CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE, REAL ESTATE & LAW
LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS (FLR 2013.03)
COURSE SYLLABUS FOR SPRING 2021 TUE./THUR. CLASS
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR STEVEN J. COTÉ
Course Schedule
Schedule – Section Day Time Room
Number
FRL 2013.03 Tue./Thur. 7:00 p.m.- 8:15 On-Line
p.m.
Contact Information
Office: Office Telephone:
Law Office: 17700 Castleton Street
City of Industry, CA 91748 Law Office Telephone: 626-854-2112
Office E-Mail:
[email protected] Department Telephone:
Personal E-Mail*:
[email protected] Cell Phone: 213-700-0190
*Required
Office Hours: Tue./Thur. 7:00- Website:
8:00 p.m. or by appointment.
Course Procedures
Introduction: A study of the laws that determine the rights and the obligations of
persons taking part in business transactions. The course gives an overview of the
legal environment in which business functions, the nature and sources of law, tort
law, contract law, employment law, and business organizational forms.
Open-Door Policy: My policy is “open-door.” Therefore, you should not hesitate to
contact me by e-mail or telephone. My cell phone number is 213-700-0190. My
personal e-mail address is
[email protected] 1
Reading: The text for this course is Clarkson Miller Cross Business Law 14th
Edition. We will cover a significant amount of the text during the semester. Course
readings will include chapters from the text plus additional handouts to which there
will be a link on the PowerPoint presentation for selected areas of law.
Teaching Methods: The primary teaching method will be lecture through a
combination of asynchronous and synchronous delivery. Reading the text is
important, but repeated review of the recorded lectures and the accompanying
PowerPoint presentations will enhance and clarify the material presented in the
text. On a more tangible level, case studies and examples discussed in the articles,
lectures, videos and PowerPoint presentations, all of which are posted on
Blackboard , often become the foundation for exam questions. The articles, lectures,
videos and PowerPoint presentations are available on Blackboard for all subjects
throughout the course of the semester. However, it is recommended that you follow
the course Syllabus Tentative Schedule on page 6-7 to ensure that you are not
overwhelmed with information as you prepare for the exams and quizzes that will
test your comprehension of the text, articles, lectures, videos and PowerPoint
presentations. I reserve the right to add additional materials to the course content
on the Blackboard which also may be the foundation for exam and quiz questions.
Academic Dishonesty: “Academic dishonesty includes such things as cheating,
collaboration, inventing false information or citations, plagiarism, and helping
someone else commit an act of academic dishonesty. It usually involves an attempt
by a student to show possession of a level of knowledge or skill which he or she does
not possess. Any confirmed act of academic dishonesty will result in a failed
grade for the class.
Study Guides: The PowerPoint presentations used in my classes can serve as study
guides as well as outlines for taking notes during lectures.
E-mail: I plan to send group e-mails to all students enrolled in this class from time
to time during the semester. Therefore, please check your CPP e-mail account
regularly so you do not miss important announcements which might involve
procedural issues such as exam and quiz schedules and changes in the course
curriculum. The preferred form of communication from you to me will be
through emails addressed to both my personal email ([email protected])
and my university email ([email protected]). This will ensure that I receive your
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email promptly since I can retrieve the personal emails from my phone in the
event I am not near my computer.
Students with Disabilities: CPP requires students with disabilities to register with
the Office of Disabled Student Services. In order to receive prescribed
accommodations appropriate to their disability. Students requesting
accommodations should inform the instructor during the first week of classes about
any disability or special needs that may require specific arrangements/
accommodations related to attending class sessions, completing course
assignments, writing papers or exams.
Legal Advice: Please direct all of your personal legal inquiries to an attorney of your
choice (not me). Also, I can provide referrals in the areas of business law and family
law.
Exams and Grades
Exams: There will be 3 exams which will each cover specific subject matter. There
will be no cumulative exams. All 3 exams will be comprised of 50 multiple-choice
questions and be worth 50 points each. You must take all exams with the class in
which you are registered. Make-up exams will be given only upon a showing of good
cause as defined below. Exams will be administered through the Blackboard.
Quizzes: There will be 4 quizzes worth 10 points each. There will be make-ups
based only upon an emergency with advance notice before the quiz. "Emergencies"
claimed after the quiz has been given will not be acceptable. You will receive at least
24 hour notice of a quiz. Inquiries such as “will there be a surprise quiz this week”
will not receive a response. The quizzes will also be administered through the
Blackboard
Practice Exams: Practice exams covering all subjects in the course may be posted
on my website early in the semester. The practice exams are valuable to enable you
to become attuned to my style as well as for review of the subject matter. The
practice exams are the exams given during previous semesters, so the style and
difficulty of the questions on the practice exam should be very similar to the style
and difficulty of the questions on the exams you will take this semester. While we
will not review the practice exams in class, I encourage you to contact me by email
to discuss the practice exams if you have any inquiries about specific questions. If
you make inquiries about the practice exam by way of email, please cut and paste
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the question and all of the choices, indicating which choice you think is correct along
with your comments. An answer key for the practice exams will also be posted on
my website.
Extra Credit: No extra credit will be offered in this class. Please use time and
effort that you could have devoted to doing extra credit to studying and otherwise
preparing for the exams.
Make-up Exams: Any professor reserves the right to give – or not give – a make-up
exam at his or her discretion. I believe that a make-up exam should be given if the
student has a bona fide cause for not being able to take any exam according to the
exam schedule set forth in this syllabus. Examples of bona fide cause can include a
previously – scheduled commitment (school-related or not), a medical issue, or an
unanticipated bad event (such as a recent death in the family or a vehicular accident
on the morning of the exam). The need for a make-up exam should be
communicated to me in person, by telephone or by e-mail at your earliest
opportunity. Examples of situations that are not bona fide causes can include:
oversleeping, having another exam on the same day, or your decision (usually not
communicated until after the exam) to participate in another activity where your
participation may be preferable (to you at least). A make-up exam mist be arranged
prior to the regularly-scheduled exam except when it would not be practical to do
so. It will be your responsibility to contact me to schedule a make-up exam.
Summary: Grades are determined on the basis of total points scored on the exams
and quizzes pursuant to the following scale:*
1st Exam 50 points A Top 25% (approx.)
2nd Exam 50 B Second 25% (approx.)
3rd Exam 50 C Lower 45%-50%
Quizzes 40 D Lower 5% if missed
quizzez
Total 190 F Lower 5% if missed exam
Note: I reserve the right to change the grading scale to the students' benefit at the
end of the semester in order to comply with department grading guidelines. I
also reserve the right to award "plus" or "minus" grades.
*A very detailed explanation of the grading scale is contained on page 7-8.
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Course Objectives
Analytical Reasoning: Mere memorization of rules of law and court rulings is not
enough to do well in this course. Instead, the goal is to develop the ability to apply
rules of law and court rulings to varying factual scenarios in such a way as to reach
logical conclusions.
Developing Language Skills: Communication by writing and speaking is an
important skill to develop. The course readings, class attendance/participation,
quizzes and exams can hone your writing and speaking abilities. Vocabulary
development will enable you to communicate effectively in professional as well as
personal situations.
Basic Understanding of the Law and the Legal System: This is crucial for anyone
who lives and/or does business in the United States.
Common Body of Knowledge
This course falls under the Common Body of Knowledge (under AACSB standards
and guidelines) defined as "a background of the economic and legal environment as
it pertains to profit and/or nonprofit organizations along with ethical
considerations and social and political influences as they affect such organizations.
Assessment Statement
The main purpose of the degree program at the CPP College of Business
Administration, Finance, Real Estate, and Law Department is to provide you with
the knowledge and skills that prepare you for a successful career in business. In
order to assist us in achieving this goal, we will use a number of assessment tools to
track your progress throughout the MCBE curriculum. Please expect to participate
in MCBE assessment activities in several of your courses while at CPP. As you do so,
you will assist us in identifying our program's strengths and weaknesses as well as
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areas for potential improvement. In other words, you are making an important
investment in the value of your degree.
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TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Reading
Dates Class Subject Matter (Reading Assignment)
Assignments
Course Introduction; Business and its Legal
Environment
Week 1- Jan. 26-28, -Video: “Louie Louie”
Chapter 1
2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCY0bAPLZ1w
Louie Louie Lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx-8_GI4d2c
Sources of Law
Week 2-Feb. 2-4, -Video: SNL Executive Orders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUDSeb2zHQ0 Chapters 1-3
2021 The Court System Case 2.2 Gucci America, Inc.
v. Wang Huoqing Pages 32-33 (Text);
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Week 3- Feb. 9-11,
Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v Cardegna Chapter 2
2021
(Blackboard);
Ethics and Business Decision Making
- Video: "Bad Business Ethics"
Week 4- Feb. 16-18, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba2VaalmijM
Chapter 5
2021 - Video: The Best Boss in America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIEp_ZGGVF0
Week 5- Feb. 23-25, Ethics and Business Decision Making (cont)
Chapter 5
2021 First Exam on Weeks 1-5
Week 6- Mar. 2-4, Chapters 11-
Contracts
2021 15
Contracts (cont.); Unconscionable Contracts;
Week 7- Mar. 9-11, Chapters 11-
Lhotka v. Geographic Expeditions Page 278
2021 15
(Text)
Week 8- Mar. 16- Chapters 11-
Contracts (cont); Torts
18, 2021 15; 6-7
Week 9- Mar. 23- Torts (cont); Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad
Chapters 6-7
25, 2021 Co.128 (Text)
Mar.- 27-Apr. 2,
Spring Break
2021
Week 10-Apr. 6-8,
Business Torts, Second Exam on Weeks 6-10 Chapters 6-7
2021
Week 11- Apr. 13- Chapters 32-
Agency and Employment Law
15, 2021 35
Week Apr. 20- 22, Agency and Employment Law (cont) Chapters 32-
7
2021 35
Week 13- Apr. 27- Chapters 32-
Agency and Employment Law (cont)
29, 2021 35
Week 14- May 4-6, Chapters 36-
Business Organizations
2021 40
Week 15- May 11- Chapters 36-
Business Organizations (cont)
13, 2020 40
Week 16- May. 18,
Final Exam on Weeks 11-16 (TENTATIVE)
2021
GRADING POLICY
The grading policy for this class is NOT based upon a percentage of correct
answers to the total answers in a quiz or exam (such as; 90%-100% = A; 80%-89%
= B etc.). Rather, it is based upon how your cumulative score of the 4 quizzes and 3
exams compares to the other students in the class. Because this is a core class, the
University’s policy is that the average grade must be between 2.1 and 2.7. This
places limitations on the number of A’s and B’s that can be awarded. If everyone
received an A, the average grade would be 4.0. (A’s = 4 points; B’s = 3 points; C’s = 2
points; D’s = 1 point; and F’s = 0 points)
Historically, the allocation of A’s is approximately 25% of the class and the
allocation of B’s is approximately 25% of the class. The rest of the class would
receive C’s, D’s or F’s depending on their performance. This will generally result in
an average grade of between 2.5 and 2.65. The reason I use the word
“approximately” is because inevitably there are 4 or 5 students that are around the
cutoff point and I have to determine whether I will give them the higher grade or the
lower grade in order to fit in the parameters of the University’s policy. This is not an
exact science, but it is pure mathematics.
There is a total of 190 points that can be earned from the 4 quizzes (10 points
each) and 3 exams (50 points each). Therefore, the top 25% of the cumulative
scores would then receive A’s, and the next 25% of the cumulative scores would
receive B’s. Essentially, you are competing with each other student in the class for
an A or a B.
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Some students become very discouraged because they will receive an exam
score of, let’s say, 38 out of 50 which is less than 80%. However, if the score of 38 is
10th best in the class out of 100 students, that would still qualify as an A because it
would be in the 90 percentile. Also, the final letter grade is based upon the
cumulative score of all quizzes and exams and not on any single quiz or exam.
Therefore, do not be discouraged by the score of any individual quiz or exam.
After each quiz and exam, I will notify you of all of the scores of your fellow
students so that you can measure your score against the rest of the class. This
should give you some idea of where you stand. Prior to the final quiz and 3 rd exam I
will notify you of the cumulative scores of your fellow students to assist you in
understanding your prospects for receiving an A, B or C. Obviously, if you are in the
27th percentile, you will know that you have to do exceedingly well on the final quiz
and 3rd exam to achieve a grade of A,
For this reason, every point on every quiz and every exam is critical because
the cutoff point between an A and a B is usually 1 point. Every semester at least 5 to
7 students miss an A or a B by 1 point. Inevitably, I am then requested to give them
an opportunity to make up that extra point to achieve the higher grade. I cannot do
this because I would have to give all of the students that have missed by 1 point that
opportunity, and the higher grades will require that I reduce the grade of a student
with an A or a B to fit within the parameters of the University’s grading policy.
Therefore, I would have to give them the opportunity for the extra point which
becomes completely unworkable. This is why the Syllabus specifically states that
there is no extra credit.
Finally, I will not know which students have received which grades since I
make the determination based solely on the cumulative scores.
Please refer to this explanation before seeking clarification of the grading
system for this class as I receive numerous inquiries throughout the semester from
students who have average scores between 60% and 70% who believe they are
failing the class when they may, in fact, have a solid C or a potential B.
