Assignment: Business Law

Directions:

1. Answer 4 of the following 8 questions

2. Include your name on this page and save the file.

1. The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) allows contracts for the sale of goods to be less definite than contracts enforced under common law. Explain how this can help businesses buy and sell goods more efficiently and give an example as part of your answer. Be sure your example is not discussed in your textbook readings.

2. You receive 22 cases of t-shirts you ordered from your wholesale supplier. You open one case to inspect the goods and determine they are exactly what you had ordered so you accept delivery of the entire shipment. Later, when you are unpacking the other 21 cases you discover 12 shirts have been sewn improperly and are not the first-quality merchandise you had ordered. What are all of your legal options at this point? Explain which of these options you would choose and why.

3. Explain the difference between a manufacturing defect and a design defect as applied to product liability and give an example of each. What remedies are available when such defects occur and damage results?

4. If OIT hires Jeb to keep its Klamath Falls parking lots and sidewalks free of snow, ice, and debris, what factors would a court consider in determining if this person is an OIT employee or an independent contractor? In this example, would you expect the court to decide that he is an employee or a contractor? Why? (Please list the factors and analyze whether each would apply to Jeb or not).

5. Explain in your own words why shareholders in a corporation are considered to have "limited liability" and how this is a benefit to the shareholders. What are some of the concerns one might have with a corporation business model?

6. Explain in your own words the difference between a sole proprietorship, a professional corporation and a partnership. Include a discussion in your own words of the advantages and disadvantages of each form of business organization. Give an example of a type of business that is likely to be a sole proprietorship, an example of a professional corporation, and an example of a partnership as part of your answer.

7. Blamco, Inc. orders 1,000 silver widgets from Tesla LLC. Tesla accidentally ships 2,000 gold widgets. Blamco receives the incorrect shipment and is ecstatic that they got double the quantity and a higher quality than what they were expecting. Blamco immediately sends over the originally agreed upon $5,000, with a message saying "Thank you for the free upgrade, we will definitely continue to do business with you!" Tesla immediately realized their mistake after reading the message and demands Blamco either exchange the merchandise or pay an additional $7,000, what the shipment received should have cost. Blamco had already used all of the widgets and does not have $7,000 to spare. Discuss what factors each side could present in court to make them more likely to prevail in a lawsuit. Factors need not be limited to the information provided.

8 Blamco, Inc orders 500 widgets from Tesla LLC. Blamco tells Tesla that time is of the essence and that the widgets are urgently needed to complete a customer order that the customer needs in nine days. Tesla knows that a customer order normally makes Blamco $5,000 profit. Tesla agrees to get the widgets to them within seven days. Tesla forgets about the order until the seventh day, and immediately sends them one-day shipping, hoping Blamco won't notice it is 1 day late under the contract, but still believing it would be on time for the customer to get their order on time. Unfortunately, an earthquake had occurred after the order was placed, and the the postal service could not function effectively and as a result the widgets arrive ten days after the order. Consequently, the customer cancels their order with Blamco. Blamco demands $50,000 from Tesla, informing them that this customer order was ten times the usual size. Blamco also sues for $1,000,000 because this particular customer was interested in a partnership with Blamco, and after the failure to complete the order on time, negotiations ceased. The partnership was expected to make Blamco $1,000,000 by financial experts and was widely publicized on the news. Discuss what amount, if any, Tesla should have to pay Blamco using business law principles and the factors supporting why or why not. (This is an example of a question one might see on a law school exam - Very few students tackle this; I know many of you expressed interest in the law, so I thought I would give an example of something you might see if you decide to pursue a law degree. There's a lot to think about!).