Stillman’s Mission

… is to enrich each student’s life through an ethics-centered education focusing on transforming concepts into business practice.

Welcome To The Course

Welcome to the Legal Environment of Business. This is the first section of your course syllabus. We will meet F2F weekly both in class and, when necessary, remotely via Teams. I will update this syllabus if I add something to the course or if something unexpected intervenes … like a hurricane, blizzard, or returning to fully remote class meetings. You must remain current on course assignments and materials by reviewing this syllabus regularly for updates.

You should review the entire course syllabus beginning with Review This First and then the calendar, Deliverables, Schedule, and any other materials included in this course site. You will find answers to any questions when you review the rest of the information included here. If you have any questions after you’ve reviewed this syllabus and the rest of the course site, you can DM me in Teams to contact me.

Before We Meet

We will meet for the first time on Monday, August 28th, at 2p in JH141. We will meet F2F unless notified otherwise. Our course will require masks in class. Please bring a mask to every class meeting since we will be wearing masks during class. Before we meet please click Before We Begin to complete some housekeeping items, including introducing yourself, agreeing to the learning contract, and completing your O365 profile by adding a headshot as your profile picture.

You will find your Teams workspace by clicking the Teams icon in the sidebar of the Teams app. It is important that you complete your signup immediately since all of our course communication will be via Teams and I will not use email for our course communication in the future.

Introduction

This course’s subject matter will include an introduction to the American legal system, incorporating a survey of US court systems and types of jurisprudence; an introduction to the US Constitution with an analysis of certain basic constitutional concepts, constitutional amendments and illustrative cases. We will examine ethical and international perspectives of the law related to contemporary business. Areas of study will also include contract law, the law of business organizations and the regulatory environment. Students will examine the ethical challenges that arise at the intersection of law and business.

What Should You Expect?

The subject matter of the course is interesting, challenging and always timely. While we examine the basis and evolution of our legal system we will always keep an eye on how that legal system impacts the business environment in real time. We will use a variety of digital platforms to interact with each other and the course materials. You will actively engage in the course through the use of the Socratic Method, both in class and during our digital discussions outside class. You will have a better sense of what to expect during a class session after you review my perspective on Teaching and Learning.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to use a fundamentally different set of delivery modalities, e.g., in-person, HyFlex, hybrid, remote, synchronous, or not, or some combination of approaches to teaching and learning. We have met remotely, when necessary, in order to accomplish our work over these last several years. The use of remote modalities demands that we adjust our understanding of acceptable protocols for attendance and participation, whether a meeting or course attendance, engagement and participation.

While working together using a digital platform, e.g., Teams, Zoom, Slack, etc. it is important that you join the session with a live camera and muted mic. A live camera helps to create a sense of community and will help all of us to engage effectively during our discussions. If you only unmute your mic when speaking we can avoid feedback, unsolicited input from family, pets and others as well as any random noise. If you cannot be seen or heard by your classmates it will be difficult to actively engage in course meetings. That will have negative implications for your grade results. Please review the Protocols for Online Meetings and Classes for more information.

I will actively engage you through the use of the Socratic Method, both in class and during our discussions outside class. You will have a better sense of my class sessions after you read my perspective on Teaching and Learning.

Learning Objectives

This is an introductory class in the legal environment that is intended to help students improve in the competencies of critical thinking, communication, oral presentation, technology, and ethics. This course will help prepare students to meet the legal and regulatory challenges and opportunities they can expect to encounter as managers of private and public businesses. The course provides a conceptual framework for understanding the various legal tools available to managers engaged in evaluating and pursuing opportunities. The objective is not to teach business students how to think like lawyers, but rather to teach students how to become more legally astute so they can handle the legal aspects of management with confidence.

Required Course Text

Additional Materials

I may assign additional materials for use in our course. I will post links to those materials in advance in the Schedule. Please check the syllabus regularly for updates.

Technology

Since you have reviewed my Course Policies, you are already familiar with my expectations about the use of technology in my courses. Your participation in this course will require you to engage with a number of different digital platforms. Our communication and collaboration platform will be Teams. If you need to reach me or have a question, please DM in Teams. We use Teams video for our virtual office hours on Tuesday mornings. You will prepare your writing assignments using digital platforms that will allow you to incorporate multimedia that will enhance your text based content. You will use resources as varied as a search engine (Google, DuckDuckGo or Bing) and also the resources available from our own Walsh Library.

You are responsible for “figuring it out” when it comes to the “how to” aspects of a project. If you don’t know how to do something … “Google” it!

Many of my students have told me that “figuring it out” was both an unexpected and beneficial experience and a critical learning outcome.

Remote Learning

In the event that circumstances (hurricane, COVID spike) demand it, we will be prepared to adapt and move to a remote, synchronous learning environment.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to move to a fundamentally different set of delivery modalities, e.g., HyFlex, hybrid, remote, synchronous, or not, or some combination of approaches to teaching and learning. We are increasingly working remotely in order to accomplish our work. That remote modality demands that we adjust our understanding of acceptable protocols for attendance and participation, whether a meeting or course attendance, engagement and participation.

While working together using a digital platform, e.g., Teams, Zoom, Slack, etc. it is important that you join the session with a live camera and muted mic. A live camera helps to create a sense of community and will help all of us to engage effectively during our discussions. If you only unmute your mic when speaking we can avoid feedback, unsolicited input from family, pets and others as well as any random noise. If you cannot be seen or heard by your classmates it will be difficult to actively engage in course meetings. That will have negative implications for your grade results. Please review the Protocols for Online Meetings and Classes for more information.

Course Policies

It is your responsibility to become familiar with my Course Policies including in class performance; attendance, preparation & participation; assignments; course communication; assessment and plagiarism. Please review them carefully.

As in the law … ignorance (of the Course Policies) is not an excuse.

Contact Me

Professor John H. Shannon

• Office: 651 Jubilee Hall or Teams
• Communications: Teams DM (preferred) or email at john DOT shannon AT shu DOT edu
• Office Hours: Mon & Wed, 10a – 1130a (click here to join via Teams); also by appt, all office hours and other meetings will be held via Teams

We can schedule an alternative meeting time if you are not available during my office hours. As you know, our course communications platform is Teams. Please DM me in Teams with some days/times when you are available and we can schedule a video conference in Teams.

I can be reached via any number of platforms … Teams (preferred), email, voice or video. As a general rule, I am available if I am online. You can DM me in Teams or, if you are already enrolled in one of my courses, post a question to the #Course Questions channel in our course’s Teams workspace. I will try to reply to any communications as soon as possible but certainly no more than 24 hours after receipt. If you prefer a video conference (and who doesn’t?) please DM me with some convenient days/times and we’ll set it up.

My office hours are subject to change pretty much every semester so please check your course syllabus for my current office hours (see above). I have, in the past, generally scheduled at least one hour a week using Teams video to accommodate those who have a conflict with my scheduled office hours. Since we are conducting all office hours and other meetings via Teams and if you are unavailable to meet during my scheduled office hours, you can schedule an appointment for a video conference via Teams. I prefer video conferences because they give me more options when answering your questions.

That said, I do try to carve out some space for thoughtful consideration of life. The practical impact of that desire is to keep evenings and weekends clear for family, friends and other forms of social interaction. If you going to ping me late on a Friday then I will get back to you on Monday unless it is an emergency … a REAL emergency.

When communicating with me please include the following information: your name, the question or issue to be resolved, your course/section and any other necessary information.