LAW 3000: Business Law I
3 credit hours
Spring 2012
Montreux, Switzerland

Instructor:

Instructor: Dr. Leonila Guglya
Office location: Hotel Miramonte 202
Email: leonila.guglya@him.ch
Office hours: By appointment

Texts/Course materials:

MARIANNE M. JENNINGS, BUSINESS: ITS LEGAL, ETHICAL, AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT, 9th, International Edition, South-Western, 2012.

Other necessary materials (including, where applicable, law review articles, case law, international instruments and excerpts from the relevant national and regional legislation) will be prepared by the instructor and distributed via Moodle, via email or in hard copies. Please check Moodle and your email regularly for the relevant updates.

Course description:

The Course is aimed at introducing the students to the basic principles of law applicable to the business world emphasizing ethics, the judicial system, contracts, sales, property, agency and business organizations.

Goals and Objectives:

The goal of the course is to provide the basic knowledge and understanding of legal theories and practical applications of rules/laws as they pertain to the decision-making aspects of administration and professional conduct in business.

As a result, upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Understand the value of legal counsel; 2. Understand the origins of various legal systems; 3. Differentiate among criminal and tort liabilities for businesses; 4. Understand the formation of contracts, the nature and classes of contracts, their assignment and termination, as well as the completion functions of the Uniform Commercial Code and the CISG; 5. Understand and apply the terms and conditions of sales and lease agreements; 6. Have a working knowledge of the legal status of different business entities; 7. Understand the fundamentals of agency contracts and employment and their application in the business world; 8. Understand the diversity of frameworks supporting real and intellectual property rights.

Northwood University Educational Outcomes:

Courses of study at Northwood are practical and guided by a set of outcomes designed to produce graduates who:

▪ Understand the tradition of freedom. ▪ Have a broad, practical understanding of their chosen field. ▪ Are familiar with the ideas driving enterprise leaders. ▪ Communicate effectively in speech and writing. ▪ Understand complex global forces. ▪ Have a constant attraction to new ideas. ▪ Have articulated personal values. ▪ Understand the business/arts relationship. ▪ Are effective self-evaluators. ▪ Seek lifelong education

1 Required Work/Grading system

Assessment:

|TYPE OF ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY |WEIGHT IN THE FINAL |DESCRIPTION/ NOTES |
| |GRADE | |
|Final Exam |30% |The Final Exam (covering the issues discussed during the whole course). |
|Mid-term Exam |20% |The Mid-Term (dealing with the issues discussed during the classes before the exam). |
|Homework |25% |Various assignments to be completed individually or in groups, particular weight of |
| | |each in the final grade to be announced on a case-by-case basis. |
|Group Project (Moot court |15% |Group Moot Court exercise will take place on the week 8 (17). Further instructions |
|exercise) | |will be provided. |
|Quizzes |10% |Occasional short quizzes based on the reading assigned for the class. The quizzes |
| | |will not be announced in advance. The grade assigned will be based on the point |
| | |average of all quizzes taken. |
|Total: |100% |

|Extra Credit |Up to 6% |Hospitality legal news updates prepared in accordance with the provided guidelines – |
| | |maximum 2 reports, up to 3% each. The submission deadlines for the reports is: |
| | |Report 1: Sunday, 6 May 2012, 11:59 p.m. |
| | |Report 2: Sunday, 27 May 2012, 11:59 p.m. |

Grading scale: (based on raw percentage of total points)

|NUMERIC GRADE |LETTER |HONOR |NUMERIC GRADE |LETTER |HONOR |
| |GRADE |POINTS | |GRADE |POINTS |
|94 - 100 % |A |4 |74 - 76 % |C |2 |
|90 - 93% |A- |3.7 |70 - 73% |C- |1.7 |
|87 - 89% |B+ |3.3 |67 - 69% |D+ |1.3 |
|84 - 86% |B |3 |64 - 66% |D |1 |
|80 - 83% |B- |2.7 |60 - 63% |D- |0.7 |
|77 - 79% |C+ |2.3 |Below 60% |F |0 |

2 Cheating/plagiarism:

The Northwood University Catalog states the following:

“Plagiarism and Cheating Academic integrity is an important value at Northwood University. We consider all forms of cheating a serious academic infraction. A student guilty of plagiarism and/or cheating will be penalized, based on the instructor's judgment, in some way. Often, the punishment is failure for the entire course.”

Neither plagiarism nor cheating is acceptable.

All submitted written assignments (including a take-home Mid Term Exam) are expected to be individual work products with the opinions belonging to others duly referenced. Assignments which are not original work will receive a zero grade. There will be no opportunity to resubmit work or to earn “make-up” points.

Cheating will result in the zero grade for the relevant activity.

Course Materials:
Course materials on Moodle are for the use of students enrolled in the course for the purposes related to the course, and may not be retained or further distributed. Course materials are subject to copyright protection.

Classroom policies:

a) Attendance

100% class attendance is expected. Absences shall be announced to the instructor before the class in person or by email. In result of an unexcused absence, the final grade will be lowered by 1% for each class period missed (50 minutes).

Absences are only excused if all of the following are met: • The instructor has been informed in advance.

• There is a valid reason (e.g. job interview, certified illness).

• The work due for the missed class is completed by the student prior to the next class.

• A specific assignment, aimed at making sure that the student is up-to date with the material discussed during the missed class, is submitted.

b) Late arrivals

Late arrivals (> 10 minutes after the start of each of the class period) will also cause a deduction of 1% from the “class participation” part of the grade.

c) Cell phones, Iphones, Ipads, Laptops [and the like]

Cell phones, Iphones, Ipads and laptops (as well as non-mentioned similar devises) are not allowed to be used during the class and, accordingly, have to be switched off. The usage of the devises mentioned above during the class will result in a deduction of 1% from the final grade.

Relevant materials distributed in the electronic form, as well as the materials located by the student, on which he/she intends to rely in class, should be printed out in advance and be brought in hard copy. Class notes shall be taken via hand writing.
Class Outline:

NOTE: Schedule is subject to change at instructor’s discretion.

|Week 1 (10) |Introduction to the course | |Major Legal Systems |
| |Introduction to Law and Legal Profession | |Branches of Law |
| |Hospitality Law | | |
|Week 2 (11) |Individuals and legal entities | |Torts (continued) |
| |Crimes and Torts | | |
|Week 3 (12) |Contracts | |Contracts (continued) |
|Week 4 (13) |Contracts (continued) | |Agency |
|Week 5 (14) |Mid-Term Exam | |International Private Law |
|Week 6 (15) |International Private Law (continued) | |Dispute Settlement |
|Week 7 (16) |Dispute Settlement (continued) | |Dispute Settlement (continued) |
|Week 8 (17) |FINAL EXAM |