LAW BUSINESS 301
Legal Foundations of the Canadian Economy
Winter 2011
Instructor: Jeffrey Bone, Barrister & Solicitor
Office:
2-33
Office Hours: Monday 3: 00 4:30 pm
Do not hesitate to come and see me during office hours, or you can email your questions to:
[e-mail]. However, please remember to consult the course syllabus and uLearn first, as it is my
experience that some students send emails before reviewing these sources which contains extensive
information on course materials and expectations. I am very happy to receive questions on legal topics
outside of the course materials that have captured your attention for other reasons.
So much of the time we are just lost. We think, what is right? What is true? There is no
justice. The rich win, the poor are powerless, we become tired of hearing people lie, and
after a time we become dead, we think of ourselves as victims, and we become victims.
We become weak We doubt ourselves, we doubt our beliefs, we doubt our institutions
and we doubt the law. The law is not some book, not lawyers, not marble statutes or the
trappings of the court; those are just symbols of our desire to be just. They are in fact a
prayer, a frightened prayer. In my religion, they say act as if you have faith, and faith
well be given to you. If we are to have faith in justice, we need only to believe in
ourselves and act with justice. See I believe there is justice in our hearts. The Verdict
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course requires students to recognize and analyze legal principles and processes in our local
community and more particularly in the Canadian business environment. The primary topics are: the
legal system courts, civil litigation, and Constitutional issues; applicable tort and contract principles,
property law; business and non-profit entities. Additional topics touched upon may include criminal law,
corporate social responsibility; commercial law; purchase and sales of businesses; and trust law.
COURSE MATERIALS
Required:
Mitchell McInnes et al., Managing the Law: The Legal Aspects of Doing Business, 3rd ed.
(Pearson Education Canada)
Study guide may be found at: www.pearsoned.ca/mcinnes (requires the purchase of a new
textbook)
Lecture slides are posted on uLearn: https://ulearn.ualberta.ca/webapps/login/
Relevant course material may be added on uLearn from time to time.
Exams
Three examinations will be written. The midterm examinations will be written during class time. The
final examination will be written at the assigned examination time slot as provided on beartracks later on
in the semester. The format of these exams will be multiple choice questions, 45 questions on the first
and second mid-term and 65 multiple choice questions on the 1 hour and 30 minute final exam. There
will be a guest lecture on property law by Mr. Will Randall in March/April that will be included on the
final exam. The guest lecture slides will be posted on uLearn (if any).
There will not be any sample exams/questions provided. If you want sample questions ensure you
purchase a new textbook. With the code provided in a new textbook you may access the textbook
website where sample questions may be found at: www.pearsoned.ca/mcinnes. These multiple choice
questions are similar to the ones you will come across on the exam. It is simply a matter of choice
whether you get a new edition of the textbook or a used copy, and the instructor does not object to using
a used or older copy of the textbook. However, if you have an older edition, you will need to research
for yourself the page numbers that are relevant to the current textbook. The 2nd edition is very similar in
terms of chapter numbers to the 3rd, but not exact.
The exams will be closed-book. There will be two non-cumulative tests; and one final noncumulative exam:
If you miss a class, the instructor will not be responding to emails asking for information on what
material has been missed. Please check with a fellow classmate for this information.
MARK ALLOCATION (subject to change from time to time in the instructors sole discretion)
1. Mid- Term Assessment #1 Friday, February 4
30% (Chapter 1-6; lecture materials)
2. Mid-Term Assessment #2 Monday, March 14
30% (Chapter 7-10, 12; lecture materials)
3. Final Examination TBA
30% (Chapter 15, 16 [pp. 374-377], 17, 20 [pp.
512- 514], 22, and guest lecture materials).
4. Courtroom Observation and Report
10% Due on Monday, February 28, 2011 in
the assignment drop box of the 3rd floor of
the business school by 4:30 pm It says
BLaw 301 and Jeffrey Bone on the
particular slot (Hand in a hard copy only, not
by email).
Courtroom Observation and Report:
For a very important reason court rooms are public and open places in Canada. Students are required to
attend a session of Justice Chambers at the Edmonton Court Centre. This involves attending at the
court house any working day from Monday to Friday starting at around 10am to approximately 11:30
am or even later depending on the amount of cases that morning (you are allowed to walk in late,
anytime after 10 am). The courthouse staff can help students find the courtroom where Justice Chamber
is occurring. (Note: You will have to pass through a security check that is akin to airport security before
proceeding into the building).
Chambers is a period when the court hears several motions of a short duration (usually under 10
minutes). These may be contested applications with opposing parties appearing on both sides.
Essentially, it is a period of the day litigants argue on a variety of issues that require the attention of a
Judge. This will provide you an opportunity to see the nature of work that exists before the court.
You may choose to write on any matter that is discussed before the court that day (approximately a 500600 word report), listing the date attended, issues identified and any other relevant matters you
wish to discuss. The idea is to demonstrate you have an understanding of the nature of the application
and what has happened during the proceeding.
These applications occur quickly and it is often hard to hear the lawyers and Judge, so sit up close (not
too close where the lawyers sit beyond the gate you will understand when you are in there) and bring a
pen and pad of paper to write down notes. It is a good idea to attend court early in the semester so it will
be a more effective tool. learning However, if need be, you can wait until reading break because the
assignment is not due until the following Monday, February 28, 2011.
If you do not hear anything of substance during Justice Chambers (as in enough information to write a
report), please feel free to wander into another courtroom and hear another perhaps more lengthy matter.
If you attend at the beginning of Justice Chambers, sometimes an individual may be detained and
undergoing a bail hearing to be released from jail. You may write on these matters. Or if you go to a
Court of Appeal hearing (higher level court), provincial court or surrogate court that is also acceptable.
Essentially you are able to write your report on any courtroom matter you come across and wish to write
on, BUT it must be a matter you attended since the beginning of the semester and not a matter that you
have witnessed in the past. For more information here is an official website on Alberta courts:
http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/
If you are unable to attend in the morning due to class conflicts, you may attend at 2pm when other,
more extended matters are being heard. However, on any given day it is unclear how many matters may
be heard at 2 pm so it is best to attend in the morning if possible (remember typically nothing is heard
over the lunch period). The court house is located at: 1A Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton, AB
T5J 0R2, which is accessible by the train at the Churchill stop downtown. In fact you do not even have
to go outside to get in the court house from campus.
Provided you hand in a solid report, that upon review meets the established criteria as listed
above, you will receive the full 10%. If the report does not conform to the expectations of writing and
professionalism at the undergraduate level, you may receive an inferior grade and the report may be
investigated to ensure the accuracy of its content.
You may (not required) want to do some legal research after the hearing to help broaden your report. If
so, students may look the following websites:
A great website for general legal research in Alberta is the Access to Justice Network:
http://www.acjnet.org/abhome/default.aspx
Also, a case and legislation specific website for legal research and reference is CanLII , a non-profit
organization managed by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. CanLII's goal is to make Canadian law
accessible for free on the Internet. Go to http://canlii.ca/en/index.html to check it out.
Further, the University of Calgary maintains an excellent site for searching for judgments in a number of
different jurisdictions in Canada and other English-speaking countries.
http://library.ucalgary.ca/branches/law
Exam Policy
Students are expected to write the examinations at the assigned times. No make-up exams will be given
for missed midterms. If a student misses the mid-term examination due to illness or other valid reason
approved by the instructor, the weight of that mid-term will be added to the final exam. If a student does
not have a valid reason for missing the midterm, then the student will receive a score of 0 on the
midterm. If you must miss the final exam you can make arrangements to write a deferred final according
to University Policy.
University Calendar link: https://www.registrar.ualberta.ca/calendar/Regulations-andInformation/Academic-Regulation/23.4.html
Grade Distribution
The final grade distribution will reflect what is set out in the University of Alberta Marking and Grading
Guidelines (www.registrar.ualberta.ca/files/mark_gradeguide.pdf).
GRADING STRUCTURE (FINAL GRADE IS A PERCENTAGE, AND IS NOT ROUNDED UP OR DOWN WHEN
CONVERTING TO LETTER GRADE)
F 0 - <50%
C- 60 - <63
B- 70 - <73
A- 80 - <86
D 50 - <55
C 63 - <67
B 73 - <77
A 86 - <93
D+ 55 - <60
C+ 67 - <70
B+ 77 - <80
A+ 93
COURSE SCHEDULE
Mitchell McInnes, Ian Kerr, J. Anthony VanDuzer & Chi Carmody, Managing the Law: The
Legal Aspects of Doing Business 3rd Edition (Toronto: Prentice Hall, 2010)
Introduction to law and the legal system: Chapter 1 and 2
a) Legal thinking
b) History of the Common Law System
c) Common Law compared with other systems
d) Sources of law
e) Classification of law and courts
f) Litigation and Negotiation compared and contrasted
g) The Constitution of Canada and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
h) Issues in human rights (communitarianism vs. liberalism)
i) Law from the point of view of philosophy and social science
The law of Torts: Chapter 3, 4, 5 and 6
a) Intentional Torts
b) Non-intentional torts
c) Risk management and insurance
d) Issues and trends in tort law
Midterm Examination #1 (50 minutes, 45 multiple choice questions, 30% of course mark )
The law of Contracts: Chapter 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Forming Contractual Relationships
Enforcing Contracts
Breach of Contract and Remedies
Understanding and evaluating certain common contracts
Issues and trends in contract law
Midterm Examination #2 (50 minutes, 45 multiple choice questions, 30% of course mark material
covered since midterm #1)
Business Organizations Chapter 20 [only pp. 512- 514], 21, 22
a)
b)
c)
d)
Sole Proprietorship, Agency, and Partnership
Corporate law
Other forms of business and not-for-profit organization
Issues and trends in business organization including globalization
Property Rights Chapter 15, 16 [only pp. 374-377], 17
a) Changing views about property
b) Interests in land
c) Issues and trends in property law
Final Examination (120 minutes, 65 multiple choice questions, 30% of course mark material
covered since midterm #2)
Official Statements:
Policy about course outlines can be found in 23.4(2) of the University Calendar.
The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and
honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty
and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to
familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behavior (online at
www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behavior which could potentially result
in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an
offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from
the University.