The laws governing business and the operations within are based on fundamental principles that stretch back to the simplest beginnings of commerce and trade. Despite these simple principles, business has become more and more sophisticated with time requiring a number of ways to codify certain aspects of business transactions and ensure that all corporate entities are operating in a way that serves the common good. Specialists in Business Law understand the ins and outs of all of these principles from corporate filings to business ethics. Prepared to work in a variety of business settings from HR offices to corporate law division support and/or executive board support positions, individuals who can master the intricacies of business law are of significant value to any business.

This Business Law program is designed to introduce learners to all business law concepts from their roots in common law through to elements of American and international law that make up this area of robust jurisprudence. Businesses operate every day under accepted theories of contract and tort law, promoting equitable transactions and ensuring corporate responsibility that advance accepted notions of good business practices. Corporations are also subject to various statutory frameworks that dictate the treatment and conditions of employees, ensure environmental protection and protect consumers from powerful organizations when necessary. Throughout this program, learners will explore all of these issues and learn how the law applies to business operations every day.

The Business Law program will provide students with a survey of the principle areas of business law. It will explore the relationship between business and the law with respect to the following topics: torts, crimes, intellectual property, contracts, negotiable instruments, agency, employment, and forms of business organization. Learners will also explore the relationship between business and the law with respect to ethics and social responsibility, government regulation, personal property, real property, and international trade. Learners will gain a working knowledge of practical rules of law and legal terminology, as well as legal solutions for business-related issues.

Program Objectives

After completing this program, learners will be able to:

• Analyze the legal environment of business in the United States
• Explain the applicability of tort and criminal law to business
• Explain the applicability of intellectual property law to business
• Explain how contract law principles apply to business transactions
• Explain the law of negotiable instruments
• Evaluate the rights and responsibilities of principals, agents, and third parties in agency transactions
• Analyze the various employment laws affecting the employer-employee relationship in the United States
• Evaluate the forms of business organization in the United States
• Analyze the ethical and social responsibility of business
• Evaluate the various types of government regulation that affect business
• Explain the effects of personal and real property laws on business
• Appraise the impact that international law has on global business
• Use Microsoft Office®