Law governs and regulates virtually all aspects of the business process, from the right to engage in a business or trade, to the legal form of a business, to agreements for buying and selling merchandise or renderingservices. Law regulates the quality of products sold and the advertisingof products for sale. Law governs the employment relationship,protects business property, and taxes business income. This article explores the relationship of business and law in several of these areas.
BUSINESS LAW AND LAWYERS
Business in the United States is regulated by the federal and state as well as by town and city ordinances. State law regulating forms of business, business agreements, and some taxes is the most important. Federal law regulates such things as advertising, civil rights, and protection of such property as inventions of computer programs. Local law typically regulates business hours, where one can do business (zoning) and some quality control (buildingcodes).
To qualify as a lawyer today, a person usually must earn both a college degree and a three-year law degree and then pass a rigorous examination (the bar exam). Lawyers are certified in only one or possibly two states. Thus a lawyer certified in New York, for example, would not be qualified to answer a question about law in Texas or even a question about local law in a distant city even within the same state.
Lawyers also do not know a business as well as the owner does. All businesses need lawyers from time to time, but it is important for the businessperson to know as much as possible about the law when workingwith lawyers.
