Legal Issues In Business

In the first instance, Sergio promised his son Alexander that he would give him 5000 pounds if the son abandoned his career as a chef and qualified as a solicitor. The issue of law arising out o this set of facts is whether there was a binding agreement between the Sergio and Alexander. In answering the issue of law, it is thus prudent to know the purview of law under which it belongs. Definitely, any the law of Contract comes into the picture whenever there are such set of facts.

A vital component of contract is the agreement between the parties, which in turn leads to an existence of an offer and subsequently, acceptance by the son. The offer is what the father made to his son; however, there is no mention of anything as to whether the said offer was accepted by the son. In the above circumstance, the father offered to his son the idea that he can give him some money subject to some condition-which he had to make up his mind and qualify as an attorney.

Another critical tenet for an agreement to be binding is the existence of an intention to create a legal relation. It is this which differentiates between a contractual agreement made between parties to legally bind the parties that subscribe to such agreements. Also, consideration is important to ascertain whether the agreement between the father and the son is binding as far as the law governing contract is concerned. Consideration is basically the element guiding a contractual agreement thus is as crucial in ascertaining whether a binding agreement existed between Sergio and Alexander. There is mention of a consideration of 5000 pounds thus there is no question as to its existence.

In view of the set of facts above, there is way in which binding exists because there is no element of acceptance. Alexander did not expressly accept the offer that Sergio made to him. It thus follows logically that the question of binding relates to performance.

From this set of facts, it can be deduced that Sergio made an offer to his secretary that he would give him 500 pounds because he had sacrificed his lunch time hour for the last three months. At the center of this agreement is the fact that the act in which the reward was based had already taken place. There is no mention as to what Liam and Sergio agreed to. It can as well be implied Liam was voluntarily impelled from his heart to give up his lunch hour probably due to the work load in the office, when the other workers in the neighboring offices were enjoying their lunch breaks.

The issue of law is whether the promise by Sergio to pay his secretary, the said amount binds him. It thus begs the question of whether there was an offer and if so, who made it and its acceptance thereof. The issue of intention also comes into play thus, was it mutually agreed upon to bind Sergio and Liam the secretary? However, the issue of legality does not arise as it is quite clear that there is no illegality in the said undertaking by Sergio to give Liam such an amount of money. Also, there is consideration of about 500 pound which cannot be questioned.

However, despite the undertaking by Sergio that he would give Liam such an amount of money due to his willingness to sacrifice his lunch hour time, there is nothing that binds him to pay his secretary such money. This was amoral undertaking that resulted from good will thus some form of appreciation. The parties did not make any agreement that if he worked extra time during lunch hour, he would be given the 500 pounds.

In the above circumstance, Natasha is contracted by a local newsagent to deliver newspaper in the area and that incase she so delivers it by 8 am very day to through the letter box of Sergio without tearing, he should pay her 10pound. It is very important to note that a contract can either be written or oral. Orally, it may be implied from the conduct of the parties while a written contract is very express from the terms agreed on by the parties to it.

What also comes into the picture is the existence of the local newsagent and how it affects the agreement entered into by Sergio and Natasha. Privity of contract thus comes into the picture because Natasha is technically contracted by the newsagent to deliver newspapers to Sergio. It is not within the province of the paper to dwell on the contractual relations between Natasha and the newsagent. However, because time is of the essence to Sergio, he has gone a step further to make an undertaking to Natasha that if she puts an effort to deliver the said newspaper every day for a month, on condition that that it is without tear in the letter, she would be entitled to 10 Sterling pounds.

It is noteworthy that the undertaking made by Sergio to pay Natasha the amount is not a contract per se. This was a promise geared towards encouraging her to maintain diligence and punctuality. In anyway, she is supposed to be paid by the newsagent by who the contractual terms that she made with still stand. The basic ingredients of a contract are met by the undertaking that Sergio made to Natasha. For instance, inasmuch as there is offer and acceptance, there is intention that it would create a binding agreement. She also had a capacity of entering into the agreement with Sergio because she is generally contracted by the local newsagent at deliver the newspapers to the client, Sergio.

From the foregoing, it is implied that incase that agreement by Sergio and Natasha holds water as it meets all the requirements a contract, albeit not put into writing. As such, Sergio has the contractual obligation to pay the said amount of money that he committed himself to pay incase Natasha delivers the newspapers on time 8am) and without tearing. Consequently, he is bound by his own undertaking. However, in case she did not deliver the newspapers as agreed upon, he is not bound to pay.

From the facts arising out of the incident, it is of no doubt that Samantha sustained injuries while inside the premises of her local bank, Extortionate PLC. In the unfortunate incident, she broke her wrist and injured her hands due to the exposed nails at the bottom of the stairs. Definitely, the bank did not put correct measures of protecting the customers from nay possible harm thus negligence arises.

Based on the set facts, the issues arising out of the incident include: whether the bank, Extortionate PLC is responsible for the injuries that Samantha sustained; whether the bank is liable and whether Samantha is also partly responsible for what befell her. In order to canvass these issues, the common law principle will provide a guideline based on what courts have held because the English law is based on the doctrine of stare decisis (decided cases).

At tort, negligence is actionable in ca civil court. Essentially, there are basic constituents of negligence that must meet the threshold for it to be accepted by courts. Harm is caused to the claimant, which may result to property damage, injury, or even loss in revenue. In order to establish negligence in a court of law, the person who takes the claim to court must satisfy the court on the balance of probability that indeed, the defendant owed her a duty of care. As the paper will elucidate later, it is from this point that the claimant can begin to highlight her grievances before the courts. It is generally expected that Extortionist PLC owes the customers and clients the duty of care such that at all material times, the safety measures are put in place to avoid any injuries or threats to those who are in the premises.

After establishing the existence of a duty of care, the claimant must show to the court that the defendant breached the very duty of care that he had on the claimant. In law, it is expected that the bank should do its best to ensure that those who are using its premises are safe at all costs. This involves security and health in general.

In addition to establishing a breach of duty of care, negligence must also be accompanied by the existence of injury caused to the claimant as a result of the said breach of the duty that the defendant had to the claimant. In the current scenario, Samantha got injuries that came as a result of the reckless manner in which the nails were exposed. In particular, she fell down because of the manner in which the carpet was negligently rolled thus injuring her wrist. After falling down, she sustained injuries on her hands due to the exposed nails that were not well taken care of by the management of the bank.

At the same time, it has been recognized by the courts that the harm that the claimant sustains should not be remote. For instance, the court will ask whether there was the damage could be reasonably foreseen; or whether there was a relationship in terms of proximity between the Samantha the claimant and Extortionist, the defendant; or whether it is reasonable and just to impose that duty on the bank.

As to the question of whether there was an existence of the duty of care, Lord Atkin categorically explained it by sing the neighbor principle. He held that one must take reasonable and due care thus avoiding acts and omissions that are likely to injure the neighbor. In ascertaining who a neighbor is, he held that it is a person that one must reasonably have in mind whenever carrying out an act because he is directly impacted by the said action.

Establishing a duty of care involves some three basic stages which include, ascertaining the relationship in terms of proximity between the risk and the person who suffers as a result of the harm. Sufficient relationship ought to be established so as to show that the proximity is based on a level that is foreseeable. This is capable of making it possible for the person doing the wrong to know that the act or omission are devoid of care hence capable of causing harm. Another stage is to see whether there is a reason for the defendant to have reason for not owing such a duty of care to the claimant, may be due to issues of policy.

Consequently, it can be inferred that bank did not have due regard to the safety of its clients. This clearly manifests from the many customers have raised the issue with the management of the bank and have even gone the extra mile of highlighting it in the social media. Extortionist PLC closed its ears on the predicaments of the customers yet the premises were not fit for clients who are transacting their daily business with it. As a result, many including Samantha have suffered injuries that cannot be ignored. The issue as to whether there is contributory negligence does not arise at all. Therefore, the court will order that the bank pays the damages as a result of the negligent act.

A company is an entity that is formed by one or more people with a view of carrying out a business activity. Once it is has been formed and registered in accordance with the laws of the land, it begins it operations in a manner that distinguishes it from its owners. As such, it is operates as an artificial person which means that it is independent from the members, directors, promoters or even the shareholders.

This means that it is has rights obligations and duties that it must adhere to in the course of its operations. The doctrines of separate entity has been laid bare by the courts in several occasions, beginning with the House of Lords decision that delivered by Lord Macnaghten in which he ruled on several decisions touching on the liability of the members of a limited company, by averring that the debts of the company cannot be passed to them during winding up. The principle that the House of Lords set is what is commonly regarded as the veil of incorporation, in the sense that whatever happens in the company is like that of an individual affair thus no need for interference unless there are compelling reasons to lift the veil, as seen in the later cases.

The fact that a company is a separate entity has further been supported by the decisions of the common law courts by laying a strong emphasis in relations to its shareholders. For instance, in the Roundabout case, the proprietors of a public house had a dispute as to the people who had interest on the property. When the matter found itself in court, it was held that the picket ought to have been lifted because no dispute existed involving the incoming owner and the employees.

As highlighted above, the veil of incorporation may be lifted in circumstances that the petitioner must convince the court to do so, on the balance of probability, as is the norm in the civil law matters. In essence, the courts may lift the veil in order to enforce the provisions of the law, such as the companies act. The Act outlaws activities such as insider trading and fraudulent dealings-tax offences. Also when the number has reduced, the company may be brought down. There are occasions the courts have directors and officers of the companies liable for the debts accrued by the company thus enabling them to compensate the third parties.

An artificial personality is composed of people who voluntarily come together to form the association. The law puts a requirement on the number of people who can form the artificial person, depending on the objectives of the business venture. For instance, the companies that are formed with the intention of raising the capital by inviting the members of the public to subscribe to its shares must fulfill the prerequisite guidelines as contained in the enabling laws and regulations.

Perpetual existence is a very vital characteristic of an artificial personality. When a group of people join hands together with an intention of forming an entity that carries of business operations, the vision is not always for short term but it remains firmly notwithstanding the demise of the members or insanity of. The existence is not affected simply because death of a member has arisen because a single member has her share thus the share can just pass through the next of kin.

Incorporation generally has a common seal. The intent for this is to identify it by its real and exact name so that whenever the name of the company is seen, the identifiable mark is the seal itself. This is also what acts as the signature of the company. This gives it the comfort to assent to a contractual agreement with other people of bodies. In practice, the company seal is a prima facie evidence that the company is bound by the writing thereon, without it nothing binds the company.

An artificial personality can enter into contract and own property. Essentially, as a result of people coming together to pool resources for the goal of carrying out business venture, the capital contributed belongs to the company and not members. This means that there are people who must be tasked with the daily operations of the company, in the name of the board of directors. The directors steer the operations of the entity. In so doing, the company enters into contract thus can even lease property. The directors and the officers are therefore expected to have fiduciary obligations towards the company, which requires them to be diligent at all times.

The liability of members of an artificial person is limited. In reality, the liability of the members of a company is strictly limited to their contribution towards the capital of the entity. Also, members are only liable for the money that that they hold, unpaid. Whenever the company cannot meet its financial obligations thus winding through bankruptcy proceedings, the members cannot be required to pay more than they contributed to the business.

An artificial personality can also sue or defend a suit in its own name due to the fact that it is a separate entity from its own members. Additionally, the general rule is that it operates on the principle of one member one vote.

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