1. Professional Engineering Practice
Introduction to Law for Engineers
Image credit: PCStuff 03:50, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

2. Pre-test

3. Pre-test

4. Legal system in Canada Based on English common-law Laws come from
Legal precedence (judges define this in ruling on cases – “judge-made” law)
Legislation (government writes this)
“codified” in statutes
Regulations can be made in accordance with statutes and also constitute a law

5. Basic terminology (From Marston p9) Litigation – a lawsuit
Plaintiff – the party making the claim or complaint (bringing the action) – usually the Crown in criminal cases
Defendant – the party against whom the claim has been made (defending the action). In criminal cases, “the accused”
Appellant – the party appealing the decision of a lower court
Respondent – the party seeking to uphold a decision of a lower court, that is being appealed
Privity of contract – the legal relationship between parties to a contract
More terms will be defined in next few weeks

6. Law topics Definitions Case questions Learn these
“Tort law” – plaintiff “wronged” and was “owed a duty of care”
Contract law – process of tendering, legality of purpose, mistakes, breach of contract, “equitable estoppel”
Equity – employment equity, human rights, harassment
Environmental law
Other – controlled goods, space law, classified information, RSSSA, privacy laws

7. Concept of a contract
Legally enforceable agreement between two parties.
Requires 5 elements:
Offer made and accepted
Mutual intent to enter into the contract
Consideration (e.g. money)
Capacity to contract
Lawful purpose
Can be written or oral (e.g. the coffee I bought this morning)
Will revisit this later

8. Tort law – core principals
The defendant owed the plaintiff a “duty of care”
The defendant breached that duty by his or her conduct
The defendant’s conduct caused “injury” to the plaintiff
“duty of care” – applied a reasonable degree of care, “reasonable” being measured by the conduct of a “reasonable person” in the circumstances
For a professional engineer, the standard is much higher than for a lay-person
The likelihood of injury or damage should have been “reasonably” foreseeable
There is no requirement for a contractual relationship for tort liability to arise
E.g. builder damages a neighbouring property

9. Liability
Once a Tort has been established, we can address the question of responsibility for compensating:
Strict liability: in the US, a manufacturer may be “strictly liable” for damage resulting from the use of a product they manufacture even though they were not negligent in producing it. Covered by liability insurances.
Vicarious liability (deep pocket theory): if an employee commits a tort in the course of employment, the employer will be vicariously liable for the damage caused. They are in a better financial position to pay out than the employee
Concurrent tortfeasors: more than one party may be liable in a tort action. Judge will decide relative responsibility of each tortfeasor

10. Law question structure
Introduction
This case deals with <legal concept>
History of the legal concept, including key elements (such as conditions for a contract or conditions for proving tort)
Analysis
Parties to the law case
Have the conditions been proven?
Liability
What liability exists under the legal concept?
Decision
Summary regarding what a court would likely decide and why
Damages that might be recoverable
Overall
Clear connection between case and law, clear analysis and decision

11. Post-test

12. Post-test

13. Post-test