LAW 2000: Business Law - Case Study Assignment

Internal Code : MAS2001

Read the facts of each Case Study carefully. Identify the area of law that requires discussion e.g. contract law. Identify the legal issue in the Case Study e.g. Is there a contract? Has a contract been broken? Etc State the law. If you are stating a legal principle that comes from case law state the case and the citation that you are using as authority for the legal principle. If you are relying on a statute for legal authority then state the section number and name of the statute that is relevant. 1. Jennifer aged 25 years is the granddaughter of Betty who lives by herself in Mount Gambier. Jennifer has just completed a degree in Psychology at the University of South Australia. Betty promises Jennifer that if she leaves Adelaide and moves to Mount Gambier to live with her she will transfer her house into Jennifer’s name. Jennifer leaves her mum and dad, boyfriend and a job she held at the Service to Youth Council. She arrives in Mount Gambier and cannot find any work as a psychologist but she obtains work part time as a waitress in a café. Betty refuses to honour her promise regarding transferring the house to Jennifer who wants to sue her grandmother for breach of contract. Advise Jennifer. 2. On 1 February 2015 Sanche writes to Richard offering to sell him his 1974 Holden Monaro for $60,000, ‘the offer will remain open until 5pm on 3 February 2015’. Richard receives the letter at 10 am on 3 February and tries immediately to phone Sanche. He does not answer and Richard leaves a message on his Message Bank saying he was interested in buying the Monaro but was only willing to pay $55,000. At 10.30 am the same morning, Richard changes his mind about how much he is willing to pay for the car. He sends an email to Sanche saying, ‘Disregard, my earlier phone message. I accept your offer to sell your 1974 Monaro car for $60,000’. Sanche does not check his email at all on the 3 February but does check his phone Message Bank. He listens to the voice message from Richard and LAW2000_case study assessment brief.docx Page 3 of 8 immediately sells the petrol to Bradley who he has also been negotiating with. On 4 February at 9 am he opens his emails and reads Richard’s message. Advise the parties. 3. Kevin is an antique dealer. He appoints Ravi to sell furniture on his behalf. One of the items Kevin wants sold is a twelve seater oak dining table. He instructs Ravi that he will not accept less than $7,000 for the table. Ravi places an advertisement in a local newspaper advertising the table for $7,000. Theresa responds to the advertisement. She has recently renovated a period home and the table would be perfect for the formal dining room. Theresa offers Ravi $6,500 which Ravi promptly accepts. All along, Theresa is unaware that Kevin is the owner of the table. When she takes delivery of the table there is large scratch on the top of the table. Theresa is furious and advises Ravi that she does not want the table now that it is not in the condition it was in when she inspected it previously. Ravi advises her that it is not his problem because he is not the owner of the table. Advise the parties. 4. Trevor composes music on his computer using a software program called ‘Sibelius’. He sometimes plays music he has composed to his friends before they are released for sale. After Trevor has composed music he sends it to a distributor who sells it in Europe. Trevor plays an unreleased composition to a group of friends including Declan. After hearing this composition, Declan goes home and composes a piece of music that sounds virtually identical to Trevor’s, particularly the chorus. Declan then sends it to a distributor who releases a CD in Europe. It is a huge hit and Declan makes a large amount of money from CD sales. Trevor is furious and accuses Declan of stealing his composition. Advise the parties. 5. Clare runs a very successful hairdressing business on Unley Road in Adelaide. It has taken her five years to build up the business. She decides to sell the business and enters into a contract of sale with Maddie. There is a clause in the contract that states that: ‘Clare will not for a period of ten years from the date of this agreement set up any business in Adelaide’. The contract of sale is finalised and Maddie takes over the business. Clare wants to operate another business and decides to open a café on King William Road, Hyde Park. Approximately one year after selling her hairdressing business she opens her new café. A lot of her old customers are now regulars at the new café. Maddie is outraged and claims that Clare is in breach of her contract for the sale of the hairdressing business. Advise the parties. LAW2000_case study assessment brief.docx Page 4 of 8 Assessment criteria ? Demonstrates a capacity to identify legal issues from a set of facts ? Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of substantive areas of law including contract, agency and property law ? Shows an ability state legal principles supported by appropriate legal authority ? Demonstrates a capacity to apply legal principles to the facts of a case study. ? Addresses General assessment criteria: o shows a sophisticated understanding of the key issues o demonstrates a capacity to explain and apply relevant concepts o shows evidence of reading beyond the key reading o justifies any conclusions reached with well-formed arguments not merely assertion o provides a conclusion or summary o use of academic writing and presentation and grammar: ? complies with normal academic standards of legibility, referencing and bibliographical details (including reference list). ? is written clearly with accurate spelling, grammar and sentence and paragraph construction ? appropriate citation and referencing used (using Australian Legal Citation Guide)