Archive for category: Law

James read an advertisement by a firm of London auctioneers to the effect that there would be held in London an auction sale “without reserve” of the famous Gatsby Painting Collection, valued by an independent expert recently at £250,000. He immediately booked a flight from Scotland to the auction rooms in London where the auction was to be held.

He was determined to get the Collection at any price, especially after catching sight of the artist himself at the sale. James was participating spiritedly in the bidding, which was reaching a very high level under the direction of the auctioneer, when Gatsby demanded that the auction cease since he could not after all bear to part with the paintings.  The auctioneer immediately refused to accept any more bids (the last one had been made by James) and went on to the next item. James’s last bid was £150,000.

James brought an action against the auctioneers for breach of contract demanding £100,000 damages (representing the difference between the contract price and the market value of the lot at the date of the breach) on the basis that the advertisement to hold an auction without reserve constituted a unilateral offer to sell the Collection to the highest bidder and that such an offer was accepted by him when he bid at the auction. The County Court, however, found for the auctioneers holding that:

1. The advertisement to hold an auction without reserve did not amount to an offer to sell the lot to the highest bidder since there were no express words to that effect in the advertisement, merely a statement of fact that the seller had not placed a reserve on the lot.
2. The auctioneer’s request for bids amounted merely to an invitation to make an offer to buy and that offer was made by bidding. No contract could be completed until the fall of the auctioneer’s hammer.
3. There was no contract because there was no consideration for the auctioneer’s promise.
4. In any event, damages would be purely nominal because, as the highest bidder, James was simply deprived of the chance of obtaining the lot at the price which he actually bid. Until the fall of the hammer, it would have been open to other bidders to bid at a higher price.

You are asked to write a concise piece of legal advice advising James of his chances of a successful appeal to the Supreme Court.

Candie Cardigan has been asked to model CARDWARE’s newest sweater line that is made of thin and yet warm material, called Naturally There, as it can withstand temperatures of 30 below 0. Because this will provide CARDWARE with good publicity of its newest clothing line, she agrees to walk the runway in Fashion City. The modeling event is being held at the Easton Hotel. Celebrities and those involved in the fashion industry will be in attendance. Several models precede Candie and her debut of Naturally There. Clad in a tasteful skirt, 4-inch high heels and a green Naturally There sweater, Candie proceeds to the end of the runway. A small wrinkle in the carpet causes Candie’s left shoe to get caught and she falls over the end of the runway onto the row of judges. Unfortunately, Myra, a judge and world renowned model, suffers a broken nose and cut to her face from one of Candie’s shoes.

Myra wants to bring a lawsuit based on negligence against CARDWARE and Candie.

You are the paralegal working for CARDWARE’s corporate counsel and have been asked to draft a 2–3-page double-spaced memorandum to the CEO, Casandra (Cassie) Cardigan and discuss the following:

1. The elements one must establish to bring a cause of action based on negligence.
2. Potential defenses that CARDWARE and Candie may use against Myra’s claim.

1.Does institutional racism exists in our criminal justice system?

Select one of the following aspects of our criminal justice system (courts, police, corrections, or probation/parole) and, citing at least two authoritative sources (not the textbook), make the case to support your position on this issue.

Make sure that you consider this question from a legal and ethical point of view, as opposed to an emotional one. Provide support for the position you adopt using credible sources such as statistics and case law. You may also use secondary sources such as media reports.

2. In your reading, Souryal has posted a question: To what extent does a morally good end justify an illegal or unethical means to its achievement? Is overstepping authority in order to achieve what one perceives to be a higher good justified?

Consider these questions as they relate to the role of a police officer in our society. In a well developed argument, first take the position that ‘the end justifies the means’ is an ethical approach to policing. Then, in a following argument, take the opposite position.

For each position, select one Master who would support that position and use his theory of ethics to support your argument. In addition, for each approach please include at least one original example to illustrate the position you are arguing.

3. In the 1976 case of Estelle v Gamble, 429 US 97 (1976), the US Supreme Court established that prisoners in the US have a “right to healthcare” and that to deny them that right might, in some cases, rise to the level of a violation of the 8th Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. But in 2015, that same Court refused to hear a case in which an inmate in Massachusetts sought gender reassignment surgery (GRS), thus leaving in place a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denying the inmate that surgery. In your initial post, please address the following:

Does an ethical obligation exist to provide this surgery to an inmate?

Is the inmate’s sentence a consideration? (For example, in the MA case, the inmate was serving LWOP. Can we ethically consider that in determining if the surgery should be provided?)

Is there a case to be made that the Court’s denial of the appeal in the MA case results in a violation of the inmate’s 8th Amendment rights?

Where does one house an inmate sentenced to LWOP who was born a male but is living as a female, with or without GRS?

4 In recent years there has been a push to reduce our reliance on traditional models of corrections and to embrace community-based corrections, which encompasses pretrial supervision, parole and probation. For this question you will write two persuasive paragraphs.

The first should be a persuasive essay in which you take a “pro” position on community-based corrections.

The second should be an equally persuasive essay in which you will take a “con” position on community-based corrections.

In your arguments please provide legal, ethical, and social reform arguments to support your position.

 Suppose that the foot and mouth disease for swine was reported in Canada 10 years ago and since then the import of Canadian swine meat was prohibited in Singapore. On the other hand, the foot and mouth disease for swine also occurred in Chile six years ago. The swine meat from Chile was permitted for importation in Singapore after Singapore and Chile established a free trade agreement (FTA) the last year, although an FTA does not justify a discriminatory treatment for SPS measures. In fact, the Singaporean government pointed out the fact that Chile was designated as a “control country” under the OIE criteria when Chile rapidly implemented all necessary measures to contain potential risks from distribution channels of the market.

Canada brought a case against Singapore to the WTO dispute settlement system. Canada argued that it was also recognized as a “control country” under the OIE criteria along with Chile. Explain major issues and conclusions in your opinion for this WTO dispute.

1.2 Suppose that Singapore found the packaging for swine meat to be hazardous when it contained too much chemicals for facilitating refrigeration. So, Singapore enacted a new law to prohibit any residue of such chemicals in swine meat packaging. Consequently, Canadian swine meat import was almost stopped in Singapore because packaging to use chemicals facilitating refrigeration was invented in Canada and their exportation heavily relies on this method. All other countries use typically plastic containers for swine meat transportation and thereby are not affected by this new law. On the other hand, a similar packaging method is allowed for chicken meats that are supplied mostly by domestic producers.

Canada brought a case against Singapore to the WTO dispute settlement system. Explain major issues and conclusions in your opinion for this WTO dispute.