LEGL 4400-Business Law

University of Georgia Terry College of Business

Hi! This is the home page for LEGL 4400 (as if the page title didn't tell you that...). Make sure you keep up with the page, as it will change frequently, and you are held responsible for anything posted. But it's not all work and no play. I've included the Fun Links page for you, purely for your enjoyment and horizon expansion. Have fun, enjoy the class, and give me any feedback you think would be helpful.

Dr. B-A's LEGL 4400Web Site Contents

If you want to see the Fall 2009 syllabus click here.

If you want to see the tentative schedule of coverage, click here.

If you want to see the list of article dates, click here.

If you want to see chapter-end question answers, click here.

If you want to see old exam questions, click here.

If you want to see current exams, click here.

If you want to see the poems read in class, click here.

If you want to see chapter word outlines, click here.

Quick Finder:

office & office hours

exam dates

e-mail requirements

OBJECTIVE: To familiarize students with several of the business related aspects of the law, including negotiable instruments, secured transactions and agency and partnerships.

REQUIRED TEXT:Smith & Roberson, Business Law 14th ed., 2009, South-Western/Cengage Learning, Pub.  There is an e-version and there are other less expensive versions of the text (such as by chapters).  Check the book's website or others, for options.

CLASS TIME: I have two sections of this course:  T, Th 9:30-10:45 *---------* 11:00-12:15 

OFFICE & HOURS: 202 Brooks Hall. T, Th 7:00-7:45 a.m.,  T 2-3, Th 12:20-1:30 and by appointment. Call (706) 338-2293 for scheduling.

TESTING & GRADING:

Grading: The course grade is determined by adding together test scores and any extra credit points, then dividing by four. Since each exam is equally weighted, it is best to maximize performance on each one. Since extras credit points count as full points, it is best to take advantage of every opportunity to gain extra points. For all purposes, and unless notified otherwise, the grading scale is 100-94 A, 93-90 A-, 89-87 B+, 86-84 B, 83-80 B-, 79-77 C+, 76-74 C, 73-70 C-,  69-65 D, 64 and below, F.

Exams: There will be four examinations during the quarter, including the final. Each exam is equally weighted. Make-up exams are generally not given. Exam scores are not posted. Rather, exams are returned in class, generally by the next or the second class after the exam. If you have an unavoidable conflict on an exam date, you may submit a request for excused absence or a request for alternate test date form which you can obtain from me. I will give my decision and return the form to you. Exam dates are Tu. 9/15; Tu. 10/13; Tu 11/17 and the final exam  is Tu. 12/15, 8-11a.m. for the 9:30 class and F. 12/11 from 12-3 for the 11:00 class.

Extra Credit: During the first day of class I will pass out a sheet on which students can sign up to do an extra-credit oral presentation on an article on any topic. The article may be from any source, as long as the information is current. The presentation is to be no longer than five minutes and is worth three points.

Unannounced quizzes MAY be given from time to time as a means of testing student knowledge and providing an opportunity for additional points. Quizzes are generally worth ten points, and I don't generally give more than two per quarter, if that many.

I also may give Web-connected assignments for extra credit. Check e-mail to see.

Attendance: I take roll every day. Make sure to sign it in class, as I have no satisfactory way of knowing if you were really here if you forget and try to  prove it later (friends can give you notes and/or swear you were there...). Having someone sign the roll for you in your absence will result in ten points being deducted from your class points for both you, as well as whoever signed for you. You are allowed two unexcused absences, but after that 3 points will be deducted from your final grade for each absence over 2. Be in class.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Doing Well: Since many of you will be taking the CPA exam, you really should start prepping now with this class. Students have said that it greatly improves performance if they come to class prepared. Preparation includes reading the chapters and answering the chapter-end questions. The answers to the chapter-end questions and old exams are posted on the class Web page.

E-Mail, the Web, and the listserv: Students are required to have a gmail account with their photo attached and to subscribe to the class listserv. The gmail accounts are free and can be set up in minutes. If you don't already have one, you should.  It's free and you have virtually unlimited space as well as the ability to search your emails like you conduct a google search. You can even keep your old email address and just forward everything to your gmail account the way I do with my dawndba@uga.edu account.  You can even make it seem like you are answering from the old account! It's the bomb.

You are required to join the listserv and to remove yourself after the course is over. You must sign up for the listserv by 8/25. I automatically receive a notice when you have signed up. For each day after the deadline (including weekends) you will have one point deducted if you have not signed onto the listserv.  Sign up to the listserv by sending an email to listserv@listserv.uga.edu.  Make the subject of the email   subscribe 4400DBA Your Name .  You can also put this in the body of the email.  Notice there is no space between 4400 and DBA.  If you have trouble signing on, it is usually that you have not entered something correctly, so check it.  Within minutes you should receive an email from the listserv folks saying you requested to be signed up, but you are not actually signed onto the listserv until you respond to this email to confirm subcribing to the listserv.  If you do not do it within 24 hours, they drop your subcription request and you have to submit it again.

Absences: I take roll every day, and you should be there.  I undestand that life happens, but I do not like you missing class. If you are absent more than twice,  3 points are deducted from your final grade for each absence over the limit.  Come to class!

Rescheduling exams: Exams must be given when taken, and there are no makeups.

Important Dates: T 8/18 - First day of class
                           T 8/25 - Listserv sign-up deadline
                           T 9/15 - Exam 1
                           T 10/13 - Exam 2
                           T 11/17 - Exam 3
                           T 11/24 & Th 11/26 - Thanksgiving - NO CLASS
                           Th 12/3 - Last day of class
                           T 12/8 - Treat as Monday schedule - NO CLASS
                           F 12/11 - Final Exam for 11:00 class 12-3 this classroom
                           T 12/15 - Final Exam for 9:30 class 8-11 this classroom

Recommendations: Students often ask me to write recommendations for them. I don't mind doing it if I know you well enough to do so. In order to help me make the recommendation more than a general one, I need information from you. If you wish to have me write a recommendation, give me the following:

* the latest copy of your transcript

* your phone number and e-mail address

* explicit instructions as to where and to whom the recommendation should be sent

* the deadline for the recommendation

* any necessary forms I need from the place needing the recommendation

* a brief, but full typed essay from you telling me things about yourself, your family, your goals, ambitions, and motivations, that might be helpful in painting a picture of you that you may think is inappropriate for you to do yourself. The information could include such things as obstacles you have had to overcome to go to school, particular family circumstances that may make you unique, etc. I don't want the essay you write for the application, and I don't want a recitation of your grades. I want something that makes you more than a one-dimensional person.
* a draft recommendation as if I wrote it.  Keep in mind that I am a professional, so do not make it sound casual or like your friend wrote it.

Make sure you give me enough time to work on the recommendation. The longer the better. If it is brought to me at the last minute, you run the risk of me turning you down, or your recommendation being late.

Recording: Lectures may not be recorded without my permission. Also, you do NOT have my permission to use notes from my lectures for commercial lecture note purposes.
 

I reserve the right to modify the syllabus as necessary. Students are held responsible for all class decisions and discussions which take place in their absence. Check the class Web page for updates and check with someone in class for details.
 
 

LEGL 4400 - Business Law

Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander, Esq.

Terry College of Business

University of Georgia