Contact Us

If you still have questions or prefer to get help directly from an agent, please submit a request.
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Please fill out the contact form below and we will reply as soon as possible.

  • Courses
  • Home
  • Business Management & Operations
  • Business Ethics & Social Responsibility

Legal Regulation in Ethics

The Relationship Between Law & Ethics

Written by Jason Gordon

Updated at April 16th, 2022

Contact Us

If you still have questions or prefer to get help directly from an agent, please submit a request.
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Please fill out the contact form below and we will reply as soon as possible.

  • Marketing, Advertising, Sales & PR
    Principles of Marketing Sales Advertising Public Relations SEO, Social Media, Direct Marketing
  • Accounting, Taxation, and Reporting
    Managerial & Financial Accounting & Reporting Business Taxation
  • Professionalism & Career Development
  • Law, Transactions, & Risk Management
    Government, Legal System, Administrative Law, & Constitutional Law Legal Disputes - Civil & Criminal Law Agency Law HR, Employment, Labor, & Discrimination Business Entities, Corporate Governance & Ownership Business Transactions, Antitrust, & Securities Law Real Estate, Personal, & Intellectual Property Commercial Law: Contract, Payments, Security Interests, & Bankruptcy Consumer Protection Insurance & Risk Management Immigration Law Environmental Protection Law Inheritance, Estates, and Trusts
  • Business Management & Operations
    Operations, Project, & Supply Chain Management Strategy, Entrepreneurship, & Innovation Business Ethics & Social Responsibility Global Business, International Law & Relations Business Communications & Negotiation Management, Leadership, & Organizational Behavior
  • Economics, Finance, & Analytics
    Economic Analysis & Monetary Policy Research, Quantitative Analysis, & Decision Science Investments, Trading, and Financial Markets Banking, Lending, and Credit Industry Business Finance, Personal Finance, and Valuation Principles
  • Courses
+ More

Table of Contents

What is the role or effect of legal regulation on ethics?

What is the role or effect of legal regulation on ethics?

Ethical values frequently become law and that legal regulation reflects ethical values.

  • Ex. Civil Rights Act of 1964

Legal regulation is a significant source of values for business. At least five major ethical rules can be drawn from the law:

  • Respect the liberty and rights of others.
  • Act in good faith,
  • Exercise due care,
  • Honor confidentiality, and
  • Avoid conflicts of interest.

Respect for the liberty and rights of others suggests formalist values.Consider due process guarantees, freedom of expression, and privacy legislation.

  • Ex. Good faith requirements can be found in the UCC. That bad faith leads to a cause of action for tort in certain circumstances. This suggests formalism. Also leads to fiduciary actions in corporations.

Due care, such as required in negligence law, derives from society's expectations about the reasonableness of actions. This suggests consequentialism (promoting the common good).

  • Ex. Firestone tires, level of care required

Confidentiality often arises when the law creates or requires fiduciary obligations. Various agency relationships demonstrate this. This suggests consequentialism by its purpose of enhancing the willingness to enter relationships through the expectation of confidentiality.

Conflicts of interest can arise in the law because of "serving two masters" or through bias caused by matters (often financial) that compromise fair judgment.

  • Example of Director-Shareholder relationships.
Back To: MANAGEMENT
law and ethics regulations and ethics

Was this article helpful?

Yes
No

Related Articles

  • Ethics and Morality - Explained
  • Ethics and Society - Explained
  • Fair Trade Investing - Explained
  • Pro Bono - Explained



©2011-2021. The Business Professor, LLC.
  • Privacy

  • Questions

Definition by Author

0
0
Expand