Course Syllabus - Business Law I

Course objectives

The student will learn the substantive law of contracts, including offer, acceptance, consideration, legality, enforceability, breach, damages, and the other essential elements of a contract.   The student will learn to "think critically" in law, and in the area of contracts. This will be accomplished through the multiple-choice quizzes, the postings to the hypothetical case discussions, and the written contracts. The assignments require the student to prepare various types of contracts, to learn how to draft a typical "Breach of Contract" lawsuit, and to prepare a comprehensive Contract for Software Development.  The student will learn how to do legal research in the area of Business Law and Contracts.  The student will improve his/her writing skills and legal drafting/writing skills.   The student will improve their study skills and will improve how they study law.

Course description.

Business Law 1 is the same as Business Law 5 and it introduces the student to contracts, and contracts for sales under the Uniform Commerical Code. The student will learn business law through related textbook readings, , written projects, multiple-choice questions, and research on the Internet/World Wide Web. The end product is a student who understands contracts and who can interpret, analyze, and draft legal and enforceable business law documents.

Prerequisites - None

Course Instructor - Prof Jordan is your online instructor. His biography, phone number, etc. is located at http:/lamission.edu/~jordandc

Virtual Office hours - Your online instructor will respond to student emails

in 24 hours (36 hours over weekends).

How to contact your online instructor:  email: abogado@pacbell.net or jordandc@lamission.edu - cell phone - 818-415-2015, school 818-364-7720 , fax - 1-866-371-5519

Instructor response -  Your online instructor will make every attempt to respond to course e-mail within 24 hours during the work week (36 hours over the weekend and holidays), though it may not be possible in all cases. Students will be notified when the instructor is not available to meet the stated response time.

Textbook – The textbook for this class is located at http://lamission.edu/textbooks and is West Business Law 10th edition - Clarkson , Miller, Jentz , Cross ISBN: 0324303904 – see http://lamission.edu/law/wbl for more information on the textbook

Supplementary material – There is supplementary materials for each class at http://duedates.pbwiki.com and also at http://classwikis.pbwiki.com and also a good summary of contract law at http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/study/outlines/html/contracts/index.asp

 Course topics & Assignments – for due dates and course topics for the class look at http://duedates.pbwiki.com

 Punctuality – Students who are training to become paralegals must be “prompt” and “on time” in posting all of their work. No late work is allowed in this class. See our firm policy at http://profj.us/late

 Class participation.  Students are expected to communicate with the instructor as a learning resource, students must check the course bulletin board frequently for announcements, and students must actively participate in threaded discussion events. 10% of your final grade is based upon your participation in the forums or threaded discussions each week in class.

 Grading procedure and grading scale. Grades will be posted on the course classroom page. Students should become familiar the the nature of our online program materials - click here.

       The "letter grade" scale is as follows.

      A =  90-100 percent of total points

      B = 80-89

      C = 70-79

      D = 60-69

      F = Below 60

The class will be composed of quizzes,  postings to an "electronic bulletin board" - threaded discussions, and written projects, including the preparation of contracts, a Breach of Contract lawsuit, and a software development contract.

      The class follows strict deadline due dates, and the student should print out the "Due Dates" for this class, and ensure that all deadlines are kept. - click here., Students should also read carefully and understand our program's policies on "late assignments", plagiarism, Important College dates, and grading rubrics - click here.

      Office Hours: see Faculty page at http://lamission.edu/law/lawfaculty.htm - Office Hours, Mon. - Friday 9-5 pm at the Office Telephone number of each Faculty member, or upon special appointment - email the faculty member for your appointment date and time.

      Course Structure: This course will be offered through a course management system.  Your class and course management system are located at the Mission online portal at http://moodle.lamission.edu

LATE ASSIGNMENTS: ASSIGNMENTS SUBMITTED LATE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED UNLESS PRIOR APPROVAL IS REQUESTED AND GRANTED BY THE INSTRUCTOR.

      EXTRA CREDIT: Since the law is in constant change, along with the advent of the Internet, issues may arise that are timely and germane to our class. Therefore, opportunities may arise during the term that allow for extra credit, although no extra credit is presently offered.

      INCOMPLETE: If you require a grade of "incomplete," you must advise me as soon as possible and discuss the terms of its removal.

      ACADEMIC HONESTY: Academic honesty is highly valued at Mission College, just as it is at all colleges and universities. A student must always submit work that represents his or her original words or ideas. If any words or ideas are used that do not represent the student's original words or ideas, the student must cite all relevant sources. The student should also make it clear to what extent such sources were used. Words or ideas that require citations include, but are not limited to, all hard copy or electronic publications, whether copyrighted or not, and all verbal or visual communications when the content of such communications clearly originates from an identifiable source. All submissions to any public meeting or private mailbox fall within the scope of words and ideas that require citations if used by someone other than the original author.

  Course Ground Rules   

         1. Participation is required

         2. Students are expected to communicate with other students in team projects

         3. Learn how to navigate in your Course Management System

         4. Keep abreast of course announcements

         5. Address technical problems immediately

         6. Observe course netiquette at all times.  

See the following guidelines:

               1. Email

                     1. Always include a subject line.

                     2. Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.

                     3. Use standard fonts.

                     4. Do not send large attachments without permission.

                     5. Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.

                     6. Respect the privacy of other class members.

               2. Discussion groups

                     1. Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.

                     2. Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.

                     3. Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of other's ideas.

                     4. Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.

                     5. Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.

                     6. Be positive and constructive in group discussions.

                     7. Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.

 Special needs. If you have special needs in this online class, please advise your online instructor so that a reasonable accommodation is made with respect to those special needs.         

      Required Resources (for internet/online work)

      System requirements: IBM or compatible (486/33 CPU minimum) with Windows or Mac or compatible with 6.05 operating system or higher, 8 megs of RAM, 20 megs free hard disc space, modem with a 9600 baud rate minimum.

      * This syllabus is subject to change. Please note revision dates ("updated") below. Students are responsible for the most recent updated version of this syllabus.

      updated: 3/23/08