RECENT ASSIGNMENT

Victoria University
College of Law and Justice
Business Law
BLO1105 (Sydney)
Semester 1, 2019
Assignment
(30 marks)
Scenario
John is a recent business graduate and has been working in a prestigious consultancy firm. John who has been attempting to bring Big Bank on as a client for a number of months has finally managed to get an appointment with the CEO of Big Bank. The appointment is scheduled for Thursday 15 May at 2.30pm.
Knowing the importance of this meeting to his future career prospects John decides to wear his very best suit. As he has not worn this suit for some time he decides to take the suit to the local drycleaners, Span and Spic for cleaning. John’s suit is a tailor made Saville Row and is very expensive.
Upon entering Span and Spic John becomes aware of a notice board that sets out the services and associated prices. John selects the premium clean option. He approaches the shop assistant and enquires if the premium cleaning is suitable for a hand craft superfine merino wool suit. The shop assistant responds saying that Span and Spic uses only the finest quality machines and chemicals and no harm would come to his suit.
John decides to have his suit cleaned by Span and Spic. John is issued with a receipt listing his unique customer number and also the amount that is due to be paid on collection of his suit.
On Tuesday 13 May John returns to Span and Spic hands over his receipt and is duly issued his suit. John notices that the front left hand side of his jacket has been damaged and is now a different shade of navy to the rest of the jacket. John refuses to pay and demands compensation for the damage.
The owner of Span and Spic is called to the front of the shop and explains to John that on the back of his receipt is a statement declaring that Span and Spic will not and do not accept any responsibility for any damaged caused to any garment.
John is furious.
Part A (20 marks)
Explain how the contracts John made with Span and Spic were formed.
• You will need to address all the essential elements of a contract (including consideration) as well as analyse the legal status of each step or event that led to John contracting with Span and Spic to dry clean his suit. Refer to relevant case law. In this part, do not discuss the impact, if any, of consumer protection laws.
• You may, but are not obliged to use the IRAC format for this part, given that each step or event must be analysed separately.
Part B (10 Marks)
Explain whether Span and Spic is legally entitled to rely on the clause contained on the back of John’s receipt to avoid liability in relation to the damage caused to his suit..
• For the purposes of this part you should consider both common law as well as consumer protection legislation (confirming whether John qualifies as a ‘consumer’).
• Please use IRAC format for this part.
Overview of the task
Task: Assignment consisting of one question, which has two parts.
Total marks: 30
Total length of the assignment: 2,000 (minimum) - 2,500 Words ( not including footnotes (or other internal references) and bibliography)
Due Date: Friday 31 May 2019 (23.59 pm)
How to submit
(1) You must submit a softcopy of your assignment through VU Collaborate drop box by the due date. This allows for official receipt of the assignment, and Turnitin analysis.
Details of the task
• The assignment is to be completed individually and requires students to undertake their own research of academic materials outside of those prescribed or provided in the unit as a basis for their completed assignment (e.g., legal journal articles, case summaries, other texts).
• Students must read and follow all instructions carefully and familiarise themselves with the VU Academic Integrity and Plagiarism policies.
• Question 1 of the assignment should be written using the IRAC method. Question 2 should be written in the style of an essay.
• Statements of law should be supported with appropriate references to Australian law (cases) and relevant textbooks/articles/journals.
• Students should be wary of using internet sources that are not of acceptable academic standard. For example, wikipedia, or similar sources are not acceptable.
• A bibliography is required.
• Referencing style: see https://www.vu.edu.au/library/get-help/referencing/referencing-guides
• Scholarly writing, plagiarism and copyright
o Part of what it means to be a ‘scholar’ is to engage with the work of others, for example, to extend or refine one’s own ideas, critique the work of others, or test and extend theories. Learning and assessment activities therefore often require you to gather information from a number of sources. This may include factual information, data or calculations, visual artefacts and written texts. Whenever you use the work of another person, you must acknowledge that source using the correct referencing system. Failure to acknowledge other people’s work appropriately may be regarded as plagiarism or academic misconduct. Use of one's own previous work in satisfaction of a new assessment requirement is also not be allowed unless it is an explicit requirement for the unit.
o VU deals with plagiarism according to the Academic Integrity and Preventing Plagiarism Policy.
o VU uses Turnitin for the review of written assessments. Turnitin checks submitted work against sources from across the world, and provides a report detailing the use of third party text and references. Written assessments are automatically submitted via Turnitin in the unit site. You may be provided access to submit assessments early and review the reports, to help you understand where referencing should occur.
o All students and staff of Victoria University are also bound by the requirements of the Copyright Act (1968) and the University’s Copyright Material (the Use of) Policy when using third party copyright material in the course of their research and study. Please ensure that you familiarize yourself with this policy and the rules around use of materials produced or owned by others. For information on copyright entitlements and responsibilities for study and research please see vu.edu.au/library/referencing-copyright/copyright
• Adjustment to assessment arrangements
If you are unable to undertake or complete an assessment due to adverse circumstances the following arrangements may apply:
Late submission of assessments - Short extension of time
If you are unable to submit an assessment item on time, due to circumstances outside your control, you may apply for a short extension of time of less than five (5) working days. The standard penalty for late submission without an approved short extension will be 5% of the total possible mark per working day. If submission is overdue by more than ten (10) working days, the work will not be assessed. Full details of the procedure for applying for a short extension are available here. You can download the form from the policy library or use the quick link here.
• Preparation
Students are expected to review the relevant topics (i.e., lecture materials and relevant chapters of prescribed textbook) as well as to conduct more in-depth research into the topic using a variety of reputable academic resources.
It is recommended that begin researching the assignment as early as possible. A marking rubric for this task will be made available in the Assessments module of this space.
• Assessment Criteria and Submission
o All assignments are to be submitted electronically via the Assessment Dropbox provided. Assignments will be submitted via Turnitin, where originality reports will be generated and can be viewed.
o Students should endeavour to achieve less than 30% similarity.
o An assignment declaration form must be submitted with the assignment.