Covering criminal law. There is often much publicity given to cases which involve a wrongful conviction or where a guilty party has been allowed to “walk”. However, you should consider that main objective of the U.S. criminal system is to protect the rights of the defendant against those of the larger society. One way this is demonstrated in through the standard of proof in a criminal case which is “beyond a reasonable doubt”. A major issue you should examine here is criminal law applies to business entities and what individuals will be prosecuted for crimes. After all, a corporation cannot be imprisoned. You should also consider that constitutional safeguards may not apply to a corporation in the same manner as an individual person. In addition, this area may involve whistle-blowing which has become an important part of the corporate governance process. The next section involves torts and related concepts. When considering torts, you should carefully examine the different classifications in Chapters Seven and Eight. Similar to criminal law, torts contain elements which must be proven in order to the defendant liable for their actions (or lack thereof). The award or damages that are sought are usually monetary are determined on case-by-case basis. In some situations punitive damages can be pursued. If so, the amount of the judgment can be very large and often these cases generate a great deal of media attention. Most lawsuits involving a tort are settled “out-of-court”. These settlements usually occur right before a scheduled trail and the parties enter into legally binding agreement. Sometimes these are confidential and the defendant (individual or a business) may not actually admit liability. The documents are “sealed” and if either party violates the confidentiality clause it may revoke the agreement. This is sometimes done to protect the image of the plaintiff, the defendant or both. An area of great importance to business is that of product liability. Before the start of the industrial revolution, the doctrine of “caveat emptor” (“buyer beware”) was the expectation of protection that a buyer had when dealing with injuries caused by a defective product. However, as the business world became more complex and mass production became more commonplace, the law began to change and the field of product liability was born. In general, there are two ways for an injured party to seek damages in a product liability case. The first is through the traditional use of proving negligence. This requires providing sufficient evidence that each of the four elements exists: 1) that a duty was owed to the plaintiff; 2) that a breach of this duty by the defendant occurred; 3) that the breach was the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries; and 4) that there was actual injury suffered by the plaintiff. Furthermore, the plaintiff may assert a negligence claim against all parties in the distribution chain (manufacturer, distributors, wholesalers, retailers,.

1. Covering criminal law. There is often much publicity given to
cases which involve a wrongful conviction or where a guilty
party has been allowed to “walk”. However, you should
consider that main objective of the U.S. criminal system is to
protect the rights of the defendant against those of the larger
society. One way this is demonstrated in through the standard of
proof in a criminal case which is “beyond a reasonable doubt”.
A major issue you should examine here is criminal law applies
to business entities and what individuals will be prosecuted for
crimes. After all, a corporation cannot be imprisoned. You
should also consider that constitutional safeguards may not
apply to a corporation in the same manner as an individual
person. In addition, this area may involve whistle-blowing
which has become an important part of the corporate
governance process.
The next section involves torts and related concepts. When
considering torts, you should carefully examine the different
classifications in Chapters Seven and Eight. Similar to criminal
law, torts contain elements which must be proven in order to the
defendant liable for their actions (or lack thereof). The award or
damages that are sought are usually monetary are determined on
case-by-case basis. In some situations punitive damages can be
pursued. If so, the amount of the judgment can be very large
and often these cases generate a great deal of media attention.
Most lawsuits involving a tort are settled “out-of-court”. These
settlements usually occur right before a scheduled trail and the
parties enter into legally binding agreement. Sometimes these
are confidential and the defendant (individual or a business)
may not actually admit liability. The documents are “sealed”
and if either party violates the confidentiality clause it may
revoke the agreement. This is sometimes done to protect the
image of the plaintiff, the defendant or both.
An area of great importance to business is that of product
liability. Before the start of the industrial revolution, the

2. doctrine of “caveat emptor” (“buyer beware”) was the
expectation of protection that a buyer had when dealing with
injuries caused by a defective product. However, as the business
world became more complex and mass production became more
commonplace, the law began to change and the field of product
liability was born.
In general, there are two ways for an injured party to seek
damages in a product liability case. The first is through the
traditional use of proving negligence. This requires providing
sufficient evidence that each of the four elements exists: 1) that
a duty was owed to the plaintiff; 2) that a breach of this duty by
the defendant occurred; 3) that the breach was the proximate
cause of the plaintiff’s injuries; and 4) that there was actual
injury suffered by the plaintiff. Furthermore, the plaintiff may
assert a negligence claim against all parties in the distribution
chain (manufacturer, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, etc.).
However, a this claim must be against each defendant
individually.
The other legal approach in product liability cases is the
doctrine of strict liability. This mean liability without fault and
that the plaintiff must only prove proximate cause and
injuries/damages. Although not recognized in all states,
attorneys seek to file product liability litigation in jurisdictions
where it exists because the case is easier to prove than
negligence. In addition, strict liability applies to all parties in
the distribution chain (manufacturer, distributors, wholesalers,
retailers, etc.). Only the amount of damages of each party may
differ based on their involvement with the product.
The use of strict liability in product liability is controversial.
Those in favor of its use point to the fact that negligence can be
difficult to prove in these cases. Also, the manufacturer is in the
best position to prevent defects. On the other side of the
argument, is the fact the cost of these lawsuits is often absorbed
by raising prices to the consumer. In addition, strict liability
often leads to increased number of lawsuits. Finally, products
should not be expected to be perfect.

3. Hopefully, this information will provide you some guidance in
addressing the assignments this week. Good luck!
Rubric
Case / Article Review
A case / article review is a two-page document based on a
business article from a business publication. The article must
appear in the publication no more than 90 days prior to the due
date. The article must also be relevant to material discussed
within the course. Each review will be graded on grammar,
punctuation, and content. The review must discuss the
following:
Steps to follow:
1. Choose a business article from a business publication or
newspaper within the past 60 days. The article must be 2 - 3
pages in length. Students can access various business
publications by going to the “Resources” tab and clicking on
Library Resources.
2. Read the article.
3. Write a review of the business article using the following
format. (One page in length).
First paragraph-a brief summary of the article. Include key
concepts and important elements of the article but do not copy
the article (that is plagiarism).Second paragraph-discuss and
apply any relevant business principles, theories, and terms that
you have read about in your text. Specifically include business
terminology in this discussion of the article. Third and
subsequent paragraphs - briefly write whether you agree or
disagree with the article and why. Support your position using
terms and phrases you have learned from reading your text.

4. You must attach a copy of the article with your paper. If you
picked an Web / Internet article a link to the article must be
provided so that the professor can access and read the article
you have chosen.
ARTICLE REVIEW RUBRIC
Content – article
summary
Content – application of terms
Content –
opinion
Spelling, punctuation and grammar
Exemplary
Clearly Summarized the main points
25 - 30 pts.
Correctly applied 5 terms
25 - 30 pts.
Fully supported opinion
20 pts.
All grammar, spelling and punctuation correct.
20 pts
Above average
Adequately summarized main points
22 – 27 pts.
Correctly applied 4 terms
22 - 27 pts.
Adequate supported opinion
16 - 19 pts.
Only one or two errors
16 -19 pts.
Average
Missed some key points in summary
18 - 21 pts.
Correctly applied 3 terms

5. 18 - 21 pts.
Somewhat supported opinion
10 - 15 pts.
A few errors
10 – 15 pts.
Poor
Missed many key points of the article
9 - 17 pts.
Correctly applied 2 terms
9 - 17 pts.
Minimally supported opinion
5 - 9 pts.
Frequent errors 5 – 9 points
Unacceptable
Showed little understanding of the article
0 – 8 points
Correctly applied 1 term
0 - 8 pts.
Little support or no opinion
0 - 4 pts.
Errors in most sentences.
0 – 4 pts.
Scores