Acknowledgments

We greatly appreciate the skill, collaboration, and dedication of time and expertise that so many others have contributed to us and to this project over the years of its existence and through many iterations. We relied on the fine opinions, encouragement, wisdom, guidance, and good thoughts of people too numerous to mention here, though we wish to name a few in particular.

For version 5.0, we specifically would like to thank Sean W. Wakely, Vice President, Product and Editorial, FlatWorld, who solicited highly valued suggestions and reviews from our peers in the professoriate, who teach Legal Environment of Business courses across our nation. To Sean and the many people who contributed to that process, we are indebted to your insight and we are grateful for your support. We also wish to thank KB Mello, Managing Editor, for supporting this project and its continued success. We know that the work of all of the fine professionals at FlatWorld is instrumental in the production and distribution of top-quality learning materials. We remain impressed by the FlatWorld team and its commitment to placing high-quality content into students’ hands in a manner that reflects respect for student budgets, student interests, and student time. We see the FlatWorld professionals’ commitments to their high standards represented in every contact we have had with them. This team does more behind the scenes than we could possibly know. We wish to thank the copy editors and proofreaders who help ensure a reader-friendly final product.

We also wish to thank our past students. Without your questions, insights, occasional confusion, and good energies, this book would not have been possible. We learned from you every time we came to class. You have inspired us to see how this important topic can be taught in a challenging yet engaging manner.

We thank the many professors, teachers, instructors, and educators who have adopted this textbook over the years. We recognize that the trust you have placed in us is tremendous, and we are humbled and grateful that you have done so. We recognize the critical role that a textbook plays in the relationship between educators and their students. 

Finally, we thank our professional colleagues at the California State University, Chico and the University of Puget Sound for providing us the good space in which to undertake this important work, as well as colleagues at the Academy of Legal Studies of Business. Your collegiality and friendship continue to make academia a most enjoyable profession, and we look forward to many years and future editions to come.