Intro to Business Law question (1 Viewer)

[Rayanaldo]

I have a 2750 word assignment to do for Introduction to Business Law based on torts and negligence. Here is the scenario:

Lucy is the owner of a guesthouse in the Blue Mountains, overlooking a beautiful valley. Although the views are lovely, the buildings are very exposed to the wind from the valley, which is extremely strong in winter and spring.

Lucy approaches King, a local builder who also owns a hardware shop in the nearest town. She explains the problem she is having with the wind. King suggests she purchase the pine shutters he currently has on special. He advises her that these shutters would be perfect for her and should not need replacing for at least ten years.

Lucy places an order for 20 shutters. King supplies the shutters to Lucy, who decides to save money by getting her boyfriend Malcolm to install them. The installation instructions are contained in a booklet supplied with the shutters. On the back of the instruction booklet, in very small writing, appear the words: ‘These shutters are for decoration only and should not be installed in high wind areas.’ Malcolm reads this clause but does not tell Lucy about it.

After the shutters have been in place for several months, the pine begins to split. Lucy notices that some of the shutters are damaged and do not look very secure but she does nothing about it.

On a particularly windy evening, one of the damaged shutters is blown from the window. It hits Kim, a guest staying in the house who was in the garden smoking a cigarette, and also hits John, a member of the public, who was taking a short cut across the garden when returning from a bush walk. Kim suffers severe cuts and a broken arm and develops a phobia about wind, claiming he can no longer go outside his home and will never be able to work again.

John suffers head injuries and is off work for six months. News of this incident spreads through the local district and as a result Lucy's reservations fall by half.

Lucy immediately arranges for all of the shutters to be removed and replaced with heavy duty shutters at great cost.

Kim and John have each told Lucy they will sue her and King for their medical expenses and lost wages.

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I need to discuss whether Lucy is liable in negligence to Kim and John, and discuss whether Lucy can claim any compensation in negligence or in deceit from King, giving full legal reasons for your answers.

So far, I noted that:
- Lucy is liable in negligence for not doing anything about the shutters being insecure.
- Lucy may claim compensation due to King supplying shutters that, as stated in the instruction booklet, were only for decoration.

Does anyone else have any other things i can add? Also, i need to know how to start off an introduction to this essay. Any tips?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Newbie]

how much do you know about torts?
you can go through the usual the 4 steps considering this is a big assignment

 

[mr EaZy]

hmmmmmmmmmm

at first, lucy knew there was a problem with the wind and tries to do something about it
the builder king, gives fraudulent advice- deceit

Malcolm the boyfriend doesnt tell lucy about the small caution- breach of duty of care.

lucy doesnt do anything to make sure the shuters are alright- breach of duty of care

that guy who came in the lawn was tresspassing. but these days, a crook who enters your house and gets injured can still sue you for negligence.

thats all what i have- i havent done torts yet. (negligence is part of torts). good luck

 

[neo o]

that guy who came in the lawn was tresspassing. but these days, a crook who enters your house and gets injured can still sue you for negligence.

No, they can't. In NSW (and probably the other states as well) recovery from severe crimes is legislated against in the Civil Liabilities Act 2002.

A person involved in a criminal activity being a serious offence punishable by imprisonment of 6 months or more who is injured is not entitled to any damages where that persons conduct contributed to the risk of injury or death unless the Defendant’s conduct which caused the injury of itself constitutes an offence whether or not a serious offence.

Also, as a rule of policy there are precedents (I can't remember which unfortunately) which establish that even though the risk of criminal activity may be reasonably forseeable, no duty is owed towards criminals. Also, Modbury established that no duty is owed towards individuals for the criminal activities of third parties, though there are exceptions to this rule. Brennan (I think) said something along the lines of "there would be a duty of care if the incident (in Modbury) had occured previously, and therefore the risk of it eventuating again would have been foreseeable."

 

[tWiStEdD]

that's first semester torts stuff... noone should be intimidated by it and everyone should know it neo_o isnt THAT smart.

when do i get to drink beers over at bruce, you elitest bastard! if ziff is good enough, so too am i!! RAAR!

 

[Rorix]

that's first semester torts stuff... noone should be intimidated by it and everyone should know it neo_o isnt THAT smart.

when do i get to drink beers over at bruce, you elitest bastard! if ziff is good enough, so too am i!! RAAR!

Probably when you bring 2 women along.

 

[neo o]

Probably when you bring 2 women along.

He didn't bring me as many as he said he would. In fact, the only 'women' I got from him were in the form of drunken messages on my phone to the effect of.

Him : "HEY SHANE IM AT SOUTHPAC AND THERE ARE HEAPS OF HOT ASIAN GIRLS HERE, ONE IS WITH ME AND HER NAME IS X"

Her : "I'm not asian, HEY I'M NOT HOT EITHER"

then another to the effect of

Him : "GARBLE GARBLE BURP"

Her : "SQUEEL SQUEEL BURP"

etc.

And well, you can drink at Bruce as soon as I know who you are .

 

[Rayanaldo]

Thanks for the help.

But i just need to know how i can set this essay out. What should i include in my introduction? How should i set it out?

I was thinking of talking about the concepts of negligence, ie - elements of duty of care, foreseeability, and applying them to the given scenario. Is this a good way to go about doing it?

 

[Rayanaldo]

its not an essay. It has to be done as a legal statement.

First you state what the category of law is- ie- torts
Then you have to state the facts of law. So you go throught the question and state with full legal support (ie-support from cases)
Then you basically apply the facts to the question
The give the conclusion.

I've said in my introduction that negligence is the main focus and is part of tort law. Then i give a definition of negligence. Is this a good way to start it?

When stating the facts of law, does this include those features of negligence as i mentioned in my previous post?

Do you know what other cases i can use to support my answer?

Thanks.

 

[theone123]

any tort book will give you a variaty of cases for each area of tort.

 

[neo o]

its not an essay. It has to be done as a legal statement.

First you state what the category of law is- ie- torts
Then you have to state the facts of law. So you go throught the question and state with full legal support (ie-support from cases)
Then you basically apply the facts to the question
The give the conclusion.

i.e. H/I/R/A/C. Heading, Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion.

 

[Rayanaldo]

I'm just not fully certain on whether Lucy owed a duty of care to John. The facts don't say that he was a guest. Could he be a tresspasser? Does Lucy still owe a duty of care to John?