Project – Legal Scenarios

Legal Scenarios

Select two of the scenarios.  Support your responses with appropriate cases, laws, and other relevant examples by using at least one scholarly source  Do not copy the scenario text into the paper. Label the beginning of each scenario with the number you selected (e.g., Scenario 1). Using APA format, submit a 3 to 4 page paper, not including the cover page or references. Cite your sources in APA format on a separate page.

Scenario 1 – Breach of  Warranty

Bethany was looking for a birthday gift for her husband, Lars.  Lars loved to smoke cigars; however, Bethany knew nothing about them.  While Bethany was looking around the Purple Haze, a tobacco shop, the owner suggested that Bethany try the newest cigar imported from Haiti.  The owner stated that the cigar is just like Cuban cigars.  After some hesitancy, Bethany asked the owner to smoke one.  The cigar had a surprisingly aromatic smell and it lasted much longer than expected.  Bethany purchased a box of the cigars and gave them to her husband on his birthday.  When Lars smoked one of the cigars, it gave off a bitter obnoxious smell and was consumed in less than four minutes.  When Bethany saw this, she was upset and asked Lars to try another cigar.  The same situation was repeated with offensive smell and the cigar burning down very quickly like a cigarette.After Bethany tried unsuccessfully to return the cigars for a refund, she filed a small claims court action against Purple Haze.  The case was based on the failure of the purchased cigars to conform to the sample, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, and the misleading statement “just like the Cuban cigars.”

• Discuss the probable outcome of the case using the Common Law of Contracts and/or the UCC to support your decision.

Scenario 2 – Statute of Frauds

Ginny Klein orally agreed to purchase a security system for her business from IHK.  The price for the system was $45,000.  Klein wanted to use the system to monitor activity of persons entering and exiting the facilities.  The sale of the system also included a one-time setup service visit priced at $1,000.  The total contract price amounted to $46,000.  The security system was delivered and set up, and Klein paid $46,000.  Afterwards, Klein discovered that she could obtain the same goods and services from another seller for a total contract price of $38,750.  Klein now seeks rescission of the contract, based on the fact that more than $500 in goods was involved in the sales transaction, that the contract between IHK and her company was subject to the statute of frauds and that the oral agreement between them was therefore unenforceable.  Klein wants to return the system to IHK, and receive reimbursement of $45,000 (She is willing to waive his claim to reimbursement for the $1000 setup service visit.) 

• Evaluate Klein’s legal position in this matter using the common law of contracts or the UCC.

Scenario 3 – Product Liability

Karl was not a licensed plumber, but occasionally installed hot water heaters as part of his handyman business.  Karl installed a new 50-gallon hot water heater manufactured by Rheem for Alana, a single mother with two children.  Warnings were provided in large bold letters on a metal plate on the water heater.  Similar warnings were provided in the manual Karl provided to Alana at the time of installation.  The warning on the water heater read “CAUTION: HOT WATER CAN SCALD.” The heater itself contained a picture of hot water coming from a faucet with the words “DANGER” printed above it.Karl set the temperature to 110°F.  The next day, 4-year-old Shannon was being bathed by her 12-year-old sister, Joy.  When Joy received a call on her cell phone, she left Shannon alone in the bathtub with the water running.  Shannon was scalded by the water from the tap.  Shannon’s mother brought suit against Karl and the manufacturer.  alleging defects in the design of the water heater and Karl’s failure to warn her about the heater’s dangers.

• Provide arguments that Karl, Alana and the manufacturer will introduce in court.
• Determine which party should win and support your answer.

Template for Paper

Legal and Ethical Scenarios

John Q. Student

South University

BUS3055: Business Law for Commercial Transactions

Professor (or Dr.) First Name Last Name

Date

Legal and Ethical Scenarios

            Start your first paragraph here.  The introduction should contain five or six sentences.

Although the introduction does not contain all details, it should provide an overall outline of the subtopics you will cover in your paper.  The introductory paragraph should give the reader a good understanding of what they will learn from your paper. The best way to use this template is to read through the entire document first.  Delete each section as you fill it in with your own content. This template is formatted to meet APA’s requirements of 12 pt font and double spacing between the lines. When you delete the sections one at a time, you will see that your work is formatted properly. For Weeks 1,2, and 4, the papers should be between 2 and 4 pages, not including the cover and reference pages.  Select two of the three scenarios. If you are repeating the class, select one of the scenarios you did not select the first time.  Improve on the other scenario.

Scenario 2: Statute of Frauds

This paragraph addresses the first of two scenarios you selected.   Do not copy the scenario into the paper.   The title of each scenario provides a hint on where you can find information about the topic. For example, the information about the statute of frauds can be found in Chapter 22 of the textbook (Twomey et al., 2017).   Pay attention to the general rules and exception. 

Answer the question based on your reading and additional research.  Next, you will include supporting details. Your own thoughts are encouraged but look to support your thoughts with credible research from textbooks or library.  If you are using outside sources to lend credibility to your details, this is where you should include them; most importantly, this is also where you use in-text citations to cite other people’s ideas from your sources (Author’s last name, year of publication, page numbers). More than one paragraph may be needed for some scenarios, so this scenario used two paragraphs as an example. Do not use long block paragraphs.  For example, one paragraph might take up a one-third of a page but not a whole page.  Use more than one paragraph as needed to fully address the assignment. 

Scenario 2: Product Liability

            In this paragraph, address the second scenario selected.  The title of the scenario points to Chapter 24 in the textbook (Twomey et al., 2017).   Check the footnotes.  For this specific question, you may find several footnotes that contain names of cases.  Take the names of the cases and conduct a search on the Internet.  There may be information in those cases that can be used as support for the answer to the question. You must read the case to find the information that applies.  Not all cases in the book will be related to the scenario. Consider a general search using keywords such a hot water heater negligence lawsuit.  Since arguments for three parties are involved, three paragraphs may be needed for this answer.

Conclusion

A conclusion is usually needed for most papers.  For this class, a conclusion is not necessary to unless your instructor specifically requires it, as you will have provided enough information in the answers to both scenarios.    Check formatting, spelling, word use and citations before submitting to the dropbox.  Within 5 to 10 minutes of submission, a Turnitin score will be posted.  Log back into the dropbox, click on the score and review.  Turnitin does not catch all problems, but it will alert you to some text that may not be properly cited or not identified with quotation marks.    Revisions and resubmissions are allowed until 11:59 pm MT on the day the assignment is due unless your instructor allows additional time. 

References

Below are examples to help you with formatting your references.  Be sure to delete these examples before submitting your paper.  However, the last reference should be used

Lastname, A. A., & Lastname, B. B. (Year of Publication). Title of article. Title of Periodical,

Volume(Issue), page numbers. DOI

Lastname, A. A. (Year, Month Date). Title of article. Title of Publication. URL

Lastname, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher

Name.

Twomey, D. P., Jennings, M. M., Greene, S. M. (2017). Anderson’s business law and the legal

environment, comprehensive volume (23rd ed.). South Western Cengage Learning.