NOLO Law Books Are Great Legal Overviews

NOLO Law Books are great overviews of topics like divorce, property rights, tenants rights environmental law and more. They give you a basic understanding of the area you're researching, crucial cases, and what to expect in court.

There are two different links in the catalog.

One section is here.
The other section is here.

Foreign Country Laws Regarding Business

Researching business law can be tricky.  I recommend that you begin with article that summarizes business law on a foreign country in regards to a certain issue: labor laws, the environment, etc 

Go to these databases:
Emerald  (very useful for laws governing labor)
Lexis Nexis (search either foreign news sources or legal journals)
Academic Search Complete 

You will get material that summarizes how the law is actually applied and what matters. THEN you can look up actual laws here. 

Protecting Traditional Knowledge From Copyright

Corporations occasionally try to copyright traditional knowledge, culture, and/or technology.

India has taken the step of creating the traditional digital library which documents traditional knowledge.  This makes it more difficult for corporations to take traditional knowledge and claim that purely for themselves. 

Case in point: the recent case where Colgate Palmolive attempted to copyright a product that used traditional Indian spices - and apparently nothing else. Read about the case here, in which Colgate did not prevail.

Texas Business Laws

To find the text of the actual Texas-related business law, go to:

1) Texas Constitution and Statutes and select the code from the drop down menu
2) US Code - Chapter 15, Commerce and Trade
3) Uniform Commercial Code
4) The Municipal Code for Your Texas Community (city codes, etc.)

Here's a print copy of Texas business laws we have here at the library.

Books on Contracts

Do you know how to analyze a contract? How to look for hidden problems, implications, or how future events might effect that contract?

A good place to begin here with this recommended review of contracts!

Or

Main contract books.

List of related contract subjects here.

International Contract Law

So you need to look up laws and regulations in foreign countries. Here's how.

Databases

EIU Country Reports and Profiles

Includes the general legal environment and very often the actual relevant laws governing foreign enterprise.

here's how: type your country and select regulations tab. then choose "organizing an investment."

Print:

Digest of Commercial Laws K1005.4 D54 in reference section, main floor. contains most but not all major countries' commercial regulations.

Internet:

hint: search the words (in the appropriate language) commercial or civil code to find online laws. usually, contract laws are in the civil code and business regulations are in the commercial code.

example: codigo comercio "costa rica"

bonus: our copy of the Mexican Codigo de Comercio....

bonus 2 : John R.Jagoe's export sales & marketing manual - everything you need to know about exporting rules and regulations. Covers licenses, container logistics, arranging for credit and everything else. Not the national laws, but the kinds of legal situations you will need to research.

MERS and Clear Title to Property

For centuries, county clerks have recorded land sales and deeds so as to create an objective record of ownership. The rule of law makes commerce and credit (loans against title) possible.

MERS is a new-ish system of electronically recording transfers of titles that bypasses this old system. It is not controlled by the government - it is entirely a private system. The bottom line is that chain of title is no longer entirely clear under this system.

Make up your own mind by reading this in-depth article from the Austin American Statesman.

A very wonky article that critiques some of the legal reasoning behind MERS.

Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto discussing the importance of law in making capitalism possible.

Examples of Texas Law Forms and Find a Texas Law

We've got two books in the reference section that will help with Texas laws.... There's Texas Transaction Guide, which contains sample forms of contracts, custody, etc... and a few restatements of law.

Then there's Texas Law Finder. This book refers you to the laws you'll need given your problem.

Then you can check the actual Texas Code to read the law.

I would also suggest Lexis Nexis to find the actual text of the law.....

Legal Treatises

Legal Treatises are great summaries of an area of law - property rights, divorce, contracts and so on. They're vital for getting an overview understanding of a legal area and all of its relevant historical legal decisions, concepts, definitions, rules and components.

This link takes you to all our treatises, but many of the treatises are about business subjects - bankruptcy, contracts and on and on.

Browse Texas Business and Other Codes

You can also look browse business and other codes for Texas here on the state gummit website.

Municipal Code for Small Business/Entrepreneurs

The nitty gritty regulations that cover your small business are found in the municipal code for a city.

These are regulations like how many parking spaces per resident your apartment complex must have, keeping animals, and environmental regulations.

San Marcos Municipal Code LINK

Or, search for the code of your preferred city.