Work for the two Quizzes.

 

The scoring of the Quizzes will be truncated. Six or five correct answers will be scored as 100%, four or three correct answers will be scored as 50%, two or one correct answers will be scored as 20%, and zero correct answers will be scored as 0%.

 

Exam #3 is scheduled for Wednesday March 31 and is worth 11% of the course grade.

 

Exam #4 is scheduled for Wednesday April 21 and is worth 15% of the course grade.

 

The Final Exam comes in two parts worth a total of 50% of the total course grade. Part one is a Solo Final Exam, which will be completed working alone on an in-class comprehensive exam and is worth 30%. Part two is a Group Final Exam, which will be completed by your Study Group and is a comprehensive exam worth 20%. All final exam parts are due at the Regent's scheduled final exam time
(i.e., on Monday May 3 from 10:00 a.m. to noon).

 

During exams and quizzes students shall not wear or use any clothing, hats, glasses, or any other object which obscures the exam proctor's clear view of the student's eyes.

 

Exams from prior semesters appear on Dr. O'Hara's web page. Answer keys are not provided on the web so as to improve your learning by discouraging mere rote memorization instead of attentive reading and analysis.

 

 

STUDY GROUPS:

 

 

The class shall divide into Study Groups of three (3) or four (4) members each. The Study Groups will complete the Group Final for a total of 20% of the course grade.

 

Any time before the start of class on Wednesday April 14 the class may inform the professor that the class as a whole has formed into voluntary Study Groups.
If any student is not in a voluntary Study Group by that deadline,
then the professor will randomly assign all students to Study Groups without any regard to any voluntary groups that purportedly had been formed.

 

Membership in any particular group is voluntary (unless random assignment by the professor is required). This means you do not have to join any specific group, and nor does any specific group have to accept you. NO voluntary group officially exists until ALL students are in voluntary Study Groups. It is your personal responsibility to see to it that ALL students are in voluntary Study Groups.

 

After the formation of Study Groups has occurred, the withdrawal from the class by one or more members of a Study Groups will empower the Study Groups to
DISBAND ONLY IF the group size is reduced to less than three (3). An additional prerequisite to disbanding is that all of the remaining members are able to voluntarily join other voluntary Study Groups. A Study Group that receives a disbanded person(s) may swell to five (5) members.

 

 

LEGAL ANALYSIS PAPER (extra credit):

 

 

This extra credit assignment has three parts, which together are worth up to 4% of the course grade. This assignment includes attending a live performance of the UNOmaha play Three Sisters, and writing two-drafts of a two-page typed legal analysis of the play.

 

The Legal Analysis Paper assignment has three parts. Part one is worth 1% and is earned by attendance at a live performance and by submitting your cancelled ticket stub along with your First Final Draft. A ticket stub will earn 0% if attached to anything other than a First Final Draft that earns a grade of Pass. Part two is worth 1% and is earned on the First Final Draft of the paper due at the beginning of class on Monday April 26. Part three is worth 2% and is earned on the Second Final Draft of the paper due at the final exam on Monday May 3.

 

Performances are staged in the Weber Fine Arts Building (between and south of the Library and the Durham Science Center). Performances start promptly at 8:00 p.m. and generally are over about 10:30 p.m. The play Three Sisters will be staged
April 15 - 17 and 21 - 24. You may attend any of these performances. However, your professor will attend the Thursday April 15 performance and will be available in the lobby the half-hours before and after the play to discuss the assignment with you. Tickets are available from the UNO Theatre Box Office (near south door of Weber). Reservations may be made by phone at (402) 554-2335 (with voice mail) or in person. Reservations are recommended on Fridays and Saturdays; and reservations require ticket pick up no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day of the show. Family members and guests are most welcome. Student tickets cost $5.

 

The Legal Analysis Paper is to be typed on two pages, one page devoted to contracts and one page devoted to torts. The contracts must start at the top of the page and be so labeled. The torts analysis must start at the top of the page and be so labeled. You will select one scene from the play for legal analysis on whether a contract is or is not present as well as select one scene from the play for legal analysis on whether a tort is or is not present. As part of your legal analysis you must go into equity and examine an equitable remedy. You shall conclude either for contracts, or for torts, or for both that there is "no adequate remedy at law" and then proceed to an analysis of the most appropriate equitable remedy. Your paper must contain the bolded words "no adequate remedy at law" which are followed by your analysis of an equitable remedy. The analysis of an equitable remedy must consume at least one-fourth of one page. You may use the same scene for both contracts and torts.

 

The purpose of this assignment is to develop and demonstrate your ability to see the application of legal rules in a novel situation where the participants are not necessarily acting with the law in mind. This assignment is to prepare you to use law as it will pop up in your business career.

 

On Monday April 26 those seeking extra credit shall submit two copies of a First Final Draft. During class on April 26, one copy will be graded by another student and returned to the student author. The other copy will be evaluated by the professor on a pass-fail basis as to whether the First Final Draft is, objectively, a good faith attempt at a "final draft." A pass will earn 100%, while a fail will earn 0%. See Typing Requirements, remember to staple you cancelled ticket stub to your First Final Draft.

 

During your final exam time on Monday May 3 each student seeking extra credit shall submit one copy of a Second Final Draft which will graded by the professor. See Typing Requirements. The Second Final Draft will be graded as 100% for papers which are clearly excellent; 80 % for paper that are clearly adequate; 60% for papers of suspect quality; and 0% for the remainder of the papers. It is not necessary to turn in a Second Final Draft to earn the extra credit points for attending the play and for the First Final Draft.

 

 

TYPING REQUIREMENTS:

 

 

All typed assignments shall be in 12 font, may be either single or double spaced, shall use one inch margins on all four sides, and shall be typed on only one side of 8 1/2" x 11" white paper. No cover sheet will be used, instead all identifying information will appear in a header, reading from left to right: (1) student author; (2) assignment; and (3) class [e.g., LAWS 3920, Monday and Wednesday, Fall 1998]. All of the sheets shall be securely stapled in the upper left corner: other ceremonial entombment is not welcome. Be sure to staple your cancelled ticket stub to your First Final Draft.

 

The ENRON Computer Lab in CBA 403 has word processing software and hardware for you to use and for which you have been charged a fee. Campus computing rooms in CBA 007, EAB 009, and DSC 104 also provide computer support for which you have been charged a fee. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling do influence your grade. For page limits and other assignment specific TYPING REQUIREMENTS, see the specific assignment. Each significant failure to comply with typing requirements (e.g., no header) will cause, at a minimum, an automatic deduction of 10% of the assignment grade for each significant failure.

 

CLASS PARTICIPATION, extra credit:

 

 

The skill of listening is the most important skill students develop during class participation. This is your principle task when you are not orally participating in Class Participation. Listening is critical to effective management. During Class Participation, most of YOUR TIME will be spent LISTENING to other students solve problems. YOU will waste a huge amount of YOUR class time if YOU do not specifically work on developing YOUR listening skills. The grade you receive for listening will be imbedded in your grade for the Group Final Exam.

 

Class Participation is extra credit and, collectively, is worth either +3% or +1% or 0% of your course grade. There is no Make-Up Work for Class Participation. Class Participation is unannounced, but will be so routine as to be almost a daily experience. You will earn +3% extra credit if you routinely prepared to correctly answer questions when you were randomly called on in class. You will earn 0% extra credit if:

MAKE-UP WORK: Recall that the professor's office phone (402) 554-2823 has voice mail and the professor's email address is mohara@unomaha.edu.

 

 

"Is this absence beyond the control of the student?" will be the central question your professor will explore with you prior to permitting any Make-Up Work. There is no Make-Up Work for either the two Quizzes or Class Participation.

 

Make-up work is strongly discouraged (and not really possible for Study Group work). There are two prerequisites for make-up work.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:

 

 

Any form of academic dishonesty (e.g., an exam taker looking on another student's exam paper) will be grounds for a course grade of "F."

 

 

DATE MATERIAL TASKS and DEADLINES

 

Mar 1 Chap 9: intellectual property

DATE MATERIAL TASKS and DEADLINES