Property Law and White-Collar Crimes, Exams of Civil Law

Download Property Law and White-Collar Crimes and more Exams Civil Law in PDF only on Docsity! LEGAL EXAM 3 property - the legal right to exclude others from resources that are originally possessed or are acquired without force, theft, or fraud if you have property you have the right to - - control - transfer - gain income - etc. MOST IMPORTANTLY IS THE RIGHT TO EXCLUDE ways property generate prosperity - - provides a powerful incentive - capital formation: mortgage to secure the loans - divisibility mortgage - agreements that put someone's house up in order to secure a loan 1. A transfer of an interest in property for the purpose of creating a security for a debt. 2. A type of security interest in land, usually securing an extension of credit. Real property law - applies ownership to land and interests in land such as mining rights or leases personal property - applies to moveable resources; those things that people do not annex to the land tangible personal property - applies to things one can touch, that is, to physical things. FROM SLIDES: "chattels" under common law, now cars, phones, cash, etc. intangible personal property - applies to nonphysical things, particularly various types of valuable information. Intellectual property—patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets—is an important form fixture - an object of personal property that has become an object of real property (1) by physical annexation (attachment) to the land or its buildings or (2) because its use has become closely associated with the use to which the land is put estate - The bundle of rights and powers of land ownership fee simple - represents the maximum estate allowed under law, the owner having the fullest legal rights and powers to possess, use, and transfer the land absolute (1) fee simple - no limitations or conditions attached defeasable (2) fee simple - estate may have a condition attached to its conveyance (transfer) life estate - grants an ownership in land for the lifetime of a specified person *means that the property fence only protects your interest in something for your lifetime leasehold estate - simply the property right granted to tenants by a landlord Tenants have a qualified possession, use, and transfer of the land, qualified in that they cannot waste the land, which means do something that substantially reduces the value of the land types of concurrent ownership - joint tenancy (must have equal ownership) and the tenancy in common (can have the right of survivorship) easement - places a particular use of land behind the exclusive legal fence often a right to cross over land types of easement - natural easement easement by prescription (someone wrongfully crossing) negative easement bailment - An owner's placement of an object into the intentional possession of another person with the understanding that the other person must return the object at some point or otherwise dispose of it. secured transactions - Any credit transaction creating a security interest; an interest in personal property that secures the payment of an obligation. collateral - The valuable thing put up by someone to secure a loan or credit. Attachment - takes place when (1) a secured party has given value, (2) the debtor owns the collateral, and (3) a security agreement is given. Perfection - The status ascribed to security interests after certain events have occurred or certain prescribed steps have been taken, for example, the filing of a financing statement. financing statement - The general way of perfecting a security interest under Article 9 is to file a An established form that a secured party files with a public officer, such as a state official or local court clerk, to perfect a security interest under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). It is a simple form that contains basic information such as a description of the collateral, names, and addresses. It is designed to give notice that the debtor and the secured party have entered into a security agreement. purchase money security interest (PMSI) - A security interest given to the party that loans the debtor the money that enables the debtor to buy the collateral. buyer in the ordinary course of business - A buyer who buys from someone who ordinarily sells such goods in his or her business. also has priority over a perfected security interest. artisan's lien - The lien that arises in favor of one who has expended labor upon, or added value to, another person's personal property. The lien allows the person to possess the property as security until reimbursed for the value of labor or materials. If the person is not reimbursed, the property may be sold to satisfy the claim. mechanic's lien - A lien on real estate that is created by statute to assist suppliers and laborers in collecting their accounts and wages. Its purpose is to subject the owner's land to a lien for material and labor expended in the construction of buildings and other improvements. *arises when someone contributes materials and/or services to real estate, usually a building, and is not paid. Unlike the artisan's lien, this lien is not possessory and has priority only if it is perfected by the filing of a written notice, usually in the county where the real estate is found. public nuisance - An owner's use of land that causes damage or inconvenience to the general public. private nuisance - An unreasonable use of one's land so as to cause substantial interference with the enjoyment or use of another's land. Zoning ordinances - Laws that divide counties or municipalities into use districts page 217designated residential, commercial, or industrial rule against perpetuities - The rule that prohibits an owner from controlling what he or she owns beyond a life in being at the owner's death, plus 21 years. Popov v. Hayashi - baseball possession case; ended in a partition ruling- judge split the proceeds of the baseball between the 2 men HAS TO DO WITH OWNSERSHIP Peirson v Post - case about the fox most important case in the law of finds "pursuit and wounding is not enough; would have had to kill" Swift v. Gifford - whaling case judge changed the precedent and went with the industry custom that "first iron holds the whale" Ghen v. Rich - RULE: When someone does all that is possible to secure control over a wild animal, within the recognized custom it becomes property of the securer. guy brought whale to the market Trial of Willie Meredith, aka "Drone Slayer" - guy with the drone and flies it over the house and the guy shoots; deals with airrrights and its limits latin phrase that established the air rights in the roman times - Ad coelum et ad inferos- from heaven to hell intellectual property - A type of property in information and its application or expression. Patents and copyrights are examples trade secret - Any formula, pattern, machine, or process of manufacturing used in one's business that may give the user an opportunity to obtain an advantage over its competitors. *legally protectable. AL MINOR & ASSOCIATES, INC. v. MARTIN - -A client list can serve as a trade secret because it provides value to the owner. - court found that even information that was memorized and not written down can be subject to trade secret protection. -It is important to understand that all information used within a company is not necessarily a trade secret. Misappropriation - A term referring to the wrongful taking of what belongs to an owner. Often used in intellectual property law. *the defendant must have __ the information in order to be liable in a trade secret case injunction - A court order directing a party to do or to refrain from doing some act. Economic Espionage Act (EEA) - A federal law that creates criminal liability for trade secret misappropriation. Penalties are enhanced for misappropriation intended to benefit a foreign government. patent - A statutorily created property right in inventions and discoveries. utility patent - A property right awarded for a new and nonobvious process, machine, or composition of matter that has a useful function. *way it functions design patent - A property right awarded for a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture. *way it looks plant patent - A property right awarded for a new variety of plant that can be produced asexually. Note that inventions involving plants may be protected as utility patents. things court will evaluate for fair use The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is for commercial or nonprofit educational purposes. The nature of the copyrighted work. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole. The effect of the use upon the potential market for the copyrighted work. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) - makes illegal the effort to get around (circumvent) devices used by copyright owners to keep their works from being infringed. T-Mobile USA v. Huawei - A jury awarded $4.8 million to T-Mobile, finding that Huawei misappropriated T-Mobile's trade secrets Diamond v. Chakrabarty - GE engineer Chakrabarty developed genetically-modified bacteria that "eat" oil• Initially denied patent - appealed to SupremeCourt• S.Ct. said bacteria were patentable -"manufacture" or "composition of matter" patented animals - harvard mouse glofish Aqua-advantage Salmon Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad - -Supreme Court said you can't patent DNA -But can patent cDNA/molecules made from DNA Christian Louboutin S.A. v. Yves Saint Laurent America, Inc. - Said were too similar and sued They claimed the tassel and the lace up on the shoe was where they claimed a design patent brand dilution by tarnishment and blurring case was inconclusive tort - literal meaning is wrong a civil wrong other than a breach of contract the basis is not an agreement but an obligation imposed by common law and legislation 3 categories of tort - Intentional torts, negligence, and strict liability intent - usually defined as the desire to bring about certain results; including not only desired results but also results that are "substantially likely" to result from an action. assault - the placing of another in immediate apprehension for his or her physical safety battery - an illegal touching of another infliction of mental distress - An intentional tort of the emotions that causes both mental distress and physical symptoms as a result of the defendant's outrageous behavior. Invasion of privacy - A tort based on misappropriation of name or likeness; intrusion upon physical solitude; or public disclosure of objectionable, private information. false imprisonment - The tort of an intentional, unjustified confinement of a nonconsenting person who knows of the confinement. malicious prosecution "false arrest" - An action for recovery of damages that have resulted to person, property, or reputation page 748from previous unsuccessful civil or criminal proceedings that were prosecuted without probable cause and with malice. trespass - An act done in an unlawful manner so as to cause injury to another; an unauthorized entry upon another's land. Conversion - An unlawful exercise of dominion and control over another's property that substantially interferes with property rights. Defamation - The publication of anything injurious to the good name or reputation of another. WHEN IT IS ORAL IT IS CALLED SLANDER ; WRITTEN OR PUBLISHED, RADIO, TV IS CALLED LIBEL fraud - A false representation of fact made with the intent to deceive another that is justifiably relied upon to the injury of that person Injurious falsehood - A statement of untruth that causes injury or damage to the party against whom it is made. intentional interference with contractual relations - The tort of causing another to break a contract. negligence - A person's failure to exercise reasonable care that foreseeably causes another injury. duty - critical element of the negligence tort A legal obligation imposed by the law. willful and wanton negligence - Extremely unreasonable behavior that causes injury. Although this does not reveal intent, it does show an extreme lack of due care EX: Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska cause in fact - The actual cause of an event; the instrument that is the responsible force for the occurrence of a certain event. A required element of a tort. Proximate cause - In tort law and legal requirement that an act foreseeably causes an injury. perhaps, more accurately termed legal cause. It represents the proposition that those engaged in activity are legally liable only for the foreseeable risk that they cause contributory negligence - A failure to use reasonable care by the plaintiff in a negligence suit. if the plaintiff's own fault contributed to the injury "in any degree, however slight." comparative responsibility - A doctrine that compares the plaintiff's contributory fault with the defendant's fault and allows the jury to reduce the plaintiff's verdict by the percentage of the plaintiff's fault. Also called comparative negligence. assumption-of-the-risk - Negligence doctrine that bars the recovery of damages by an injured party on the ground that such a party acted with actual or constructive knowledge of the hazard causing the injury. Strict liability - The doctrine under which a party may be required to respond in tort damages without regard to such party's use of due care. obstruction of justice - conceal the evidence of your crime in the face of prosecution; after KNOWING about this; you can get in trouble for the cover up of the crime and the crime itself SKITTLING V US- after this they said we need stronger sarbanes oxley act made min 15 years conspiracy - charge people for this if they agree to commit a crime you have to agree and do an overt act/substantial step in it to further the conspiracy; if you did all the steps LOCKED IN AFTER YOU COMMIT THAT OVERT ACT UNLESS YOU TURNED THEM IN BEFORE YOU EVEN DID IT racketeering - people that tell people to tell people to commit a crime and lower level busted but not highest prove someone the head of an enterprise doing several (2-3) crimes you can bust them for RIKO even if you can pin a specific crime on them honest services fraud - technically bribing a private industry but just becuase not public doesn't mean its not so this law prevents private gov version of commercial bribery "duty to provide honest services" hiring person committed fraud to their company FCPA - Ford Corrupt Practices Act if US resident and foreign you are violating US law (in addition to their bribery laws) you can be prosecuted in the US too controversial because not all countries have this law some countries will have an advantage over them because they don't have these laws Mail and wire fraud - do it in mail and do phone forgery - changing a financial doc perjury - lie under oath false claims - make claim to gov EX: medicare reinbursement and bump up the rates for them to pay bad checks - wrtite check knowing you dont have funds securities fraud - lie abotu purchase of stock / bond insider trading - exculpatory no - The doctrine that merely denying guilt is not a criminal lie in response to a question from an agency of the federal government. This doctrine is no longer valid. Larceny - The unlawful taking of personal property with the intent to deprive the right owner of this property. robbery - Illegally taking something by force. burglary - Theft by breaking and entering. RICO - The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. pattern of racketeering - Under RICO, two or more similar acts of organized crime in a ten-year period. endangerment of workers - A criminal act that involves placing employees at risk with respect to their health and safety in the work environment. aiding and abetting - A criminal action that arises from association with and from assistance rendered to a person guilty of another criminal act. accessory - A term used at the state level that is similar to "aiding and abetting." generally is either before the criminal act or after it. Kickbacks - Payments made to a person who has facilitated a transaction. sentencing guidelines - Adopted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission as a means of standardizing the sentences given to similar criminals committing similar crimes. Exigency - theres an emergancy and theres no time to get a search warrant