Coursework- International commercial law
Assignment
Scenario
You are a commercial lawyer in the international law firm Beers Brukenheimer. You
are based in their offices in the City of London. Your senior partner, Richard Barker,
has been called away on urgent business and has left you the attached email which
sets out three Tasks which must be completed before his return.
Instructions
Your job is to complete the three Tasks mentioned in Richard Barker’s email. In doing
so, you should comply with the following guidelines, which are grouped according to
the relevant task:
Task 1 – Prepare a PowerPoint presentation and script for use at a client
seminar.
The presentation must:
(a) Be composed of at least 8 and no more than 13 slides;
(b) Include a script for each slide which could be read out at the seminar. This must
appear in the “Notes” section underneath each slide. As a guide, you should aim
not to exceed 200 words of notes for any individual slide;
(c) Be of a length which could be presented to a client seminar within a period of 30
minutes;
(d) Where possible, you should relate the slides and the script to the client’s
business, using worked examples.
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Task 2 – Research legislation and a case and apply them (in a report) to a client’s
situation.
The report must comply with the following requirements:
(a) It should be in memorandum format and should be between 1,000 and 1,500
words in length;
(b) You should research the following legislation and case in order to give your
advice. They are available on the databases named below which you can access
via http://library.law.ac.uk .
The Consumer Rights Act 2015
Office of Fair Trading v Foxtons Ltd [2009] EWHC 1681 (Ch); [2009] 29 E.G.
98 (C.S.); (2009) 106(30) L.S.G. 14; [2009] N.P.C. 92; Times, July 29, 2009
Available on:
Westlaw
Lawtel
LexisLibrary
OFT v Foxtons was decided on the basis of the Unfair Terms in Consumer
Contracts Regulations 1999 (‘UTCCR’). These Regulations have now been
repealed and replaced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
You will need to explain briefly why OFT v Foxtons is still useful authority.
(c) Your report must contain the following sections:
(i) Summary of the current legislation (you will need to find and refer briefly to
the relevant provisions in the Consumer Rights Act 2015);
(ii) The facts of the case;
(iii) The issues involved in the case;
(iv) The court’s decision in the case:
(v) How the case relates to the current legislation – you will need to explain how
the case, which was decided under the UTCCR, relates to the Consumer
Rights Act 2015;
(vi) The application of the legislation and the case to the client’s situation (note
that we would anticipate this being the longest section of your report);
(vii) Conclusion.
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Task 3 – Write a letter to advise on a supply dispute.
Your letter must be addressed to the client, in the name of Richard Barker, and must
comply with the following requirements:
(a) It should be between 800 and 1,200 words in length;
(b) It should cover the following issues:
(i) Incorporation;
(ii) Construction;
(iii) Effect of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.
Note to students: We suggest combining your responses to Tasks 2 and 3 into
a single Word document.
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From: Richard_Barker@Beers-Brukenheimer.com
Sent: Today
To: [you]@Beers-Brukenheimer.com
Subject: My absence
I have been asked to fly to Dubai on an urgent matter. Initial indications are that I will
be there for at least three weeks, but it is possible that the matter could take longer to
resolve. In my absence please could you attend to the following three Tasks.
Task 1. Prepare a PowerPoint and script for a client seminar.
I am due to give a client seminar on retention of title to Marmots Limited, which sells
building supplies to the UK construction industry.
I have spoken to the CEO to explain that I may have to delay giving the seminar;
however I am likely to have to give it as soon as I return. To enable me to do this,
could you please prepare a PowerPoint presentation and script for me? It should deal
with major retention of title issues, types of clauses and their legal effect in the UK,
plus any practical suggestions, and must be tailored to the client’s business.
Task 2. Report on how legislation and a case apply to a client’s situation.
We have a client who runs a car leasing company. Whilst many car leasing
companies lease to corporate businesses, our client’s core business is leasing cars
to consumers.
They have a rather lengthy and verbose set of terms and conditions, which I have
recommended that they allow us to rewrite. However, in the meantime they have
received a complaint from one of their clients. He happens to be a lawyer and has
complained that some provisions in the terms breach s. 62 of The Consumer Rights
Act 2015, as interpreted by the case of Office of Fair Trading v Foxtons (which
concerned the predecessor legislation, the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts
Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/2083)). Could you have a look at the Act, the old
Regulations and the case and write a report for me on the merits of his complaint?
The provisions which are the subject of the dispute say:
“Clause 75: If the lessee does not notify the lessor in writing within 3 months
before the end of the lease term, then the lease will automatically be
renewed for a period of 2x the initial lease term.
Clause 76: At any time after the first renewal of the lease, the lessor may provide
the lessee with a replacement vehicle of a type which shall be of the
lessor’s choosing.
Clause 77: Upon termination or non-renewal of the lease, the lessor may sell the
vehicle. If the resale price is less than that anticipated by the lessor,
then the lessee shall pay 50% of the difference.”
I should point out that none of the clauses, or their contents, are referred to in the
client’s advertising, or specifically drawn to the lessee’s attention when concluding
the leases.
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Task 3. Draft a letter to a client to advise on a supply dispute.
One of our clients, Emtec Ltd, sells components for computers to the UK computer
industry generally. For each sale it uses its standard terms and conditions of sale
(see extract attached).
Recently Emtec Ltd has suffered a series of setbacks:
– There was a fire at its warehouse which destroyed several crates of
components. Whilst the damaged goods were insured and so the company will
not suffer financially, it will take it several weeks to make new components.
– Its shopfloor workers went on strike for a week over pay and conditions. This
has also led to a delay in production.
– One of its suppliers became insolvent. Emtec Ltd has had to place a new order
for supplies with another company which says it will be a month before it can
fulfill the order. Emtec Ltd has no option but to accept this delay.
Emtec Ltd explained to each of its regular customers that all deliveries will be
approximately 2 weeks late due to a combination of these factors. Whilst most
customers accepted the explanation, Emtec Ltd’s most valuable customer, Polspeed
Computers Ltd, says that it finds the situation unacceptable. It says that the delay will
mean that it will lose several lucrative contracts as it will be late in delivering
computers to buyers. Polspeed Computers Ltd therefore demands compensation in
respect of late delivery.
Could you draft a letter of advice to go to Emtec Ltd’s CEO, Nina Fazal, in my name?
If you email it to me, I’ll check it and let you know whether I am happy for it to be sent
in my absence.
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Extracts from Emtec Ltd standard terms of sale.
3. Delivery
3.1 Delivery dates are approximate only and the Seller is not liable for any delay
in delivery of the Goods, howsoever caused. The time of delivery is not of
the essence of this contract.
7. Exclusions and restrictions of liability
7.1 The Seller shall not be liable for any failure to deliver the Goods arising from
circumstances outside the Seller’s control.
7.1.1 Non-exhaustive illustrations include act of God, war, riots, explosion,
abnormal weather conditions, fire, flood, Government action, strikes,
lockouts, delay by suppliers, accidents and shortage of materials,
labour or manufacturing facilities.
7.1.2 If the Seller is prevented from delivering in the above circumstances, it
will notify the Buyer of the fact in writing within 14 days commencing
with the contractual delivery date.
7.1.3 If the circumstances preventing delivery are still continuing 2 months
from and including the date the Seller sends such notice, then either
party may give written notice to the other cancelling the contract.
7.1.4 If the contract is cancelled in this way, the Seller will refund any
payment which the Buyer has already made on account of the price
(subject to a reasonable deduction to cover the Seller’s expenses) but
the Seller accepts no liability to compensate the Buyer for any further
loss or damage caused by the failure to deliver.
