# ACCT-245 Notes
> [TOC]

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First test is comprised of 8 different chapters, check back with prof. for exact chapters. Expect 6 questions per chapter for the test totalling 40 questions.

> Test 1: 1, 2, 4, 10, 11, 12, 8, & 23 - 50 Questions
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## Con Law

**The Commerce Clause:** Gives congress the power to regulate commerce between state lines. It gives congress enormous amounts of power therefor to regulate most businesses within the United States. It is however important to note that it is *not absolute*. (See [US v Lopez](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1994/93-1260) & [Wicker v Filburn](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/317us111)).

> The reason that this clause was created was to prevent isolation between the original thirteen states, and thus allowed the federal government the power to keep the economic system within their federal control rather than each state essentially becoming their own economical system where business couldn't flow as freely.

**The Supremacy Clause:** The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States establishes that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the "supreme Law of the Land", and thus take priority over any conflicting state laws.

> Take minimum wage for example. The federal minimum wage is $7.25, but other municipalities and states have raised the minimum wage in their jurisdicitions. They thus have the authority to raise the minimum wage, but to lower it would be a violation of the Supremacy clause, and thus a violation of said clause.

>But why is it that the municipality can supersede that of the fedearl legislation? Goes to the intent. The intent of the municipalities law raising the wage is not going against the intent of the federal minimum wage, rather its just raising its standards.

**1st Amendment & Protected Speech:**

There are three categories of speech that are protected under the 1st amendment.

*(Ranked in order from most protected)*

1. **Symbolic Speech**
2. **Corporate Political Speech**
3. **Commercial Speech**

**Reasonable Restrictions & Reasonability:**

There are reasonable time place and manner restrictions. And, there are a few narrow categories of speech are not protected from government restrictions. The main such categories are **incitement, defamation, fraud, obscenity, child pornography, fighting words, and threats**.

**Establishment Clause:**

The First Amendment's Establishment Clause prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.”

**Free Exercise Clause:**

The Free Exercise Clause protects citizens' right to practice their religion as they please, so long as the practice does not run afoul of a "public morals".

**Reasonable accommodation**: refers to adjustments or modifications provided by an employer to enable employees with disabilities to perform their job duties effectively.

**Undue hardship** is a legal standard that describes significant difficulty or expense incurred by an employer in providing these accommodations, taking into account factors like the employer's size, financial resources, and the nature of the operation.

**Due Process & Equal Protection:**

Due process effectively means trying to provide fairness within the law. Often they have to have notice and opportunity to be heard.

*Substanative Due Process:* Often focuses on the content of the legislation or statute, and has to do with fairness based on the content escribed. THus the legislation must be reasonable in content and further a **reasonable government objective.**

## Contract Law

**Parts of a Contract:**

1. Offer
2. Consideration
3. Capacity
4. Acceptance

**Different classifications of a contract:**

>Bilateral v. Unilateral Contracts

Bilateral Contracts require both sides to agree to perform an act or 'promise' in which both sides must comply.

A Unilateral contract requires only the offeror to perform their act in exchange for the completion of the act or service requested.

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**Expressed vs Implied Contracts:**
An Expressed contract can be either written or oral in nature, as long as all the terms are laid out and the offer is considered and accepted. Both verbal and written contracts are legally binding in nature, but verbal ones can be evidentiarily more challenging to enforce.

An implied-in-fact contract is a form of an implied contract formed by non-verbal conduct, rather than by explicit words. The most common thing being when terms are implied within the conduct of a contract.

**Void v. Voidability:**

Both void contracts and voidable contracts are forms of legal contracts. A void contract, however, is invalid from the very beginning because it regards an illegal act. A voidable contract becomes invalid when one of parties involved cancels it for legal reasons.

**Requirements of a Valid Offer**

See Lucy v. Zemmer

**Revocation:** is an annulment or cancellation of a statement or agreement. Revocation can occur at any time as long as the contract has not been exercised. Notification must be sent to all those who are party to the contract in order for revocation to be valid and the contract to be null.

**Rejection:**

> Potential Test Question: Two guys are sitting in a bar, Harley says to Davidson "Ill sell you my motorcycle for $20,000" and Davidson says to Harley "I wouldn't buy that piece of junk for $20,000, *ten second pause* but on second thought maybe I will buy it." Harley says "now that you insulted my property I am not selling it to you" Since there was a pending offer that was rejected does this count.

> No the offer would have to be reoffered and after rejection the contract was null.

**Counter-Offer:** The counter offer is two things: 1. The first offeree rejects the first offer and then 2. Makes another offer.

> "No to the $20,000 but I will give you $16,000."

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**Termination by option of Law:**

1. **Lapse of Time:** If a pending offer is given and you are told to "think about it" and I dont specify an amount of time it should be remain open, the court only allows that offer to stand for what they deem to be a "reasonable amount of time."

2. **Destruction of the Subject of the Offer:** If the subject of the offer is destroyed or no longer in its current condition the contract is nullified.

3. **Death or Mental Incompetence of either party:** Self explanitory.

4. **Supervening illegality of the proposed contract:** If the subject matter of the contract becomes illegal during the contract negotiation period then the contract is nullified as a matter of law.

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**Mirror image rule:** The acceptance has to be the mirror image of the offer. You cannot add or change any portion of the contract and claim it was a conditional acceptance.

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Types of Damages:

**Compensatory Damages** Damages meant to return the plaintiff/damagee to their original state

**Punative Damages** Damages as punishment for the actions of the defendant.

**Nominal Damages** Damages provided (often when an amount cannot be settled upon like $1) in the event a case is won legally but not provided with significant punative or compensatory damages based on the facts of the case.

Also: **Mitigation of Damages** in the event of significant damages on the opposing side you are bound to assist in the mitigation of said damages if it is reasonable under the law.

> The mitigation of damages doctrine, also known as the doctrine of avoidable consequences, prevents an injured party from recovering damages that could have been avoided through reasonable efforts. The duty to mitigate damages is most traditionally employed in the areas of tort and contract law.

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Liquidated Damages v. Penalties

> The key difference between liquidated damages and penalties is that liquidated damages are intended to compensate the non-breaching party for actual damages suffered, while penalties are intended to punish the breaching party

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## Intelectual Property

Four major forms of IP:

**Trademarks** Refer to phrases, words, or symbols that distinguish the source of a product or services of one party from another. Trademarks protect logos, words and other branding.

> Think Nike Swoosh, McDonalds Arches, Apple Logo. **Trademarks do not need to be registered to recieve protection based on the destinctiveness of the mark.**


Four Major Categories:

1. Fanciful/Arbitrary
2. Suggestive
3. Descriptive Marks
4. Generic Marks

**Patents** Protect inventions from being developed by selling, transferring, or being made available to another person without authorization. Utility patents protect inventions of different kinds for 20 years. The key to a patent's protection is that the invention must be new or novel.

**Copyrights** Protect expressions of ideas or creations, such as writings, pictures, art, music, and various other artistic forms referred to as intellectual works.

**Trade Secrets** A business ownership of a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process that provides a competitive edge.

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## Real Estate

**Real Property** is land and anything that is perminently afixed to land.

> When trying to draw a line between what is a fixture and what is not, courts often determine if the item or issue is a "fixture" (as defined by jurisdiction) and from that point determine if the claim is reasonable based on that determination.

**Personal Property** is anything else.

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A **fee simple absolute** is a real estate estate that gives the owner unlimited and unconditional rights to land.

- The owner retains both title and possession of the land, regardless of future events or circumstances. The owner can use the land as they desire, and others cannot revoke or transfer the right.

### **Concurrent Ownership**:

In **Tenancy in Common**, the ownership portion passes to the individual's estate at death.

>If you own 1/2 of an interest in 10 acre's of land, and one party dies, the dead party can pass down their interest to their estate.

In **Joint Tenancy**, the title of the property passes to the surviving owner. Some states set Joint Tenancy as the default property ownership for married couples, while others use the Tenancy in Common model.

>Example: If you own 1/2 of an interest in 10 acre's of land, and one party dies, the moment they die, the other owner owns the entire property now.

### **Leasehold Estates:** (Can change very drastically between jurisdictions.)

- **Fixed Term Tenancy**: The lease in this case is a set term in which the lease exires at the end of that term.
- **Periodic Tenancy**: The lease becomes a periodic (month-to-month) agreement if a further fixed-term lease isn't agreed to, and the tenant doesn't vacate.

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### **Easement**

The right to use someonese property in a nondestructive way.

> Think gas and electric companies have easement often for them to come onto your property and manage those services on your property.

A **profit** (short for **profit-à-prendre** in Middle French for "advantage or benefit for the taking"), in the law of real property, is a nonpossessory interest in land similar to the better-known easement, which gives the holder the right to take natural resources such as petroleum, minerals, timber, ext.

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### Types of Deeds

**Warranty Deeds**: It guarantees that the seller has a clear title to the property, no outstanding liens or mortgages, and no future claims to the title. The deed usually includes a description of the property and any known encumbrances, such as easements, liens, or judgments.

**Quick Claim Deeds**: A quitclaim deed is a legal document that transfers the title of a property between two parties. It's also known as a non-warranty deed.

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### Adverse Possesion

**Adverse possession** is a legal doctrine that allows a person to claim a property right in land owned by another.

**Restrictive covenants** are clauses that prevent, prohibit, restrict, or limit the actions of a person or entity named in a contract. Restrictive covenants are common in real estate transactions and apply to everything from the colors you can paint your house to how many tenants can live in a building.

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**Substantive law** is the law that creates the right being claimed, or the law under which charges are brought.

**Procedural law** sets out when, where and how the claims are made and the how the case is handled before the court.

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### Resolution of Disputes outside of Litigation: Mediation and Arbitration

**Mediation:** The Court provides trained mediators who can assist the parties in a lawsuit in settling their case before trial. Mediators do not decide the outcome of a case. All agreements reached in mediation are voluntary.

**Arbitration:** Arbitration refers to an alternative dispute resolution method where the parties in dispute agree to have their case heard by a qualified arbitrator out of court. Under the Federal Arbitration Act, decisions reached through arbitration are binding just like a court case is and pursuing a claim through arbitration precludes you from also raising it in the traditional court system. Arbitration is used because it is often much less expensive than litigation due to its less stringent procedural requirements.

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### Employment At Will

At-will employment is an employer's ability to dismiss an employee for any reason, and without warning, as long as the reason is not illegal.

## Test 2: 8 Chapter Test: 5, 7, 14-19

3 Questions on Intentional Torts
4 Questions on Negligence
1 Question on Strict Liability