M1 Icebreaker Discussion
This assignment is designed to make you comfortable with all the “bells and whistles” of a web-based course. While we have all introduced ourselves (or should have) already, this will give you an opportunity to create a response or ask a question. Because some of you may not have really absorbed the substantive material as yet, we will start with an easy question that all should be able to answer. Your assignment is to answer the following in one screen or less. When you are done with your answer, please click on the “respond” button to make sure your thoughts are shared with all.
- Why have you taken Legal Environment of Business and what do you expect to learn from this course? What is your past experience with the formal study or experiential learning of Business Law?
M2 Discussion Topic
This is an area in which you can interact with other students to discuss the material—while there can be no discussion of specific, assigned questions and answers (for obvious reasons!) this is a spot in which you can discuss the legal principles you are studying. I will be monitoring the discussion and will answer specific questions or point out any problems of understanding, but generally, this is your area—have fun!
P.S. This is not a graded area—it really is supposed to be an area in which those who care to can discuss the material generally. Totally voluntary.
Just to get us started, what do you think of the increasing amount of reliance on electronic interactions? Some banks now charge to return the actual cancelled check and some think that it is only a matter of time before there will be a charge for dealing with a “real” teller. What are the repercussions, good and bad, of this move toward electronic financial transactions?
M3 Discussion Topic
This is an area in which you can interact with other students to discuss the material—while there can be no discussion of specific, assigned questions and answers (for obvious reasons!) this is a spot in which you can discuss the legal principles you are studying. I will be monitoring the discussion and will answer specific questions or point out any problems of understanding, but generally, this is your area—have fun!
P.S. This is not a graded area—it really is supposed to be an area in which those who care to can discuss the material generally. Totally voluntary.
Just to get us started, consider the application of agency principles to politics. Putting aside our political differences, under agency law can a chief executive really be held liable for the wrongful or illegal actions of a soldier in Iraq?. If the answer is yes, is it reasonable for the United States to continue to refuse to be subject to World Court jurisdiction for war crimes? Remember, this is a law class, not a politics class—consider agency law and possible outcomes, not politics!
Image: A U.S. soldier guards cells inside the prison of Abu Ghraib, outside Baghdad, Iraq, 5/5/2004. U.S.Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, commander of U.S.-run prisons in Iraq, apologized Wednesday for the “illegal or unauthorized acts” committed by soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison, where photographs showed Iraqi prisoners were abused by smiling American guards. (AP Photo/Pool/Anja Niedringhaus)
M5 Discussion Topic
This is an area in which you can interact with other students to discuss the material—while there can be no discussion of specific assigned questions and answers (for obvious reasons!) this is a spot in which you can discuss the legal principles you are studying. I will be monitoring the discussion and will answer specific questions or point out any problems of understanding, but generally, this is your area–have fun!
P.S. This is not a graded area—it really is supposed to be an area in which those who care to can discuss the material generally. Totally voluntary.
Just to get us started, what do you think of the ability of companies to declare bankruptcy as a tactic to protect assets? More and more, companies are fleeing to the protection of the bankruptcy law as a means of gathering enough time to deal with a crisis (perceived or real). The company uses it as an opportunity to renegotiate, etc., comes out of bankruptcy, and then later, uses the protection of the law again. This tactic is most often seen with airlines, but the alternative is to let the company “go under” with the resultant job loss. What do you think?
M6 Discussion Topic
This is an area in which you can interact with other students to discuss the material—while there can be no discussion of specific, assigned questions and answers (for obvious reasons!) this is a spot in which you can discuss the legal principles you are studying. I will be monitoring the discussion and will answer specific questions or point out any problems of understanding, but generally, this is your area—have fun!
P.S. This is not a graded area–it really is supposed to be an area in which those who care to can discuss the material generally. Totally voluntary.
Just to get us started, what does it really mean when you patronize a business and it is a LLP as opposed to a partnership? Does it realistically have any effect on you as a consumer?
Image: Ernst & Young chairman, Philip Laskawy, left, shakes the hand of KPMG Peat Marwick chairman, Stephen G. Butler, during a news conference Monday, Oct. 20, 1997 in New York. The accounting giants Ernst & Young LLP and KPMG Peat Marwick LLP will merge, creating the nation’s largest accounting firm with about $18.3 billion in annual revenues. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
M8 Discussion Topic
Reflect
This is an area in which you can interact with other students to discuss the material—while there can be no discussion of specific, assigned questions and answers (for obvious reasons!) this is a spot in which you can discuss the legal principles you are studying. I will be monitoring the discussion and will answer specific questions or point out any problems of understanding, but generally, this is your area—have fun!
P.S. This is not a graded area—it really is supposed to be an area in which those who care to can discuss the material generally. Totally voluntary.
M9 Discussion Topic
This is an area in which you can interact with other students to discuss the material—while there can be no discussion of specific, assigned questions and answers (for obvious reasons!) this is a spot in which you can discuss the legal principles you are studying. I will be monitoring the discussion and will answer specific questions or point out any problems of understanding, but generally, this is your area—have fun!
P.S. This is not a graded area—it really is supposed to be an area in which those who care to can discuss the material generally. Totally voluntary.
Just to get us started, should municipalities or private owners be liable to property owners who purchase property knowing of an undesirable situation? Should I be able to bring suit for noxious orders or noise pollution if I buy next to a cow farm or the freeway?
Image: Lea Cheatwood stands outside her home in Oxford, Ala., Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2004. Cheatwood lives down the street from Tull Chemical Co., a small factory that manufactures Compound 1080, one of the world’s most toxic poisons. Cheatwood hopes environmentalists and an Oregon congressman succeed in getting Tull shut down. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
