ABSTRACT
We described in the last chapter how courts create new legal rules by building on judge-made precedents and principles. This was once the only type of lawmaking, and it remains extremely important. In the last 150 years or so, however, legislatures have become the primary makers of new law. And in many areas, including the field of business law, even long-standing rules that were originally established by courts have now been embodied in statutes: acts of Congress, state legislatures, and ordinances of local governments. The common characteristic of statutes is that all are enacted by elected legislative bodies.
