Social order is essential to successful commerce.
As one of the primary means for maintaining social order, legal principles and processes facilitate the creation and operation of markets by providing necessary assurance to investors, sellers, buyers, employees, and others that their reasonable commercial expectations will be protected. The law is also the most pervasive external influence on business decision-making. Every business entity must operate constantly within a domestic and international legal framework. Without a working knowledge of both fundamental legal concepts and the legal principles pertinent to their particular enterprises, business people run the risk of making mistakes that may have grave consequences for their personal careers and for the individuals and firms that depend on their judgment. It is not feasible or wise for attorneys to be intimately involved each time a business person makes a phone call, writes a letter or memo, gives a speech, or reaches a decision on one of the countless occasions that action is required.