Minors, Know Your Rights!

According to a survey given to minors about their rights and laws, we have come to the conclusion that minors need to become more educated on what the law is. So we put together a prezi presentation to do so. Throughout the prezi we educate minors regarding emancipation from several articles and a video, being arrested and prosecuted along with juvenile detention centers also from articles and a video.We also got plenty of information on the basics of minor law. In the prezi there is also information from an interview with a child advocate lawyer. For the best view of our presentaion click on more and then full screen!

Students Need to Know: Copyright Laws

After questioning students around our high school on crucial information regarding copyright laws, it was quickly evident that students are not as informed as they should be. We took it upon ourselves to make a video meant to educate students on pertinent information so that they can avoid copyright infringement.

Contract Law Manual

Welcome to the Contract Law section of the Spartans Mean Business blog. The fact that you’re on this page leads us to believe that you wish to learn about contracts... either that, or you’re trying to get out of a bad Real Estate predicament. With any sort of field that involves experience, what one needs is not a shallow memorization of the jargon and rules that comes in the package, instead, one needs to fully understand the inner workings (especially if they wish to beat the system). While we cannot guarantee that we will give you a full understanding, this manual will hopefully provide you with the bare essentials necessary to start.

I. What is a Contract?

 

From the Dictionary

con·tract [kon-trakt]

noun

1. An agreement between two or more parties for the doing or not doing of something specified.

2. An agreement enforceable by law.

3. The written form of such an agreement.

4. The division of law dealing with contracts.

Contracts are not only essential trademarks of business, they are the main means by which people can guarantee results from their transactions. In essence, a contract is a written agreement between two parties (which can range from corporations to entire countries) that sets the guidelines and expectations of both involved. The principle of framing the contract is based on mutual benefits; both parties are attempting to benefit as much as possible from each other, while keeping costs to a minimum and satisfying everyone involved.

When it comes to actual contract-building, however, not everyone is as cooperative as they should be. The key word when making a contract is “benefit”, and human nature dictates that if you can rip someone off scott-free, you’re probably going to go through with it. Luckily for you, you don’t have to feel bad about it because the other side is probably trying to do the same thing. That is why, for the sake of diplomacy, it is important to understand the inner-workings of contracts and contract law. By gaining mastery and confidence in your contract building, you can avoid loopholes, ambiguities, and misinterpretations and, as a result, fully trust your fellow party while working out the kinks that might threaten your deal.

II. The “How to”

 

A typical contract follows a general format. Though wordings can come in many different flavors, how a person chooses to spice up their agreement is usually up to personal taste (though it’s always good to be careful with your wordings to avoid misinterpretation). What’s more important to understand is what needs to be included, content-wise, in the contract.

 

Some helpful tips

1. Contracts usually start out by naming the people, businesses, entities, and etc. involved. The contract itself must first be legal, meaning that all parties involved must have the capacity to sign legally and provide what they state they will.

2. Usually, the intro will also describe what each person does (their job and what business he or she is in) and the services, employment, or products being offered.

3. A contract will then lay out (in painstaking detail) the conditions of the agreement, including things such as how much both sides will be paid, how high the quality of the work will be, how long the contracting period will last, or how copyright or licensing rights will be distributed, among a number of other potential topics.

4. A part of the contract must be devoted to “representations and warrants”. In the “representations” part, the parties involved must certify that they represent their company, person, organization, etc. as well as what they are offering and their terms. With the “warrants” the parties guarantee that they will live up to the terms set in the contract.

5. Contracts must have provisions in the case that the product or service offered does not meet expectations. The rights to set off specifies what the affected party can do and what they will receive. A good contract will also have provisions in the case of Force Majeure, or happenings out of human control such as war or natural disasters.

6. Jurisdiction and bylaws. Essentially, if a dispute between the two parties is taken to court, this section of the contract will specify which state’s laws will apply and how the dispute will be resolved (Most contracts will resolve disputes via arbitration).

7. Finally, the two parties must sign the contract, finalizing the deal and legally binding them to their commitment.

 

III. Wordings, Loopholes, and Disputes

Though contracts have proven themselves to be more useful than not, despite the restrictiveness and painful formality, one of the aspects that continually proves to be the most irritating is wording. As clearly demonstrated by Michael Bloomberg, even the smallest wording mistakes could potentially be used as loopholes.

Ideally, a well written contract should not have any loopholes. As human efficiency would have it, most contracts are not. Grammatical errors in a contract could potentially be debilitating if the opposing side discovers them, however if one of the parties is too egregious or aggressive in pressing the issue of a minor error, chances are the judge will intervene to prevent the breaking of contract. Additionally, most contracts will have a provision at the end that exonerates simple faults.

There are two cases in which a fault can be enforceable. First of all, if an incorrect legal terms is used, be it in the wrong context or with the incorrect definition in mind, a misinterpretation can be pressed. For a glossary of legal terms, click here.

The place where most contracts are broken is under the “representations and warranties” section. If one of the parties does not follow through with their guarantees, the contract can be dissolved and the opposing side can pursue the breaking party for damages.

Some useful tips

IV. Real-Life Examples

Contracts are pretty much everywhere; any legitimate, enforceable interaction will probably use a contract whether it is written, implied, unilateral (one-way promise), bilateral (mutual benefit), or forced by law. Do you own a cell phone? Then you are under contract. Even small, everyday could be considered contracts in a way. If someone posts a reward for a missing object, they are obligated by a sort of implied contract to pay the person who finds their object.

Having trouble starting your contract? Never seen one before? Here are some different categories of contracts for you to look at to help you get started:

• Real Estate Agreements
• Leasing, Rentals, or Tenancy Certification
• Employment Agreements
• Credit Collection
• Loaning and Debt
• Sale (merchandise or services)
• Cohabitation, Marriage, and Divorce
• Wills
• Arbitration Agreements
• Non-Competition Agreements
• Affidavits
• Permission for Use of Copyright

Sports Law & Lockouts

Sports have played an essential role in many humans' every day lives. Players have often been looked up to as heros, those who are so talented that they get payed to show off their talents for us viewers. In past years, sports have been having legal issues that could have ruined the passion behind the games if not for sports law. In the following presentation, three different lockout cases: the NBA, NHL and NFL.

International Business Law

(Images: "Abbott Labs." Bloomberg Business Week. 2008. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .)

International business law is an extremely large topic. When one uses the term of international business law there is no one specific image that comes to mind. The reason that my group struggled to begin our project with international business law is because not one topic stood out to us. Between our collaboration, you can now read our blog on the topic of international law court case’s and outsourcing. Mr. Witty, an in-house lawyer representing Abbott Laboratories, made a point about international law that holds true in every international business law job; the topic is so broad that you will never be able to understand the entire topic. When Mr. Witty’s visited our classroom, we learned that Abbott Laboratories has undergone massive expansion in the last five years and now has many lawyers around the world to oversee the operations and contracting for their products. The company has to oversee so many different rules and styles of law around the world that they have at least one lawyer for every area their products are being massively distributed. According to Mr. Witty, the work of an international business lawyer “...depends on the job.” He feels that there are people all around the globe who deal with separate areas on international law and international business. In one morning Mr. Witty, “spoke with people in the Philippines (employee conduct issue); China (duties/marketing issue); and Russia (employee evaluation).” For myself, reading the amount of different topics and issues that Mr. Witty deals with daily consequently, made me realize how many different applications there are to law and business around the world. We are not limited to only the parts of the world that we can see. With new applications like online video chatting (skype) we may undergo globalization and open our job market to more lawyers with an international business background.


Below we looked into an important international law court case, to apply how international law and contract law come into play. This case is overseen by the one of The United Nations principle organ (branch) known as The International Court of Justice. Interestingly enough, The International Court of Justice is the only branch of the United Nations that is not held in New York City. I question the intentions of the members of the United Nations in having every operation held in NYC except for the justice court which is held in the Netherlands. I personally did not realize the importance in having the justice courts far away from the entire operations of the United Nations until I discovered through research that the court’s judges should not be impacted in any way by outside impacts in making their court case decisions. In order to read more into the recent and important court cases looks at the case law section.

The other important aspect of international business law lead us to focus our attention on was the highly debatable topic of outsourcing. In that section, you can find a intellectual argument against outsourcing and what the United States needs to begin doing in order for us to regain our worldly power in business over the vastly expanding countries like China. 

International - Case Law

In an oil mining town of Tyumen, Russia a judge rejected two lawsuits brought by Andrew Prokhorov, a minority shareholder in Russia’s third largest oil firm. One lawsuit for 13 billion aimed at BP and the other for 2.8 billion against two BP nominees on the board of operation unit TNK-BP Holding. Mr. Prokhorov has said that TNK-BP suffered financial losses because it had been excluded from a planned alliance between Rosneft and BP.Mr. Prokhorov is planning to appeal this decision saying that he was only given an approximate two hours to state his case and therefore, not enough time to present all the evidence. While BP on the other hand stays firm behind its victory saying that the grounds for the lawsuit were not proven in court.This all started with a misunderstanding between TNK-BP and BP when BP signed a contract with a Russian oil company Rosneft. The contract determined the two companies would search the Kara Sea together for oil. TNK-BP says that BP violated an exclusivity clause where TNK-BP would get th

(Image: "BP Opens Arctic Rosneft Too TNK-BP." Mining News and Journal. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .)

e first chance at a deal before any other company. Now, because of the lawsuit, Rosneft backed out of the contract with BP and has begun working with an American company ExxonMobil. I believe that TNK-BP has legal rights to sue BP for failing to present them with the opportunity of dealing before they presented it to TNK-BP’s competitors (Rosneft and others). TNK had a exclusivity agreement with BP, before BP engaged in business with other companys in Russia and Eastern Europe. Therefore, they must present the opportunity to TNK-BP first. This contract keeps business going and due to BP violating it, I believe that TNK has its right to sue BP. They should be reimbursed for the money they could have made if they had been offered the opportunity first.

Outsourcing

Since the economic recession began in October of 2009, the international economy has been in shambles. Unemployment rates are similar in numbers to the Great Depression. Furthermore, domestic corporations are moving their factories to developing countries overseas because of the opportunity to give people jobs for lower salaries. In addition, they are still able to make their products without the major taxes that they must pay to make them in United States. However, they may be sacrificing the quality of the product that is being made overseas. Some people argue that outsourcing helps to spread out jobs to developing countries, which would contribute to healthier world economy. However, I believe that outsourcing hurts the world economy more than it helps it. Mr. Peter Witty, an expert in international law, stated that, “In a simplistic way, outsourcing current manufacturing jobs obviously hurts those people who lose their jobs as a result, and their inability to spend as much money during unemployment as they would during their employment hurts the larger economy.” This clearly indicates that the economy cannot afford to make this big of a sacrifice for a long term solution to the recession. Outsourcing jobs forces American consumers to deal with terrible customer service, lead-infused toys for their children, and less jobs for them to choose from. If jobs were to be brought back to the United States, the quality of products would go up dramatically because the United States has strict regulations on how products are made; ensuring dangerous materials don’t get into the clothes, toys and electronics that use. Also, jobs would be created instantly from bringing big corporations jobs back to our shores. In my opinion, the world economy would benefit from the United States’ success because our economy has ties all over the world, if the United States finally carried itself out of the red, then the rest of the world would soon follow. Lastly, I believe that outsourcing is not beneficial to the United States economy because it gives corporations an excuse to leave the country. In this day in age, most corporations are looking for tax breaks/tax incentives to stay in the United States. However, the government has to deal with the old children’s moral, once one gets it everyone will want that same thing. So instead of providing these tax breaks to the greedy corporations, the government is telling them to take their business elsewhere. Clearly, the government doesn’t care where the corporations make their products, as long as the corporations continue to rake in the billions of dollars. All in all, outsourcing jobs is commonly thought to help the world economy because it is stretched the American successes to other developing countries. However, outsourcing has proven to be toxic to the economy because it promotes “quantity is better than quality” logic, which has too many loopholes to work for a long time. To clarify, the supply of the products being made may be plentiful, but if the products are not made well, then the demand will continue to decrease. Consequently, there will be a major surplus on the products being made overseas, forcing the many huge corporations to go back to the drawing board. In the long run, outsourcing jobs is harming our world economy more than it is helping us.

Works Cited:

Mariner, Joanne. "UNITED STATES v. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP :: 517 U.S. 843 :: 1996." US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. .

"Ethics - Guide to the Practice of Law." Lawyers, Attorneys, Law Firms – Find Legal Information. Web. 09 Dec. 2011.

Criminal Law

In a world of immense complexities, it is sometimes easy to believe that ignorance is bliss. If the news is too dreary one day, we watch sports instead; if the weather is treacherous, we stay bundled up inside and watch a movie; and if our workloads become too overbearing, most of us seem to try and avoid them at all costs. However, while there are some aspects of life that one can avoid so as to escape added stresses and pain, there are also some aspects that one just cannot and should not push off to the side. One of these is the understanding of the processes of the United States legal system. While many of us may believe we would know how to handle ourselves if something terrible was to occur in our lives concerning the law, there is still is a big difference between believing we would know what to do and knowing that we would be adequately informed of what to do. This Prezi was created for the purpose of explaining some of the complexities of the processes of the legal system, from arrest to appeal, in a way that is easy to understand for the majority of our student peers. After viewing this Prezi, it is hoped that others may be informed, in case they are one day implicated in a situation regarding the criminal justice system.

By: John R., Nirali S., and Matt S.

Criminal Law Project on Prezi

Laws, Acts, and Committees within Finance

Finance is often defined simply as the management of money or funds management. Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the marketing and management of cash through a variety of accounts, instruments, and markets. This is created for transacting and trading assets, liabilities, and risks. Finance is structured and regulated by a complex system of power relations within political economies across state and global markets. Networks of financial businesses exist to create, negotiate, market, and trade in evermore-complex financial products and services for their own as well as their clients’ accounts. Financial performance measures the efficiency and profitability of investments, the safety of claims against assets, and the likelihood that investors are safe against a variety of market risks. With all these complicated ways for money to be shared, everyone wants a profit. There are so many ways to try to make a profit that there are laws created to protect people from felonies who want all the money for themselves. After this Prezi presentation, you will know how to protect your money and will be ready to go out into the world and make some money!

* To view this presentation, click more and then open full screen.

finance on Prezi

By: Christy S., Ethan S., and Tyler D.

Starting a Business

Starting a business is something that many Americans struggle with as small businesses are the lifeblood that makes our country so wonderful. Oftentimes, people see their businesses fail quickly because they don't take the time to think about the necessary precautions to take and run into problems later that could've been anticipated at startup. Our presentation highlights the importance of key aspects to starting a business, including but not limited to the tools needed, resources available, necessary legal action, differences in the types of business you initiate, target markets, and more. Because starting a business doesn't necessarily require an education, we feel that this presentation can help bring much necessary information to the attention of anyone and everyone. You don't need to have a fancy degree to be successful in the business world, you just need to be dedicated, creative, and intuitive.

Starting a Business on Prezi

Hot Nacho's.... Too Hot?

Remember the McDonald's hot coffee case, that was awarded almost 3 million dollars to the plaintiff? Well I introduce to you the hot nacho case. A family took a trip to Walt Disney World and came back with a lawsuit. There 4 year old son bought some nachos and the nachos were so hot, that it burned his lips and burned it bad. This is an example of a tort or personal injury case, in this case Walt Disney is the tortfesser/defendant and the family is the plaintiff. The family has not asked for a specific amount of money but I am sure there will be a remedy. I believe the family should win this case because it was negligence on Walt Disney's part for not putting a label on the nachos or at least telling the family that the nachos were hot. In this case I would argue for strict liability because there was no warning or sign that said the nachos were hot. The family also argued as soon as the nachos touched the innocent boys lips it burned him immediately, only really hot nachos could do that kind of damage. I believe this innocent boy should have a big remedy and Walt Disney should pay for any hospital bill and any emotional distress the family went through. Walt Disney probably won't ever see this kid again but this kid is just starting his life and he has to live with this the rest of his life.

Business filing bankruptcy under chapter 11

To file or not to file bankruptcy is more of an unpopular decision rather a bad one. Before we go deeper into conversation lets understand, what is ‘bankruptcy’ and what is ‘bankruptcy filing’? The state of inability to pay debts is bankruptcy and to declare it and seek protection from federal government is the filing of bankruptcy. There are several chapters under which bankruptcy can be filed in federal court and one of the interesting chapters to talk about is chapter 11.Chapter 11 provides relief, protection, and saves the company from total collapse. It provide more time for the company to pay off the loan. Also at the same if the court finds them responsible then they will support them with more credits. There has been a rise in the filing of Chapter 11 because most businesses would like to continue to function despite harsh economic condition. The company does get some relief in the form of reduction in payment of debts, an easier payment plan and a chance to undergo reorganization or liquidation. It can be considered a double edge sword as it hurts the image of business drastically but might be a wise move, as it helps to reorganize. If the debtor is honest it will reap more benefit from this process.

Companies Filing For Bankruptcy

Borders and Giordano’s are only two of the many companies that filed for bankruptcy under chapter 11, though the reasons for their bankruptcy filing were different and they landed into totally different situation.

Borders Bankruptcy Filing

Burdened with too much debt, Borders Group Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection. They were one of the country’s largest chains of book stores. They were forced to close more than 30% of their stores due to the fact that they were not making enough profit. About 200 of its 642 stores were closed. Filing for bankruptcy did give them a new start but at the same time during the process of liquidation they had to shut down even more of their stores. The number one reason for Borders downfall is the fierce competition from other online bookstores. The Filing under Chapter 11 allowed Borders to access new capital and reorganize its operations at the cost of huge liquidation. This made shareholders loose, further worsening the book store’s image. Borders are taking steps to infuse the confidence by promoting e-book and its online range of books. The company's largest unsecured creditors include major publishers that provide the books it sells. Borders owes Pearson Plc's Penguin $41.2 million, Hachette Book Group USA $36.9 million, and CBS Inc's Simon & Schuster $33.8 million, according to court documents. Time will tell whether Borders Group Inc. made the right decision in filing bankruptcy. At this point of time the future of Borders is a blank canvas.

Giordano’s Bankruptcy Filing

Giordano’s Enterprises Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection after defaulting on real estate loans. The Florida real estate company was not doing well and as a result the pizza enterprise fell into the lap of 5th/3rd Bank because of its obligation. The only way was to seek protection under the federal law bankruptcy Chapter 11. So, they filled for bankruptcy in order to seek relief for their chain of pizza shops. They wanted further loans so that they could continue to pay their workers and the business could continue to function properly. Among the creditors are a Coca-Cola Bottling Co. bottler in Alsip, Saputo Cheese USA Inc. in Chicago and Turano Baking Co. in Berwyn. The court granted them a loan and all of their stores kept functioning. None of them went under liquidation because the Giordano’s does good business, they make a high profit. Giordano's made the wrong decision in supplying money to its sister company that was already drowning. If it was up to me, I would have rather saved the profit making company and file bankruptcy or not take additional loans for my sister company. Giordano's was lucky that the final outcome allowed them leniency due to their popularity.

Rise in bankruptcy is due to?

The downfall in economy is a big reason for the rise in bankruptcies, but more importantly it further leads to the fall in the economy, loss of confidence among investors, and even an increased unemployment. Questions that are likely to be asked are not only limited to the current business condition or the technical complications but also the post-bankruptcy impact, survival, investment loss and total collapse.

In prospective

In my opinion it is clear that the reasons on which the outcome of chapter 11 depends on are: transparency in transaction, over all business performance, potential to payback, support of business partners, and most importantly organization. The downfall of Borders was mainly due to lack of organization and anticipation, while Giordano’s survival can be credited to a more organized administration and popularity in the society. The following results can be attributed to the fact that may be food is more important to American’s than books. This can be lesson to others businesses that are planning to file chapter 11, in order to obtain rewarding result one needs to be honest and a structured unit.

In conclusion

Overall, the downfall of Borders was mainly due to lack of organization and anticipation. On the other hand, Giordano’s survival can be credited to a more organized administration and popularity in the society. One area is a bookstore the other area food store, descend of Borders and survival of Giordano’s might be due to the fact that books are less of important for survival than food. Reasons of the different outcome might transparency transaction, over all business performance, potential to payback, support of business partners are to name a few. This is a lesson to others businesses that are planning to file chapter 11, that in order to obtain rewarding result apart from being honest one be smart as well.

What's going on in Libya and why you, as an American, should care.

What's going on in Libya and why you, as an American, should care.


As you know from the many news stories shown over only a short period of two months, many things in the Middle East and North Africa are changing. What started off as a government protest by an angry street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi has led to one of the most violent Arab world protests in many years. This not only led to two successful uprises in both Tunisia and Egypt but also to the extreme turmoil today in the country of Libya. Many people do not comprehend fully what is going on there, so let me break it down for all of you. Most people also do not realize just how much these protests will affect not only themselves but the economy as well.

Image Courtesy of: Wikimedia Commons

What's going on- The people of Libya have been under the oppressive regime of Muammar al-Gaddafi since 1969 and, quite frankly, they are fed up with it. Under this oppressive regime the people of Libya have suffered many injustices. Even the most basic human rights, freedom of speech and expression are denied there. While these practices are specifically deemed unjust by the United Nations, Gaddaffi simply does not care and most of the world does not seem to care either.

Why it is illegal- This is illegal for the most basic human reasons... it is wrong. Many other countries have not had to live under the oppressiveness that this regime presents and many Libyan people feel that they do not have to live this way either.

Why you should care- As seen in the Al Jazeera English video above you know that the Libyan government has not only opposed these protests but they have also met them with crushing opposition. In the interview, Gaddafi's son said that the Libyan situation is not like the Egyptian situation. Well, he was right, it was much worse. Also, I can only foresee it getting worse until the United States and it's allies can assist this rebellion. This region is one of instability and you, as an American, should want the most allies possible in that region. Libya could soon be one of our allies again if this situation is handled democratically and fairly by all parties.

How it affects you- This affects you as an individual in many ways. One of the most important things to Americans is saving money and one of the things that we tend to consume most of is oil. Libya, being one of the largest members of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and a heavy supplier of oil to Europe, is a key factor in how much you pay at the pump every time you fill up gas. In fact, Gaddafi has said that he will halt shipping of oil until something is done to end the political uprising in the country. While, the Saudi government has promised to pick up the slack left by Libya at this time, it still may not be enough. It has even been confirmed that this summer gas might hit $4.00 a gallon and could even be averaging $5.00 a gallon by next year.

How it affects the United States- As any economists would tell you, oil is in everything you buy. Be it an actual oil product or a normal product that you wouldn't even consider to be oil related. Take an average, often thought to be, non-oil related item - shoes. While shoes are not "made with oil," it is still required in the production of the shoes. For example, everything from what is used to run the machines to the transportation used to bring those shoes to the United states will be more expensive due to the Libyan uprising. But other than a few harsh, but strategically tactful words by the Obama administration, Gaddafi has not actually been challenged too extensively on what he is doing.

How it affects the world- The world has also seen a lot of increased prices and decreased profits because of this. Because of the previously mentioned hike in prices of practically everything the stock prices of these companies have fallen as well. Be it the DOW or the NASDAQ, everything is being hurt by Gaddafi's stubbornness and refusal to step down and treat his people with respect. In fact, the only thing that the United Nations can do at this point, other than the already imposed numerous economic sanctions is establish a no-fly zone over Libya. In other words no airplanes or supplies will be able to flown over Libya at this time. Groundbreaking... No. But it's a start.

Ultimately nothing will change for the Libyan people unless the entire world pulls out the extra effort in order to help them because they will all benefit from it. The sheer necessity of oil that the entire world economy thrives on will benefit from this as well. Ultimately, I would like everyone to understand that it is within everyone's best interests (yes, yours too) to aid the Libyan people in their time of need.