Summing Up Dr. Pamela Gershuny

Legal Environment of Business Section 1 –Main Themes Ethics/CSR, Civil Law, Criminal Law Roles of Legislation and Litigation Section 2 –Main Themes Constitutional Underpinnings of Substantive Law Torts/Civil Litigation/Product Liability Section 3 –Contracts, Employment

Legal Environment of Business The First of Three Sections –Litigation WeaknessesStrengths –Legislation WeaknessesStrengths –Personal Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

Civil Litigation Issues For business managers –Legal Vacuums –Post-Hoc Determination of Liability –Are Juries Peers? –War Chest –Politics and Personal Beliefs of Judges –Finality of Appellate Court Panel

Civil Litigation For Plaintiffs (or you as a citizen) –Negotiating Strength 90% of cases settle –Evidentiary questions –Commitment of emotional resources –Small damages & the practical problems of finding an attorney (contingency fee) –Effective at correcting negative externalities? (E.g. Wal-Mart issues)

Criminal Litigation Black and White compared to the grey of civil litigation –No post-hoc + sentencing guidelines Racist Issues High Burnout Ethical Questions Constitutional foundations

Ethics Flaws in the legal system allow negative externalities 1. Environmental Ethics 2. Human Ethics or Human Costs – Fall on Taxpayers Fall on Taxpayers

Ethics In the wake of Enron... Scorecard.org Antelope fence, Bear Hunt, Whales, Drowning Bison, Elephant calf Wawona tree, Tree Spiking, San Clemente goats Global –Developing countries –Beijing –The Thin Blue Line

Human Costs The Corporation, Fast Food Nation, Wal- Mart Films –Medical Care –Section 8 Housing –WIC –Child Abuse – Poor Attachment disprupts public school system and feeds the criminal justice system