Question Details

MGT 597
Teacher 
to Teacher Dialogue
	
	One of the most common dilemmas facing instructors of business law is the issue of topic choice.  By the very nature of the subjects we teach, the breadth of materials is so wide that choosing what to focus on in the limited classroom time we have with our students can be a most daunting task.  This problem is especially exacerbated when the topics we are dealing with are all of deep interest and can stand alone as separate courses.
	In this chapter, for example, we are asked to introduce students to topics ranging from the definitions and purposes of law to how our system affects business decisions, to some of the most important provisions found in the U.S. Constitution.  Any one of these subparts can provide the raw materials for an entire course at the law school level.  Our job must start with a self-evident, but sometimes forgotten, point:  this is not law school.  We are here not to train future lawyers but rather students who need to know enough about these issues to recognize that they are issues.  The technical legal problems they may be facing later will ultimately need to be resolved using law and other practitioners.
	The plus side of this dilemma is that because we have such a diverse menu to select from, we are able to pick and choose our areas of emphasis.  For example, if your particular teaching and research interests lie in the area of ethics and the schools of jurisprudential thought from which they are derived, then by all means, run with it!  Rather than trying to be all things to all people, it is better to focus your efforts on your strengths.  This does not mean that you can shortchange the other material.  All key objectives of the chapter should be fully outlined and incorporated in both your lecture and materials outline.  But if you have a particular interest and expertise in, for example, the Law and Economics School of jurisprudential thought, then use them as focal points of comparison in the evolutionary process that seeks to distinguish the older schools of jurisprudence from newer approaches to these issues.  In any event, remember that philosophical studies of what law is and what its role is in the larger scheme of things have always posed questions virtually impossible to answer.  As mentioned in the student study guide, this chapter represents attempts by great thinkers to answer the unanswerable.  It would be far too presumptuous for us to think that we can teach, in a few hours, what the great philosophers of the world have tried to do over hundreds of years.  Perhaps this is an early lesson in what wisdom is really all about:  the more we know of history, the more we know of our own limitations.  If we can get that point across, the course is off to a good start.


II.  Chapter Objectives

•	Define law. 
•	Describe the functions of law.
•	Explain the development of the US legal system.
•	List and describe the sources of law in the United States.
•	Describe the international civil law legal system used in some other countries.



III.	 Key Question Checklist

•	What is law?
•	Once you have identified the kind of societal expectation of behavior, what standard of behavior is most appropriate?  Does law codify the standard?  Do one or more of the schools of jurisprudence support the standard?
•	What are the sources of law in the United States?
•	What body of law and/or ethical standards apply?
•	How would you apply these standards to the facts?