Business Law HW

1. Under the business judgment rule, corporate managers: (Pick the best answer)

A. must not make uninformed decisions.

B. may have conflicts of interest.

C. are not required to make reasonable investigations.

D. may not benefit even as shareholders.

2. Go to chapter 44 - Based on your reading of the Dodge v. Ford Motor Co. case, identify only one fact (from the case) that you think that Chief Justice Ostrander relied on to determine that Ford Motor Co. was wrongfully withholding dividends (money or profit) from shareholders of the Ford Motor Co.?

 Write a case brief on a case : Dodge v. Ford Motor Co., 170 N.W. 668 (Mich. Sup. Ct. 1919).

CASE BRIEF GUIDELINES

It is acceptable to simply reference the case summary in your textbook, and use the case from your textbook to complete your case brief. Generally, however, if you are "assigned" a "case brief" as part of an assessment, then you are “expected” to at least look the case up on the Library’s Lexis-Nexis resource site, in the fully published format online, either in Lexis-Nexis or find it online, http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ .

Some students have success finding the actual legal case on a different website. If so, this is acceptable. But, the best method is to use the UMW's online library: http://libraries.umw.edu/ .

Then, access "find a database". Go to "L" and pull up "Lexis Nexis Academic". If you are on campus, you should be able to access Lexis Nexis without a further password. If you are off campus, you will use your regular UMW E-mail/Banner username and password. 

You will then review the actual full-length case simply to see how it might differ from your textbook case summary. Though, you are not tested nor expected to mention the differences. It will enhance student education, however, to at least see that the actual published case may differ than the case summaries published in the textbook.

The case brief is a technical legal memorandum about a judge's opinion in a legal case. You do not research any external sources except for the case itself.

Feel free to use my format as an outline, or use the textbook’s outline for writing a case brief (located at the end of Chapter 1 in both editions, in the Appendix (Ch 1, Appendix).

I don't expect students to draft a perfect case brief in your first business law class. But, I will provide sufficient feedback so that your next case brief is an improvement from your last.

Something that many students do not understand is that lawyers use case briefs when they argue a motion, or a case, in front of a judge. For example, if an attorney wants to suppress the accused's confession, she may want a case brief of the Miranda v. Arizona case (landmark case on confessions). The attorney will bring in several case briefs to court, so that if a judge asks the attorney how the law applies to the case at bar, the attorney can find her "case brief" and quickly read about the precedent that she is now citing in court. The attorneys want to quickly scan a case brief to find the "legal rules" the "facts" or the "issue" in a precedent without having to wade through lots of essay type of writing. This is why the case brief is set up in a rather technical format. It is a tool to be used in court, or in preparation of same, to allow the lawyers to quickly recall prior cases that are "on point" with a current dispute.

Additionally, when a lawyer is preparing a motion, or a case for trial, she will ask her legal interns, or associates (or, she may do it herself) to find several cases similar to the one that she is arguing in court - and, to bring her several "case briefs" of the similar legal precedents. Hence, a case brief must be crisply and accurately written, but include only enough detail so that the attorney can "think on her feet" when in front of a judge. If a case brief is drafted in lots of prose and in an essay format, the lawyer’s ability to quickly think on her feet will be significantly “reduced.

The case brief will also provide an attorney with insight on whether to even pursue a motion in court. If the "precedent" shows a lawyer that the law does not support his or her motion, or argument about a legal issue, then the motion will not be pursued as this might be frivolous. But, a lawyer will not know until he or she researches the precedent and if appropriate, prepares several case briefs.

Overview: Generally, you must provide a correct “cite” of the case; relevant facts, identify parties, issues, identify the “rule of law” (and the exceptions, if any) analyze the case by applying the rule of law (or exception) to the facts and issues in your case, discuss the court’s holding and student’s may add a ‘conclusion” or personal opinion about the outcome of the case.

Note that "legal rules" mean "law". So, what law is used? Law can be a statute, constitutional provision or a case citation (precedent). You will note that cases are cited as precedent by the judge, these cases are "law" as they are considered legally binding precedent. Precedent is a legal case that establishes what the law is, or how a prior case interpreted a statute, etc. The precedent will be applied to the facts in issue in the present case (the case that is currently before a court).

Your case brief format and content should include:

Introduction: In case the judge wants to know - describe or list the various appellate courts which heard an important case (case citation, names of parties, level of proceeding, history of case, name of court and location);

Facts: state the relevant facts only - an abbreviated form

Issue: create a crisp question about the issue, or legal question, that was resolved in a precedent (must of course relate to the case at bar). Some court cases/opinions have many issues; not just 1. But, for purposes of this class, you may just select 1 issue from the case summary in the text. (What is the heart of the controversy? Try to arrive at the nexus of the disputed facts, or disputed issues - what exactly are the parties disagreeing about?)

Rules or Law: what are the legal rules that guide the court in the case at bar (case before the court)? This includes statutes, constitutions, and precedent (prior cases). Some reported cases may have dozens of legal rules cited! But, for purposes of this class, you may select 1 legal precedent, or 1 statute, etc. (a “legal rule” is the law used by the court to apply to the issues/facts in a dispute)

Reasoning or Analysis: this is the most developed area of the case brief. Here we apply the law above to the facts and issues in dispute. How was the law applied by the judge? Explain each precedent (or law that you’ve cited in your legal rule) and show how it was applied to a dispute. For purposes of this class, you may just pick out 1 issue, and 1 legal rule from your cases to combine and analyze.

Holding: the holding is where the court resolves the issue - it will answer the question raised in the issue. The holding forms a future precedent for future cases. It tells the world what this newly decided case will stand for. It is more than just a quip explaining who won or lost. (What is the court’s final decision and rationale?)

Conclusion (What do you think about the holding? According to the U.S. Supreme Court, " . . . reasonable minds can disagree . . . ").For purposes of this class, I ask students to include a conclusion. This is where the student can express a personal opinion about a court holding.

The case brief must be double-spaced, and no longer than 3 pages in length. I will also accept a single-spaced, 1.5 page case brief. Brevity is a virtue when drafting a case brief. Try to stick to the page length restrictions.

Grading Criteria: Your paper will be assessed in the following areas: substantive content, organization, legal accuracy, depth of analysis, critical thinking and clarity.

Please use the following examples to structure your citations:

United States v. Lamacchia, 871 F. Supp. 535 (D. Mass. 1994)

Punduit Corporation v. Dennison Manufacturing, 810 F.2d 1561 (Fed. Cir. 1987)

Abkco Music, Inc. v. Harrisongs Music, Ltd., 508 F. Supp. 708 (S.D.N.Y. 1981)

You must use italics, or underline the party names when citing the case, or referring to a case (do not underline and use italics - pick one method and be consistent). Do not underline or italicize the "v".

Legal briefs are technical and require specificity in the areas listed below. Follow this basic format –you may adopt your own so long as it is organized and contains the information below, and in the following order:

You will notice that some of the actual cases reported in Lexis-Nexis have many issues. These issues will require the court to recite facts, rules (of law) and analysis that may have nothing to do with the content in your textbook for this course. To that end, you are only required to focus on at least 1 issue in the case, and draw from the court's relevant recitation of those facts, rules (of law) and analysis which address the 1 issue that you are focusing on.

Your grade is based primarily on the substantive content in your written case report. The specific "format" is worth only 2 points; focus on the substance of your case brief.