A study of our legal system including the Constitution, administrative law, torts, crimes, labor law, antitrust, consumer protection, environmental law, international securities, contracts, UCC Art. 2, property, bailments, business organizations, agency, and intellectual property. Also includes coverage of social responsibility and ethical issues as they relate to business within society. (Fall, Spring, Summer) [Graded (Standard Letter)]

The course uses Cengage’s 7th Edition of Introduction to Business Law by Beatty, Samuelson, and Abril, published by Cengage. You may purchase either a hard copy or an online e-book. The new textbook in hard copy form sells for around $60, but used copies are available at between $40-$50. The online book costs more ($110+), but includes electronic access to practice test questions, videos, and other study resources, which will be very helpful in preparing for exams. For reference, here is an image of the book’s cover:

The online version is free for the first two weeks, I recommend that you try it out so you can see how helpful the practice questions and online resources are. To purchase the book, either buy it online somewhere, or go to the "Modules" tab in Canvas, and click on the "Register for your textbook and MindTap here" link, if you want to purchase the online version

University core abilities

• Demonstrate competent and professional written communications.
• Demonstrate the ability to analyze and apply complex laws to various facts and circumstances.
• Identify Life Principles and apply a reasoning method to evaluating and resolving ethical dilemmas.
• Demonstrate the ability to resolve legal and ethical issues.

School of Business core abilities

• Employ basic knowledge of the legal rules surrounding contemporary business law.
• Examine the need for personal ethics in business and apply a framework to resolve ethical issues
• Illustrate the ability to analyze and apply laws to various legal issues; understand how to use AI LLMs, like ChatGPT in writing assignments

Each chapter of the textbook contains additional learning objectives.

Chapter Reading

In the Module tab of this course in Canvas, you will find seven (7) modules. Each module contains a list of the chapters and concepts that will be tested in seven (7) unit exams. Be sure to read all of the listed chapters. At the end of each chapter is a short exam review with practice questions. These include a combination of Matching, True/False, Multiple-Choice, Cases, and Discussion questions which can be used to reinforce what you’ve learned in the chapter reading. Completing the questions is not required nor part of the grade you earn but doing so will reinforce the reading material and be very helpful in your preparation for each of the unit tests. I encourage you to complete these questions after completing your reading. If you purchase the online version of the textbook, you will have access to many more practice questions, videos, and other helpful resources. These online practice questions are very similar to the questions on the actual exams.

Ethics Exercises

There are two (2) graded Ethics Exercises in this course. The objective of these exercises is to help you identify, develop, and apply Life Principles, i.e., core values in resolving ethical dilemmas. The first exercise will require you to identify some of your personal Life Principles. The second exercise will require you to use a decision model to resolve ethical dilemmas in different business scenarios which will be presented. The first exercise is worth fifty (50) points and the second is worth one hundred (100) points. Both exercises are submitted online through Canvas by the stated due dates.

You Be the Judge Exercises

You will complete two (2) "You Be the Judge" Exercises. These exercises promote deeper critical thinking and legal reasoning by building on acquired knowledge. In each exercise, you are provided with case facts, legal issues, and the arguments from each party in the case. You must analyze the issues based on the case facts and applicable law. You are required to arrive at legal conclusions about case issues and provide reasoning for your conclusions. Each exercise is worth fifty (50) points. Submit the completed Exercises online through Canvas by the indicated due dates.

Use of ChatGPT on “You Be the Judge” assignments

Use of ChatGPT, a Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool, will be REQUIRED on your two "You Be the Judge" writing assignments only. In addition to completing the writing tasks, however, for these two assignments you will be required to provide me with a link to the specific ChatGPT session which MUST include at least fifteen (15) custom prompts by you, with each such prompt making the answer better, more accurate, more useful, and/or clearer. Moreover, you will be required to “fact check” the answer to make sure that ChatGPT is not “hallucinating,” i.e., lying to you (be aware that answers generated by AI are not flawless), and you will be required to write a short reflection/summary paragraph sharing what you learned from using AI to complete the assignment. You will find more to come on the specific writing assignments and their rubrics.

On any other assignment, including the exams and ethical writing assignments, where AI is prohibited, any perceived use of AI will be investigated for possible submission to the University as cheating. SUU and Canvas software is becoming much better at catching such types of plagiarism. Last semester alone, I caught nearly ten (10) students using AI where they were not supposed to.

Unit Tests

As stated above, there are seven (7) Unit Tests in this course. Each Unit Test covers the rules and concepts for all chapters indicated in a Module. Each Unit Test consists of a mix of multiple-choice and true/false questions. Each Unit Test is open note (NOT OPEN BOOK or OPEN INTERNET). Take and use as many notes as you wish. All notes must be printed out on paper in hard copy form, NOT accessed using electronic means. Furthermore, you are NOT allowed to use the assistance of any other persons or resources, live or electronic, including, but certainly not limited to search engines such as Google, AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, or test banks such as Chegg, Quizlet, Course Hero, or Socratic.

The only notes that can be used, are those taken by you. To access a Unit Test, click on the link for the Unit Test in the Assignments Tab or Modules Tab. Complete the Unit Tests by the due dates indicated in Canvas. Each test consists of between twenty-five (25) and thirty-five (35) questions to be completed in forty-five (45) minutes. Each test is worth one hundred (100) points.

Grading: Points

Assignment	Points
Unit Tests (7)	700
Test Your Knowledge Practice Quizzes (each chapter)	0*
Ethics Exercises (2)	150
You Be the Judge Exercises (2)	100
Attendance Points (attend 30 days for full points)	100
Total Points	1,050**

• Practice Quizzes: As stated above, even though the Practice Quizzes will not earn you any direct points, they are extremely helpful in preparing for the Unit Tests!
• Course Assessment: At the end of this course there is an anonymous assessment survey that asks your opinion about accounting program objectives and suggestions on how to improve this course. I value your feedback and use it to improve the course.

Grading: Scale

0- 59%	59- 63%	63- 66%	66- 70%	70- 73%	73- 77%	77- 80%	80- 83%	83- 87%	87- 90%	90- 93%	93- 100%
F	D-	D	D+	C-	C	C+	B-	B	B+	A-	A

For policies regarding incompletes or withdrawals, please refer to the current university catalog.

Assignment Due Dates

Date	Assignment Due
August 30 (Sat)	Purchase and/or Register for Textbook/MindTap – No Points
September 3 (Wed)	Commenced Attendance Quiz – No Points, but required!
September 6 (Sat)	Unit 1 Test (Chapters 1, 2 and 4) – We move especially quickly!
September 13 (Sat)	Life Principles Ethics Exercise
September 20 (Sat)	Unit 2 Test (Chapters 5 and 6)
September 27 (Sat)	You Be the Judge Exercise #1
October 6 (Sat)	Unit 3 Test (Chapters 7 and 8)
October 11 (Sat)	Resolving Ethical Dilemmas Exercise
October 18 (Sat)	Unit 4 Test (Chapters 10 and 11)
November 1 (Sat)	Unit 5 Test (Chapters 12 and 13)
November 8 (Sat)	You Be the Judge Exercise #2
November 22 (Sat)	Unit 6 Test (Chapters 17, 18 and 19)
December 11 (Thurs)	Unit 7 Test (Chapters 20 and 21)

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Units (1-7) in this course, do not correspond with the numbering system for unit numbers in the textbook. Instead, read the assigned chapters, which do correspond with chapter numbers in the textbook.

Here is a link to SUU’s full academic calendar: https://www.suu.edu/provost/calendar/fall.html.

Instructor’s Response Time & Feedback

• Respond to student messages within two (2) business days; and
• Provide grades and feedback within five (5) business days from the due date.

Late Assignments and Makeup Work

Late assignments and makeup work may be allowed, on a case-by-case basis, but only if arrangements are made with the instructor.

Cheating

If the instructor determines that you have cheated on any test, exercise, or discussion, in any way, you will receive zero (0) points for and will not be allowed a second chance to complete such assignment. Further discipline may be imposed, in the instructor’s sole discretion, including your receiving a failing grade for the course.

You are responsible for learning all of the assigned reading material as the reading material may appear on the exams. As the student, you are responsible for staying up on the readings. Because this is an in-person class, you will receive 3.33 points for each class attended (maximum possible of 100 for the semester); as such, you must attend at least thirty-one (31) classes to receive full attendance points for the semester.