Learn the basics of business law and what it means to you with UNDERSTANDING THE LAW, Fifth Edition. This popular text discusses how various aspects of the law affect the individual, highlighting the personal law issues that confront people in their everyday lives. UNDERSTANDING THE LAW uses engaging hypothetical and real examples to illustrate important points of the law and to inspire lively discussion with your peers. This fifth edition incorporates new coverage of international and comparative law throughout to give you essential knowledge for today's global marketplace.

This textbook introduces undergraduates to the law and helps them understand how it affects them as individuals. For the fifth edition, information on legal traditions and practices in other countries has been added to each chapter. Court case updates and other teaching resources are available on a companion website. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Professor Donald Carper began his career as an analyst for the State of California Coordinating Council for higher education researching critical issues in higher education for the California legislature. He served six years as Dean of Students and Lecturer in law at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of law. For the last twenty-five years he has taught in Colleges of Business at the University of the Pacific and California State University and the School of Agricultural Economics at the University of California, Davis. He practiced law and was the managing attorney for a medium size business and health law firm. While at McGeorge he helped establish the Institute for Administrative Justice which established a national reputation for training administrative hearing officers. His interest in administrative hearings as alternatives to judicial resolution led to an early interest in alternative dispute resolution. He acts as an arbitrator and mediator working to resolve public and private disputes. He is an Associate with the California Center for Public Dispute Resolution and serves on the Northern California Advisory Committee for the American Arbitration Association. He has been active in International programs. In recent years Professor Carper worked to establish two mediation centers in the Kaluga, Oblast in Russia. In addition he has worked on ADR programs and training of judges and lawyers in West Africa. His work in both Africa and Russia continues. In addition he has created and participated in training programs for lawyers and judges from Russia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Korea, and China at the California State University, Sacramento campus. Professor Carper received his undergraduate degree from California State University, Chico in Personnel and Industrial Relations, his Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and his Juris Doctor from the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific.Professor West began his career with the practice of law followed by a stint in real estate development and investment. For many years he served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. These activities overlapped his tenure with California State University, Sacramento where he taught law and real estate in the business school. Now an Emeritus Professor, West received his undergraduate degree from University of California, Berkeley, his Master's in Business Administration from Golden Gate University, and his Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law.

UNIT 1. THE LEGAL SYSTEM AND BASIC PRINCIPLES OF LAW. 1. Introduction to Law. 2. Our Constitution. 3. The Court System. 4. Attorney-Client Relationship and Settling Disputes. 5. Administrative Law. 6. Crimes: Public Wrongs. 7. Torts: Private Wrongs. 8. Contracts: Enforceable Agreements. UNIT 2. APPLICATION OF THE LAW TO THE INDIVIDUAL. 9. Family Law. 10. Owning and Operating Motor Vehicles. 11. Renters and Landlords. 12. Home Ownership. 13. Employee and Employer Rights and Duties. 14. Wills, Trusts, and Probate. APPENDICES. A. Case Brief. B. Declaration of Independence. C. Constitution of the United States of America. D. Legal Research. Glossary. Index.