Effects, whether positive or negative, created or experienced, are what makes the world go around. The difference between being alive and merely surviving is just that: knowing how to negotiate the manyfold effects in today's world: which laws to follow, which laws to bend, and which ones to break.
Now don't get me wrong in seeing this as sound advice to just break any law you want to. Karma is still in effect, but it works across all areas of life, so both natural and man-made laws are equally affected. Actually, all laws are man-made, since what we normally call natural laws are effects humans have formulated after observing nature, and so-called legal laws are defined by people to control the behavior of our society and its members.