Introduction to Contracts, Sales and Product Liability
Don Mayer, University of Denver
Daniel Warner, Western Washington University
George J. Siedel, University of Michigan
Jethro K. Lieberman, New York Law School
Copyright Year:
ISBN 13: 9781453343265
Publisher: Saylor Foundation
Language: English
Formats Available
Conditions of Use
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA
Reviews
I think this book gives comprehensive coverage of the subject matter. Since my Business Law I class primarily focuses on contracts and Business Law II has a large focus on sales and product liability, I have been looking for a textbook that... read more
I think this book gives comprehensive coverage of the subject matter. Since my Business Law I class primarily focuses on contracts and Business Law II has a large focus on sales and product liability, I have been looking for a textbook that focuses on those areas. I like the in-depth coverage of each area. Rather than being 50 chapters, there are 22 and these chapters focus on most of the areas I cover in my classes. I like the use of "Key Takeaways" to help the reader focus on the most important points.
The content is accurate. I didn't find any errors or apparent bias. The examples that are given are very easy to understand.
Overall, contract law doesn't change a lot over time. The cases in the book are not very recent, but that doesn't make the text obsolete. I have found that the cases in most Business law textbooks are not that recent, but they are usually the cases that are the best to use as an example of a concept. The way the cases are used in the text, in most instances, it would be easy to insert new case examples.
The textbook is written in very clear language that I feel is easy to understand. There isn't too much "legalese". The tables and diagrams are very straightforward, unlike many other textbooks where I feel the diagrams are confusing to me, even as an attorney. Legal terms are presented in easily understood contexts that in most cases can be applied to every day life.
There's a lot of consistency from chapter to chapter; also the chapters on contracts build on each other. The terminology is consistent throughout the chapters and the framework is the same from chapter to chapter. Chapters start with the learning objectives, the information on the concept is presented, cases are used to show the application of the law, then the information is "chunked" into key takeaways, The chapters end with exercises and self-checks.
The use of "key takeaways" makes it easy to divide a chapter into smaller reading sections. There are multiple subheadings within each sub-topic. Unlike many textbooks that have problem cases/exercises at the end of the chapter, there are small exercises over the sub-topics. I like this because if a student is struggling with something, it would be easy to have them read just the sub-topic and complete the exercise at the end, rather than having them read the whole chapter.
The topics in the text build upon each other and there's a good flow from chapter to chapter.
I didn't find any interface issues. It was easy to navigate and all of the images and charts were very clear.
I didn't note any grammatical or spelling errors.
I couldn't find any examples of cultural insensitivity. There aren't any discussions of ethics, or of bias that can occur in transactions due to an individual's race, ethnicity and background.
Overall, I really like this textbook, but I would use it as a complimentary text, not as the main text. There's no mention of ethics which I feel should be incorporated into every Business Law course.
Table of Contents
- Chapter 1: Introduction to Law and Legal Systems
- Chapter 2: Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics
- Chapter 3: Courts and the Legal Process
- Chapter 4: Constitutional Law and US Commerce
- Chapter 5: Administrative Law
- Chapter 6: Criminal Law
- Chapter 7: Introduction to Tort Law
- Chapter 8: Introduction to Contract Law
- Chapter 9: The Agreement
- Chapter 10: Real Assent
- Chapter 11: Consideration
- Chapter 12: Legality
- Chapter 13: Form and Meaning
- Chapter 14: Third-Party Rights
- Chapter 15: Discharge of Obligations
- Chapter 16: Remedies
- Chapter 17: Introduction to Sales and Leases
- Chapter 18: Title and Risk of Loss
- Chapter 19: Performance and Remedies
- Chapter 20: Products Liability
- Chapter 21: Bailments and the Storage, Shipment, and Leasing of Goods
- Chapter 22: Secured Transactions and Suretyship
Ancillary Material
Submit ancillary resourceAbout the Book
This textbook provides context and essential concepts across the entire range of legal issues with which
managers and business executives must grapple. The text provides the vocabulary and legal acumen
necessary for businesspeople to talk in an educated way to their customers, employees, suppliers,
government officials—and to their own lawyers.
Traditional publishers often create confusion among customers in the text selection process by offering a
huge array of publications. Once a text is selected, customers might still have to customize the text to meet
their needs. For example, publishers usually offer books that include either case summaries or excerpted
cases, but some instructors prefer to combine case summaries with a few excerpted cases so that students
can experience reading original material. Likewise, the manner in which most conventional texts
incorporate video is cumbersome because the videos are contained in a separate library, which makes
access more complicating for instructors and students.
About the Contributors
Authors
Don Mayer now teaches law, ethics, public policy, and sustainability at the Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, where he is Professor in Residence. His research focuses on the role of business in creating a more just, sustainable, peaceful and productive world. With James O'Toole, Professor Mayer has co-edited and contributed content to Good Business: Exercising Effective & Ethical Leadership (Routledge: Taylor and Francis, 2010). He is also co-author of International Business Law: Cases and Materials, in its 5th edition with Pearson Publishing Co. He recently served as the first Arsht Visiting Ethics Scholar at the University of Miami. After attending Kenyon College (philosophy) and Duke University Law School, Professor Mayer served as a "JAG officer" with the United States Air Force during the Vietnam conflict, and went to private practice in North Carolina. He went to Washington D.C. in 1984 to attend Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned his LL.M. in International and Comparative law in 1985. He began an academic career in 1985 at Western Carolina University, and was a full professor at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan for many years before coming to the University of Denver. He has taught as a visitor at California State Polytechnic University, the University of Michigan, the Manchester Business School Worldwide, and Antwerp Management School. Professor Mayer has won numerous awards from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, including the Hoeber Award for best article in the American Business Law Journal, twice won the Maurer Award for best article on business ethics, and three times won the Ralph Bunch Award for best article on international business law. His work has been published in many journals and law reviews, but most often in American Business Law Journal, the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Business Ethics Quarterly.
Daniel Warner is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Washington, where-- following military service--he also attended law school. After some years of civil practice, he joined the faculty at the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University in 1978 where he is now a professor of business legal studies in the Accounting Department. He has published extensively exploring the intersection of popular culture and the law, for which publications he has five times received the College of Business Dean's Research Award for "distinguished contributions in published research." He served eight years on the Whatcom County Council, two years as its Chair. He has served on the Faculty Senate, on various university and college committees including chairman of the University Master Plan Committee; he has been active in state Bar Association committee work and in local politics, where he has served on numerous boards and commissions over 30 years.
George J. Siedel's research addresses legal issues that relate to international business law, negotiation, and dispute resolution. Recent publications focus on proactive law and the use of law to gain competitive advantage. His work in progress includes research on the impact of litigation on large corporations and the use of electronic communication as evidence in litigation. Professor Siedel has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. Following graduation from law school, he worked as an attorney in a professional corporation. He has also served on several boards of directors and as Associate Dean of the University of Michigan Business School. The author of numerous books and articles, Professor Siedel has received several research awards, including the Faculty Recognition Award from the University of Michigan and the following awards from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business: the Hoeber Award, the Ralph Bunche Award and the Maurer Award. The Center for International Business Education and Research selected a case written by Professor Siedel for its annual International Case Writing Award. His research has been cited by appellate courts in the United States and abroad, including the High Court of Australia. Professor Siedel has served as Visiting Professor of Business Law at Stanford University, Visiting Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University, and Parsons Fellow at the University of Sydney. He has been elected a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University's Wolfson College and a Life Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation. As a Fulbright Scholar, Professor Siedel held a Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Jethro K. Lieberman is professor of law and VP for Academic Publishing at New York Law School, where he has taught for more than a quarter century. He took his B.A. in politics and economics from Yale University, his J.D. from Harvard Law School, and his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. He began his teaching career at Fordham University Law School and before that was VP at what is now the CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution. For nearly ten years he was Legal Affairs Editor of Business Week Magazine. He practiced antitrust and trade regulation law at a large Washington law firm and was on active duty as a member of the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps during the Vietnam era. He is the author of The Litigious Society (Basic Books), winner of the American Bar Association’s top literary prize, the Silver Gavel, and also of A Practical Companion to the Constitution: How the Supreme Court Has Ruled on Issues from Abortion to Zoning (University of California Press), among many other books. He is a long-time letterpress printer and proprietor of The Press at James Pond, a private press, and owner of the historic Kelmscott- Goudy Press, an Albion hand press that was used to print the Kelmscott Press edition of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in the 1890s.