Solutions Manual — Business Law Today: Comprehensive Text and Cases, 14th Edition (Roger LeRoy Miller, 2025) | All Chapters 1-43 Covered

SOLUTIONS MANUAL
Business Law Today: Comprehensive Text
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and Cases
Roger LeRoy Miller
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14th Edition
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SOLUTIONS
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MANUAL
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, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Business Law Today - Comprehensive Edition: Text & Cases 14e, 9798214045665;
Chapter 01: Law and Legal Reasoning


Solution and Answer Guide
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Miller, Business Law Today - Comprehensive Edition: Text & Cases 14e,
9798214045665; Chapter 01: Law and Legal Reasoning


TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Critical Thinking Questions in Features............................................................................................ 1
Ethical Issue—Value Judgment......................................................................................................... 1
Managerial Strategy—Business Questions....................................................................................2
Landmark in the Law—Application to Today’s World..............................................................3
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Chapter Review......................................................................................................................................... 3
Practice and Review............................................................................................................................ 3
Practice and Review: Debate This...................................................................................................4
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Issue Spotters........................................................................................................................................4
Business Scenarios and Case Problems.......................................................................................5
Critical Thinking and Writing Assignments................................................................................... 9
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Critical Thinking Question in Exhibit 1A-3.................................................................................. 10
A Sample Court Case—Critical Thinking.................................................................................... 10
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CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS IN FEATURES

ETHICAL ISSUE—VALUE JUDGMENT
1. Should an administrative authority have the power to make decisions involving hundreds
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of billions of taxpayer dollars—such as canceling student loans—without input from
Congress? Why or why not?

Solution: When the secretary of education decided to establish a student loan
forgiveness program that would have cancelled about $430 million in student debt for
as many as 430 million American debtors, several states sued to prevent this unilateral
policy resolution from moving forward. The case eventually made it to the United
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States Supreme Court, where the administration of President Joseph Biden insisted
that Congress had given it this power in the HEROES Act, which allows the secretary of
education to respond to a national emergency by waiving or modifying any “statutory
or regulatory” provision governing student-loan programs.
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The Supreme Court rejected this reasoning. In his opinion, Supreme Court Chief
Justice John R. Roberts, Jr., used the language of the HEROES Act to interpret
congressional intent. Congress’s use of the word “modify” meant that a government
agency could make “modest adjustments and additions to existing provisions,” Roberts


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, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Business Law Today - Comprehensive Edition: Text & Cases 14e, 9798214045665;
Chapter 01: Law and Legal Reasoning
wrote. “Not transform them.” He went on to suggest that the debt-forgiveness
program “modified” student loan laws in the same way that the “French Revolution
‘modified’ the status of the French nobility—it has abolished them and supplanted
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them with a new regime entirely.”

Here, the Court asserted that an administrative body had not modified an existing
Congressional plan. Rather, the Biden administration had used its authority to enact a
major new law that Congress had not chosen to enact itself. Even given the leeway
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that administrative agencies have within the separation of powers, the executive
branch had gone too far in this case.

Other members of the Court, disagreeing with the majority opinion, stated that the
financial burden being suffered by millions of student loan debtors was a sufficient
“emergency” to justify the loan forgiveness program, no matter its cost. To this, Chief
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Justice Roberts responded, “The question here is not whether something should be
done; it is who has the authority to do it.” Thus, when determining the ethical
components of a government decision with regard to business law, one must not only
consider the inherent rightness or wrongness of the decision. One must also consider
the consequences of giving the government agency or individual the power to make
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the decision.


MANAGERIAL STRATEGY—BUSINESS QUESTIONS
1. “When faced with a clearly erroneous precedent, my rule is simple,” writes Supreme Court
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Justice Clarence Thomas. “We should not follow it.” How do these words offer a
cautionary tale for managers relying on stare decisis to make business decisions?

Solution: Simply put, the doctrine of stare decisis applies in all instances, except when
it does not. As noted in the text, a court is able to depart from precedent if it feels
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that legal, social, or technological changes have rendered the previous decision
untenable. In this case, just because the United States Supreme Court believes, at
present, that automobile salespeople are exempt from the overtime rules of the FLSA,
there is a possibility that the Court could reverse itself in the future. In this context,
managers need to be aware that (1) any decision they make based on a court decision
is subject to change, and (2) if they believe that a previous business law-related court
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decision is flawed, they can challenge it in court.

2. Should Roberta consider paying her salespeople overtime even though it is not required by
federal law? Why or why not?

Solution: Just because Roberta is legally able to avoid paying the salespeople at her
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new used car dealership overtime, should she? As with so many managerial decisions,
the answer to this question involves the tricky determination of costs and benefits. On
the one hand, Roberta’s costs will be lower if she does not have to pay overtime to the
salespeople. On the other hand, the salespeople may be more motivated if they feel
they are being properly compensated for the extra hours they spend on the lot. The
extra motivation will likely lead to additional sales, which very well may offset the
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overtime costs.




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, Solution and Answer Guide: Miller, Business Law Today - Comprehensive Edition: Text & Cases 14e, 9798214045665;
Chapter 01: Law and Legal Reasoning
LANDMARK IN THE LAW—APPLICATION TO TODAY’S WORLD
1. The equitable maxims listed here underlie many of the legal rules and principles that are
commonly applied by the courts today—and that you will read about in this book.
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For instance, in the contracts materials, you will read about the doctrine of promissory
estoppel. Under this doctrine, a person who has reasonably and substantially relied on the
promise of another may be able to obtain some measure of recovery, even though no
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enforceable contract exists. The court will estop (bar) the one making the promise from
asserting the lack of a valid contract as a defense. The rationale underlying the doctrine of
promissory estoppel is similar to that expressed in which of the maxims just listed?
Solution: The rationale underlying the doctrine of promissory estoppel is similar to
that expressed in the fourth and fifth equitable maxims listed in the feature. The
fourth maxim supports the notion that the law should not be applied unfairly just
because the law does not provide a solution to a particular problem. The fifth maxim
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holds that those administering the law should not get bogged down in technicalities
when doing so leads to unfairness or injustice. In a perfect legal world, then, a lack of
a valid contract should not punish a party who has justice and fairness on their side.
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CHAPTER REVIEW

PRACTICE AND REVIEW
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Suppose that the California legislature passes a law that severely restricts carbon dioxide
emissions of automobiles in that state. A group of automobile manufacturers files a suit
against the state of California to prevent enforcement of the law. The automakers claim that
a federal law already sets fuel economy standards nationwide and that these standards are
essentially the same as carbon dioxide emission standards. According to the automobile
manufacturers, it is unfair to allow California to impose more stringent regulations than those
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set by the federal law. Using the information presented in the chapter, answer the following
questions.

1. Who are the parties (the plaintiffs and the defendant) in this lawsuit?
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Solution: In this situation, the automobile manufacturers are the plaintiffs, and
the state of California is the defendant.

2. Are the plaintiffs seeking a legal remedy or an equitable remedy? Why?

Solution: The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction, which is an equitable remedy,
to prevent the state of California from enforcing its statute restricting carbon
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dioxide emissions.

3. What is the primary source of the law that is at issue here?

Solution: This case involves a law passed by the California legislature and a
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federal statute; thus, the primary source of the law is statutory law.

4. Read through the appendix that follows this chapter, and then answer the following
question: Where would you look to find the relevant California and federal laws?


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