Introduction to Law

Students should be able to define, explain, and give examples of these terms: Common law, equity, restraining order, injunction, statute, ordinance, code, precedent stare decisis, civil law, criminal law, prosecutor, district attorney, felony, misdemeanor, wobbler, violation, infraction, tort negligence, ethics.

Question

• Explain what common law and equity are and how they differ.

• Are all people's ethical judgments the same? Why/Not?

Courts and Court Procedure

Students should be able to define, explain, and give examples of these terms: Jurisdiction, long-arm statute, venue, appellate court, trial court, special federal court, federal district court, federal court of appeals, the supreme court of the United States, diversity jurisdiction, writ of certiorari, inferior court, court of record, probate court, domestic relations court, procedural law, complaint, petition, plaintiff, defendant, summons, answer, motion, discovery, verdict.

Question

• Why do the states have two different court systems?
• Why is it important to comply with procedural law?

Business torts and crimes.

Students should be able to define, explain, and give examples of these terms: Tort, tortfeasor, intentional, negligence, contributory, comparative, business tort, liability, injurious falsehood, disparagement, communication, confusion of source, trademark, secondary meaning, trade name infringement, trade name dilution, unfair competition, business crime, theft, embezzlement, larceny, RICO, Computer trespass, hacker, rogue program, infringement, copyright, pirated software, anonymous remailer.

Question

• Explain the benefit to plaintiffs of the doctrine of strict tort liability.
• How can computers be involved in crime?

2. Teleline Inc. ran a telephone gambling game called "Let's Make a Deal" (LMD) using a 900 phone number. Playing the game cost $3.88 a minute. People who called were not charged for the phone calls, but only for the ability to gamble provided by Teleline. AT&T carried the calls over its long-distance lines, and Teleline paid AT&T for the cost of the calls. Felix Kemp's grandson called the 900 number. AT&T listed Teleline's charges under the heading "direct dialed calls," as long-distance charges mixed in with charges for long-distance calls on phone bills mailed to Kemp. AT&T's name and logo were displayed on the pages showing the LMD charges. The LMD charges were illegal gambling debts not collectable under state law. Kemp's local phone company told him he had to pay the charges, or his phone would be disconnected. He paid the phone bill and sued AT&T for violating RICO, claiming mail fraud. Were the bills so misleading that they constituted fraud?