BUSINESSLAW
LECTURENOTES:
BUSI2390
DI
SCUSSI
ONQUE
STI
ON:
When(i
feve
r)areyouj
ust
ifi
edi
nbr
eaki
ngt
hel
aw?
Areyo
ujust
if
iedinbr
eaki
ngala
wthaty
ouf
eel
iswr
ongor
immor
al?
CONSI
DER:
Theenvi
ron mental
ist
,ProLif
ers&andani
mal r
igh
ts
a
ctiv
ist
sb re
a kin
gth ela
wa sa“thevehi
cl
etopromote
c
ha n
g e
”
I
ssuesaroundMe r
cyKill
ing
oSu eRod ri
guez-suff
ersfromLouGehr
ig’
sdisea
se
wantstod i
ewi t
hd i
gni
ty
oMe rcyKill
ing–t h
ee l
derl
y,AI
DSpati
ent
s
oRob ertLati
me r-daugh
terTra
cey
CHAPTER1–MANAGI
NGYOURLEGAL
,AFFAI
RS(BECOMI
NGASOPHI
STI
CATED
CLI
ENT):
A. WHATI
SASOPHI
STI
CATE
DCL
IENT?
oUn ders
tandstherol
eofal awyerandofth
ec l
i
ent
oKnowswh e
ntorep r
esenther
selfa
nd
whentoh i
realawyeroKn owshowto
hi
realawyer
oKn owswh atcanbed oneifdi
ssat
is
fiedwit
halawyer
oKn owsb asi
clega
l conc
e pt
sandcanc ommunica
tewit
ha
l
awye r
B. THEROL
EOFTHEL
AWYE
R
oThelawyerisp rovi
d eadvi
ce;thecl
ientmakesdeci
si
ons
o“
soli
cit
or-
cli
en tp r
iv
ileg
e”–i n
formati
ong i
vent
oalawyer
ispr
ivi
legeda n dalawyerisnotper
mitte
dt odi
scl
oseit
wit
houtthec on sentofth
ec l
ienta
ndc annotb
eforce
dto
dis
closei
tinc ourt
.
C. WHE
NTOHI
REAL
AWYE
R:
oToob ta
inadvi
ceastohowtoor
gani
zeab u
sin
ess
(
solepropr
iet
ors
hip,p
art
ner
shi
p,c
orpor
ati
on)
oAdvicetored
uceris
kif
pur
chasingabusi
nesso
Negoti
ati
onofaL e
ase
oBanking
doc
u mentso
Maj
or
con
tracts
oInt
ell
ectua
l
, Pr
oper
tyi
ssueso
Sa
leofabus
ines
s
D. WHE
NTORE
PRE
SENTYOURSE
LF:
oCli
entmu stwe i
g htheti
mea ndcostofhi
ri
ngalawyer
a
n dwh e
th erthecli
entcanobtai
ntheinf
orma
tiononhi
s
o
rh erown
oCli
entma ywi shtolear
ne xp
erti
setouseSmall
Cl
aimsCou rtp r
ocess($25Kli
mit)
.oBe stt
oobt
ain
l
egaladvi
cei fcri
mi n
alcharge
s
E
. HOWTOF
INDAGOODL
AWYE
R:
1
, oRef
err
alsfr
omf r
ien
dsandf amilywhoyoutrust
oLa
wSoc iet
yLawyerRef
erralServi
ce
oLa
wy er
stendtospeci
al
izeinc er
tai
nareas.I
dent
if
yth
e
ar
eaofyourprobl
emb ef
orey ouseekarefe
rral
.
oI
ni
tia
lCon s
ult
ati
on–Arey ouc onfi
den
twiththe
l
awyer,i
syourpr
obleminh i
sa reaofexp
erti
se,
di
scussfees
F
.LE
GALAI
D–(
Lega
lSe
rvi
cesSo
cie
ty)
oUsual
lyl
imit
edtocri
minalch
argeswh e
rej
ai
lisa
pos
sibil
i
ty,
famil
ylawprobl
emsi n
volvi
ngc
ustod
y,ment
al
hea
lthprob
lem,i
mmi g
rati
onprobl
emsorpri
soniss
ues
oAvai
l
a bl
eonlyt
othoseofli
mitedinc
ome
H. HOWL
AWYE
RSBI
LLCL
IENTS:
1
.Fixe
dfeeb asisre
ga r
dle
ssoftimei
nvol
ved
2
.Timespe n
tan dhourl
yrate(mayal
soincl
udether
igh
t
tochargeab onusifsucc
e s
sful
)
3
.Conti
ngencyF eearra
ngeme nt
s–perce
ntageofth
e
amou n
tac li
entcoll
ects
oCl
ien
tisres
pons
ibl
etop
ayd
isb
urs
eme
nts
oRe
taine
risade
posi
t
I
. HOWTOCOMPL
AINABOUTYOURL
AWYE
R:
oDi
scusspr
oblemswithyourl
awyer
oMedi
ati
onifavai
l
able
oTax
ati
onoflawyer
’sbil
l(c
ourtof
fi
ci
alh
asther
igh
tto
de
cidewheth
erbil
lisfa
irandred
ucei
tacc
ordi
ngl
y.
LECTURENOTES:
BUSI2390
DI
SCUSSI
ONQUE
STI
ON:
When(i
feve
r)areyouj
ust
ifi
edi
nbr
eaki
ngt
hel
aw?
Areyo
ujust
if
iedinbr
eaki
ngala
wthaty
ouf
eel
iswr
ongor
immor
al?
CONSI
DER:
Theenvi
ron mental
ist
,ProLif
ers&andani
mal r
igh
ts
a
ctiv
ist
sb re
a kin
gth ela
wa sa“thevehi
cl
etopromote
c
ha n
g e
”
I
ssuesaroundMe r
cyKill
ing
oSu eRod ri
guez-suff
ersfromLouGehr
ig’
sdisea
se
wantstod i
ewi t
hd i
gni
ty
oMe rcyKill
ing–t h
ee l
derl
y,AI
DSpati
ent
s
oRob ertLati
me r-daugh
terTra
cey
CHAPTER1–MANAGI
NGYOURLEGAL
,AFFAI
RS(BECOMI
NGASOPHI
STI
CATED
CLI
ENT):
A. WHATI
SASOPHI
STI
CATE
DCL
IENT?
oUn ders
tandstherol
eofal awyerandofth
ec l
i
ent
oKnowswh e
ntorep r
esenther
selfa
nd
whentoh i
realawyeroKn owshowto
hi
realawyer
oKn owswh atcanbed oneifdi
ssat
is
fiedwit
halawyer
oKn owsb asi
clega
l conc
e pt
sandcanc ommunica
tewit
ha
l
awye r
B. THEROL
EOFTHEL
AWYE
R
oThelawyerisp rovi
d eadvi
ce;thecl
ientmakesdeci
si
ons
o“
soli
cit
or-
cli
en tp r
iv
ileg
e”–i n
formati
ong i
vent
oalawyer
ispr
ivi
legeda n dalawyerisnotper
mitte
dt odi
scl
oseit
wit
houtthec on sentofth
ec l
ienta
ndc annotb
eforce
dto
dis
closei
tinc ourt
.
C. WHE
NTOHI
REAL
AWYE
R:
oToob ta
inadvi
ceastohowtoor
gani
zeab u
sin
ess
(
solepropr
iet
ors
hip,p
art
ner
shi
p,c
orpor
ati
on)
oAdvicetored
uceris
kif
pur
chasingabusi
nesso
Negoti
ati
onofaL e
ase
oBanking
doc
u mentso
Maj
or
con
tracts
oInt
ell
ectua
l
, Pr
oper
tyi
ssueso
Sa
leofabus
ines
s
D. WHE
NTORE
PRE
SENTYOURSE
LF:
oCli
entmu stwe i
g htheti
mea ndcostofhi
ri
ngalawyer
a
n dwh e
th erthecli
entcanobtai
ntheinf
orma
tiononhi
s
o
rh erown
oCli
entma ywi shtolear
ne xp
erti
setouseSmall
Cl
aimsCou rtp r
ocess($25Kli
mit)
.oBe stt
oobt
ain
l
egaladvi
cei fcri
mi n
alcharge
s
E
. HOWTOF
INDAGOODL
AWYE
R:
1
, oRef
err
alsfr
omf r
ien
dsandf amilywhoyoutrust
oLa
wSoc iet
yLawyerRef
erralServi
ce
oLa
wy er
stendtospeci
al
izeinc er
tai
nareas.I
dent
if
yth
e
ar
eaofyourprobl
emb ef
orey ouseekarefe
rral
.
oI
ni
tia
lCon s
ult
ati
on–Arey ouc onfi
den
twiththe
l
awyer,i
syourpr
obleminh i
sa reaofexp
erti
se,
di
scussfees
F
.LE
GALAI
D–(
Lega
lSe
rvi
cesSo
cie
ty)
oUsual
lyl
imit
edtocri
minalch
argeswh e
rej
ai
lisa
pos
sibil
i
ty,
famil
ylawprobl
emsi n
volvi
ngc
ustod
y,ment
al
hea
lthprob
lem,i
mmi g
rati
onprobl
emsorpri
soniss
ues
oAvai
l
a bl
eonlyt
othoseofli
mitedinc
ome
H. HOWL
AWYE
RSBI
LLCL
IENTS:
1
.Fixe
dfeeb asisre
ga r
dle
ssoftimei
nvol
ved
2
.Timespe n
tan dhourl
yrate(mayal
soincl
udether
igh
t
tochargeab onusifsucc
e s
sful
)
3
.Conti
ngencyF eearra
ngeme nt
s–perce
ntageofth
e
amou n
tac li
entcoll
ects
oCl
ien
tisres
pons
ibl
etop
ayd
isb
urs
eme
nts
oRe
taine
risade
posi
t
I
. HOWTOCOMPL
AINABOUTYOURL
AWYE
R:
oDi
scusspr
oblemswithyourl
awyer
oMedi
ati
onifavai
l
able
oTax
ati
onoflawyer
’sbil
l(c
ourtof
fi
ci
alh
asther
igh
tto
de
cidewheth
erbil
lisfa
irandred
ucei
tacc
ordi
ngl
y.
