Analyze legal issues in each scenario – Business Law and Ethics
Written Report –
Instructions:
As a member of the Legal compliance team, you are assisting in putting together written legal educational material for the purposes of staff training. Your work relates to contract and consumer law as well as corporations, trusts and property law.
Your manager has provided the following four (4) fictional scenarios. Your task is to provide an analysis of the legal issue/s in each scenario and apply the relevant legal principles to provide the ‘advice’ requested by the fictional parties. Your analysis and application of relevant legal principles will form part of the legal training material.
Refer to the “Case Studies, Scenarios and Problem Questions” notes at the start of the law modules. These notes offer guidance on how to write answers to these scenario or case study based assessment questions. Also refer the scenario /case study activities in the modules for further guidance.
Remember to refer to applicable case law and legislation (obtained from the learning materials) in your report. You are not expected to research outside of the learning materials.
Scenario 1-
Nimrod is a director of a company which sells a wide range of electronics. Nimrod negotiated for the purchase of 1,000 GPS navigation devices which had just been recently released into the market. He made the purchase after reading a review of the GPS device in a trade magazine. Unfortunately, there were major problems with this new technology and all the GPS devices failed. As a consequence the company suffered major losses, and the board of directors is looking to Nimrod for compensation.
Anne is an executive purchasing officer with the same company. She has received secret payments from suppliers in exchange for agreeing to purchase their products. Anne does not believe that she has done anything wrong. The products she purchased on behalf of the company were of a good quality and competitively priced. And they have sold well. Anne is now anxious however, as a work colleague has reported her to the board of directors.
Advise Nimrod and Anne.
Important Note:
When you are preparing the advice in your written report, please make sure that you have dealt with the following points:
(i) The applicable common law and statutory duties of company officers under the Corporations Act.
(ii) The applicable common law and statutory defences to a legal action for breach of duty.
(iii) The common law and statutory remedies and penalties for breach of duty.
Scenario 2-
Kea Stores publishes a catalogue in which it mistakenly prices a 24 piece silver cutlery set at $50 instead of $500. Seeing this exceptionally good price in the catalogue Blyth drives to the closest Kea store and asks for one of the dinner sets in the advertisement. The shop assistant explains that there was an error in the catalogue and that the price is in fact $500. Blyth demands that she be sold the cutlery set for $50 or she will sue the store.
Advise Kea Stores.
Important Note:
When you are preparing the advice for in your written report, please make sure that you have dealt with the following points:
(i) Whether there is a contract between Blyth and Kea Stores – i.e. the applicable legal principles relating to offer and acceptance.
(ii) Whether Kea Stores may be in breach of the Australian Consumer Law for false or bait advertising
Scenario 3-
Contracts are the basis of commercial transactions and underpin the viability of any business organisation. The business operations of Ethical Trading Group involve a wide range of contracts including the sale and distribution of a variety of products, through both retail outlets and wholesale sales.
Your task: Research and briefly outline the legal principles governing contracts, and in particular contracts for the sale of goods. Please make sure that you have dealt with the following points:
(i) The six elements required for the existence of a legally enforceable simple contract
(ii) The difference between a ‘simple’ contract and a contract under seal (i.e. a deed)
(iii) The Guarantees implied in contracts with consumers under the Australian Consumer Law and consumers’ remedies for breach.
(iv) Whether it is permissible when selling its products to wholesalers for a seller to impose a minimum resale price.
Scenario 4-
The structure of a business organisation affects the ways in which the organisation enters into contracts. Ethical Trading Group is a proprietary limited company, a common form of business organisation in Australia.
Your task: Research and briefly outline the legal principles governing the ways in which companies enter into contracts. Please make sure that you have dealt with the following points:
(i) The contractual capacity of a company: s124 Corp Act
(ii) How a company contracts directly: s127 Corp Act
(iii) How a company contracts through an agent: s126 Corp Act
(iv) The statutory assumptions: s128, 129 Corp Act.
