1. Law and Legal Reasoning
Chapter 1

2. What is the Law? A body of enforceable rules governing
relationships among individuals, and
between individuals and their government/society as a whole.

3. Sources of Law
There are four primary sources of law today in the United States:
Constitutional law
Statutory law
Administrative law
Case law

4. Sources of Law Constitutional law
Sets forth the fundamental rights of the people living within the United States or a given state.
Describes and empowers the various branches of government.
Sets forth limitations on that power.

5. Sources of Law Statutory law
Enacted by the United States Congress or the legislature of a given state.
Also includes ordinances of a City.
Many statutory laws are Uniform Codes adopted in the same form by all states.

6. Sources of Law Administrative law
Rules, regulations, orders and decisions created by government agencies.
Creation of Agencies (Enabling legislation)

7. Sources of Law Administrative law Rulemaking
Promulgated by federal, state, and local regulatory agencies.
Published weekly in Federal Register and Texas Register.
Investigation and Enforcement
Adjudication
Oversight

8. Sources of Law Case Law (Common Law)
Body of judicial decisions that interpret and enforce the different laws and rule on disputes between different parties.
Precedent (“Stare Decisis”) - the authority afforded to a prior judicial decision in deciding subsequent disputes involving the same or similar facts.

9. Common Law and Civil Law
Common Law Systems
Recognize the precedential value of prior judicial decisions, which provide binding authority in subsequent disputes.
Doctrine of “stare decisis”
Found in the United States, the United Kingdom, and most of their former colonies or possessions.

10. Law and Equity
From their origin in the late-Eleventh Century, common-law courts were typically classified as either “courts of law” or “courts of equity.”

11. Law and Equity
Courts of Law were empowered only to award wronged parties monetary compensation for injuries or other losses.
Courts of Equity were empowered to award any manner of non-monetary relief, such as ordering a person to do something or to cease doing something.
Merger of Courts in U.S. legal system.

12. Substantive vs. Procedural Law
Substantive Law - creates, defines, describes, and regulates legal rights and obligations.
Procedural Law - establishes the methods of enforcing the rights established by substantive law.

13. Civil and Criminal Law
Civil Law - deals with defining and enforcing the obligations of different persons to one another.
Criminal Law - deals with defining and enforcing the obligations of persons to society as a whole.

14. Cyberlaw
The emerging body of law that governs transactions conducted via the internet.
Not really a classification of law or a new type of law.

15. Law and Legal Reasoning
End of Chapter 1