Question 1:
Dave is a bachelor who lives in Sydney. He was a loner and in ill health. He contacted his sister, Keren, in Oxford, England and asked her to move to Sydney to help look after him. He promised that if she did, that he’d leave all his property to her on his death. Keren agreed.
She resigned from her job, sold her house, and moved away from her friends. She arrived in Sydney and began to care for her brother. A few months later, they had a falling out. Dave sold his property and disinherited his sister. His sister sued for breach of contract.
Advise Keren
Cite a relevant case in your answer.
Question 2:
An elderly Lebanese couple, with little understanding of English or formal education, signed a mortgage over their home to Cheatem Bank, as security for payment of the debts of their son’s business. Their son, Ali, led them to believe that his company was sound when in fact it was in serious financial trouble.
When Ali’s business went into liquidation, Cheatem Bank tried to exercise its rights under the mortgage/guarantee.
Advise Ali’s parents
Cite a relevant case in your answer
Question 3:
Brad and Jane operate a pizza business. The wood-fired oven has just blown up and it needs to be replaced. Brad and Jane immediately contact an oven wholesaler, Angie, and tell her that they require a wood-fired oven installed right away because they need it to make pizzas, their core business. Angie tells them it will be delivered and installed within 24 hours, by Friday before a long weekend. Angie then goes to a long lunch with lots of wine and forgets about Brad and Jane’s urgent phone call.
When they call again on Tuesday Angie is very apologetic and sends the oven around to be installed. Brad and Jane have had to close their business for 4 days and nights, losing a great deal of money. They want to sue Angie for their loss of profits.
Advise Brad and Jane
Cite two relevant cases in your answer
Question 4:
Gulliver went on an organised bus tour for his annual holidays. The length of the tour was 23 days.
The first 11 days were fantastic and more than exceeded his expectations.
However, on the twelfth day the bus crashed, trying to avoid a wombat waddling across the highway, injuring Gulliver so he could not continue his tour on a replacement bus. Gulliver wants to sue the bus tour company for the full amount of his tour cost.
Advise Gulliver
Cite a relevant case in your answer
Question 5:
Amelia owes Biggles $1,000 plus interest of $120 under a loan contract. The money is due for payment on Friday.
On Wednesday Amelia tells Biggles she has lost her job and cannot pay the money. Biggles tells Amelia if she sells her new Apple notebook (laptop) he will take the proceeds of the sale in full satisfaction of the debt – and will not take legal action to recover any shortfall. Amelia was using her notebook to retrain for another job, but reluctantly agrees to sell it.
Amelia gives the proceeds of the sale, $900, to Biggles. Biggles then demands the balance of $220. Is Biggles legally entitled to go back on his promise?
- Explain the common law position.
- Explain any equitable defence Amelia may have to action by Biggles. Cite a relevant case in your answer.
Part 2: Tort Law Case Studies (Each question worth 5 marks)Total Marks 15 marks.
- Jean V East End Four Corners Supermarket
Jean was a regular shopper at East End Four Corners Supermarket, which was part of a large nationwide supermarket chain. She was there at least once a week and sometimes more often if the specials were really good.
When Jean was there this week, she slipped on some grapes in the pet-food section in aisle 3, slipping and falling, and breaking her ankle. The store manager was not sure how the grapes got there or how long they had been there, but store policy was to do checks every 15 minutes of the floor in the fruit section. The store manager indicated that there were a number of spillages every week in the green grocery section of the store.
The store owner wishes to know whether East End Four Corners Supermarket owes a duty of care to Jean and if it has breached that duty of care? Jean has been advised the quantum of her damages, including out of pocket expenses past/future; economic loss past/future and general damages pain and suffering, total $1.3M.
- Ian V Johnny
Johnny regularly engages Ian to clean his pool. One day Ian parks his van in the driveway in front of Johnny’s double garage, which as usual is closed and locked while Johnny is at work. While Ian is cleaning the pool at the back of the house, a sudden hailstorm causes damage to Ian’s van. Ian insists that Johnny compensate him for the damage to the van, since it occurred while Ian was on Johnny’s property, and would not have happened if Johnny had left the garage door open for him.
Should Johnny be compelled to compensate Ian? Damages are approximately $25,000.
Assume that Johnny owed Ian a duty of care and focus upon whether or not that duty of care was breached.
- Polly V Sam
One night Polly accepts a lift home from one of her friends, Sam, who has had his driving licence for
only two weeks. On the way home it starts raining heavily and Sam appears to have trouble keeping his vehicle on the road. Polly asks Sam to slow down, but he continues driving at the speed limit. Shortly afterwards, Sam loses control of the vehicle and hits a telegraph pole. Both Polly and Sam are injured. The estimated damages in this case are $200,000.
If Polly were to sue Sam in the tort of negligence, would she be likely to succeed? In your answer focus on whether or not Sam could rely upon any defences.