Hi Everyone,

Short answer responses to what? I presume you are talking about responses to the problem questions in the exam but I have not referred to them as short answer responses. For problem questions I recommend the I, R, A, C format.
I = issues
R= relevant law
A= Application of law to facts of question
C= Conclusion.
Any reasonable permuttion or combination of the foregoing will suffice.
Negligence
Question 1
Darren has been injured in a minorcar accident and has cracked a bone in his right foot. At hospital he is advised that his injury can be operated on, but the operation carries significant risks for a goal kicker.Darren’s doctor, Zhivago, advises him that the operation on his foot can fix the problem, but may also result in a permanent inability to kick goals. She fails to inform Darren that if the operation is unsuccessful, the over compensation to his right foot will eventually result in him being unable to play football altogether. Darren is advised that the operation carries a 70% success rate although, as injuries to goal kickers are rare, the sample size for such a statistic is limited. He is also advised to act quickly as the risk of inability to kick goals increases the longer it is left untreated. Whilst there are no recorded cases of the injury causing a complete inability to play football, without the operation Darren will be left with 15% less running speed.
Darren chooses to undergo the procedure. Unfortunately for him, the operation is a failure and he is rendered unable to kick goals. Within 6 months he suffers from persistent injuries to his right foot and before one year has passed Darren is unable to play professional football.
Darren is in your office seeking compensation for his loss. Had he been advised that he could be rendered completely unable to play football by the operation he would not have undertaken the procedure. Darren is also seeking compensation because he is no longer able to work as a bouncer, his former job before his football career.
Advise Darren in relation to the law of negligence and any defences that may be available.
Question 1
Simon and his girlfriend Jane decided on going camping in the Three Gorges National Park in northern New South Wales. The park is set up for campers with a designated camping area with cooking facilities and toilets. It also has an area set aside for parking visitor’s cars and setting up tents. The camping area has a sign directing people to set up camp within designated areas but there is no restriction on where people can go in the actual park.
The park is a wild natural place with dense forests and narrow winding pathways. There are many cliffs and gorges in the park and it has had hikers who have suffered injuries when on hikes in the past.
On their first evening in the park Simon and Jane start cooking a meal on the cooking facilities made available to campers. It is actually Simon’s birthday so they both have a few celebratory drinks. Simon actually becomes a little affected by alcohol and wanders off into the bush to go to the toilet. He completely forgets that there are toilets in the camping area and just thinks finding a nearby bush will be good enough. Unfortunately Simon stumbles through the bush for quite a distance, misjudges his footing and falls over a cliff edge. Fortunately he does survive the fall but suffers serious leg injuries that does incapacitate him in his ability to walk.
Simon urgently seeks your advice in respect of his chances in establishing liability for negligence against the National Parks Commission. In your answer make sure you address each element required in establishing negligence.
Contract
Question 2
Jak has been working as a successful accountant for several years since graduating with adouble major in finance and accounting. He is 28 years old and is looking to start his ownaccounting practice in a developing area of New South Wales. He has saved up a substantialamount of capital, however, he will still need to borrow $25,000 to finalise the arrangements.He has no assets and cannot obtain a loan without a guarantor. Jak consults his elderlyparents, who grew up in Australia. He tells them he has a fantastic idea and he needs theirhelp. Jak’s parents have always been very proud of him and think his plans are fantastic. Jaktells his parents he needs only $25,000 and this will be repaid within 6 months, after whichtime they would be under no further liability. Arrangements are made for a bank manager tovisit Jak’s parents and they both sign as guarantors for Jak. The agreement they sign, however,is one for an infinite credit limit over an infinite period.
Jak borrows $50,000 from the bank for a term of 4 years. His business goes well for sometime, however, after 9 months rival practices open which significantly slows Jak’s revenuestream, forcing him to default on his loan obligations. The bank calls in the loan andapproaches Jak’s parents for the balance, a sum of $43,000.Jak’s parents do not have $43,000 readily available to repay the loan and they fear losingtheir family home.
They seek your advice.
Question 2
Barry is a sailor on a boat that sails from Melbourne up the east coast to Brisbane. He is paid a wage for his services which include him cleaning cooking and assisting the captain in navigating the boat. Whilst on their journey up the east coast one of the other sailors deserts the ship. Apparently the other sailor decided that the bright lights of Sydney were more to his taste than remaining on board as a sailor.
The Captain explained to Barry that if he remained on board the boat and did not desert like the other sailor he would pay Barry the other sailor’s wages. Barry was excited to get the extra money but was unclear as to the Captain’s intentions. He asked the captain whether he had to do anything extra for his extra pay and the Captain replied, “Well lad, just make sure everything is ship shape, just like you had to do before. If you stay on board you can have a job on the return journey.” Barry thought that this was a good deal and stayed on board for the balance of the journey.
On reaching Brisbane the Captain (who was obviously a very untrustworthy individual) refused to pay Barry the extra wages of the sailor that deserted.
Barry urgently seeks your advice on whether he can sue under contract law for the extra wages. Advise Barry. In your answer discuss whether promissory estoppel could be used by Barry to assist in his claim for the extra wages.
Question 3
Alexander and Susan were in a de facto relationship. They had been living together for 3years and typically made all household decisions together, including what apartment to livein, what groceries to buy and how the rent was paid. There was never any written agreementbetween the two and neither party thought twice about trusting the other.
Alexander thought of himself as a bit of an entrepreneur and had stumbled across abusiness deal three months ago to sell household furniture, requiring an initial outlay of$50,000 and estimated ongoing costs of $20,000 per year for the first few years. Alexander,excited by the prospects of leaving his mundane job as a checkout attendant, told Susanabout all the benefits of running his own business and asked Susan if she would be willing tohelp out with some of the costs.Susan agreed to contribute $15,000 now and $10,000 whenthe business was ready to open to cover the first few months of stock and operatingexpenses.Susan also agreed to be paid back whenever it was convenient for Alexander, whowould primarily be in charge of the running of the business. In return, Alexander agreed todo all the household chores until the business opens and promised to attempt to find anextra job to generate enough capital to cover a few unprofitable periods whilst the businesstakes off.
Alexander has purchased the business with a combination of his own savings, a bank loanand Susan’s contribution, and preparations have begun to open the business in 2 months’time.
Last week Alexander and Susan had a major falling out and Susan has moved back in withhis parents, refusing to pay any rent on the apartment he shared with Alexander.Alexanderis in your office, scared that Susan will not provide the extra $10,000 when the businessopens. Alexander has also received a letter from Susan’s lawyers demanding that Alexanderrepay the $15,000 within 28 days.
a) Advise Alexander and discuss the 3 elements of a simple contract, concentrating on the element that is particularly raised by these facts.
(13 marks)
b) On the above facts, would your answer be any different if the two had reduced their agreements to writing?
(2 marks)
c) Would your answer be different again if there was an express exclusion of an intention to create legal relations in the written agreements?
(2 marks)
Question 3
Stropper Wallace was a professional rugby league football player who played for the Hammerheads professional football club. During a match early in the season Stropper injured his knee. The injury was such that if he were to have immediate surgery he would not have been able to resume playing for nearly the whole of the remainder of the season but would have been fit for both the preseason training and the season itself for the following year. An alternative was to resume playing after only three weeks and play out the current season with the benefit of pain killing injections and other therapy.
Stropper was not yet contracted to the Hammerheads club for the following season. Stropper was approached by his coach Barnum, and told that the Hammerheads club would give him a contract for the following season if he chose the second course and deferred surgery. Aware that he did not have many more years left in his career, Stropper was keen to take up the suggestion and resume playing through to the end of the season.
A week before the conclusion of the 20 week season Stropper was informed that the Hammerheads did not wish to retain him for the following season. He thereupon attempted to find another club with which to play for the following season. However because there was insufficient time available for him to recover from the operation on his knee to strengthen adequately for the season, his attempt to find another club proved unsuccessful. He claimed that his absence from the competition in that following season would mean that he had no recent track record on which a prospective club might be expected to engage him for subsequent years.
a) Assuming Barnum acted with the authority of the club, advise Stropper whether Hammerheads were obliged to give him a contract for the following year. (13 marks)
b) Did the Hammerheads revoke the offer prior to acceptance? (2 marks)
c) If Stropper did not provide consideration is there a potential remedy in promissory estoppel? (2 marks)