Choose ONE of the following questions.
1.Jackie owns an oil painting and a much smaller pencil sketch both created by the artist
Bill Wynne who recently died. She has heard that Bill Wynne’s art has now become very popular and people having been buying his art at auction for a very high price. She sends a letter to her friend offering to sell him her ‘little Bill Wynne picture’ (she meant the pencil sketch) for £4,000. Gareth had previously seen both the oil painting and the sketch while visiting Jackie’s home.
Gareth who knows very little about modern art sends her a letter saying, ‘I am pleased to accept your offer, as you know I am trying to start my own collection of art.’
While Gareth is out Jackie delivers the pencil sketch. When Gareth returns he finds that she has delivered the pencil sketch and he thought he was buying the oil painting. He is disappointed. Later that day and before he can return the sketch, his friend Mark, an art expert, sees the sketch. Mark tells Gareth that, the pencil sketch is such
poor quality it is only worth around £300, and a good quality sketch of this size would only be worth about £2,000.
Jackie refuses to take the sketch back as she had originally paid £2,600 for it and she insists that Gareth pays her the £4,000 as agreed. Jackie later has the oil painting valued by an expert at £12,000.
Discuss the legal positions of Jackie and Gareth in relation to the law of contract. Use case references to support your answer.
2.Happy Hotels Ltd. is a large UK company, which owns and operates many hotels and restaurants throughout the country. Exquisite Cuisine Ltd., a food and catering business whose headquarters are in Manchester, supplies goods commonly used by businesses such as Happy Hotels Ltd. On July 3rd, 2017, Exquisite Cuisine Ltd. sent an email to Happy Hotels Ltd., which read:
“Can offer latest ‘Pasta Steamers’ at £175 each.”
On August 12, 2017, Happy Hotels Ltd. emailed a reply stating: “Will have 30. Need delivery by September 1, 2017.” Upon receiving the email Exquisite Cuisine Ltd. then emailed back to Happy Hotels Ltd. Saying, “thank you for your email which is receiving our attention”.
Subsequently and prior to September 1, 2017, Exquisite Cuisine Ltd. packed the Pasta Steamers and loaded them on a van for delivery to Happy Hotels Ltd., but before the van set out, Happy Hotels Ltd. phoned Exquisite Cuisine Ltd. to say that they no longer needed the Pasta Steamers.
Discuss the legal positions of Happy Hotels Ltd. and Exquisite Cuisine Ltd. in relation to the law of contract. Use case references to support your answer.
Background/Context
Sources:
Students should research the topic using the textbook and other books available in the University library listed in the Recommended Reading. They should also use materials provided on Canvas and, if necessary, materials from the internet. All of these, should be listed in the Bibliography and sources when cited, referenced, in the case study.
The case study will be marked according to the Assessment Criteria which follows after this section.
In addition to submitting the case study, students must submit their notes and case study plan to show the process they followed in developing their answer.
Case Study Structure:
An Introduction: This should establish the relevant area of law of the case study and its main elements. In so doing, it will introduce the topic of the case study providing necessary definitions and background context. It should also make clear what the task is and how it will be addressed. This may be quite extended and run over several paragraphs.
The body of the essay should contain the following sections:
Identification of the problem issue(s) – the case study involves issues of law (and maybe of fact) which have to be identified from close reading and understanding of the case.
Definition and examination of the rules relating to the relevant issues identified – the issue(s) relate to specific legal problems which have to be described to show an understanding of the law.
Application of these legal rules to the facts of the case study for each issue previously identified – this demonstrates an understanding of legal method.
The Conclusion: this application of law to the facts of the case enables the reaching of a judgement in the case. This is effectively, what a lawyer does when advising a client as to a course of action and what a judge has to do to reach a judgement in a case. If more than one issue has been identified, a conclusion needs to be reached on all of them.
In all the above, use relevant case(s) to support your discussion and explanations.
In addition, marks are allocated for following this, or an alternative, structure so that the case study is organised in a way that enables a clear and logical development of an answer.
There are also marks for the grammatical accuracy of the English, the general clarity of expression and the technical aspects of academic writing.
