Law for Business Managers: Contracts, Partnership Forms, and Consumer Protection Act

This report provides a comprehensive guide for business managers on contracts, partnership forms, and the Consumer Protection Act. It covers the essential elements of a contract, types of partnership forms, and damages claimable under the Consumer Protection Act. The report is relevant for students studying law for business management courses in universities and colleges.

Law for Business
Managers

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
PART 1 .......................................................................................................................................3
PART 2 .......................................................................................................................................5
PART 3 .......................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
REFERNCES:................................................................................................................................10
INTRODUCTION
Business laws, which are also known by the name of mercantile or commercial laws is a
civil body which governs and regulates the affairs of the business and organisation in the
country. In simple terms it is a body comprising of certain rules and regulations which looks
after the dealings which takes place between the number of individuals or the corporate bodies
particularly concerning the commercial matters. Majorly the business laws are bifurcated into
two heads where the first being the regulations of the commercial entities such as the company,
agency, partnership or bankruptcy(Mogaji, and Yoon, 2019). The other head is of the
regulations regarding the commercial transactions which mainly are guided by the contracts and
other such related laws. Moreover there lies the various forms of business such as sole trade,

partnership, which also includes the limited liability partnership, etc. the following report will
comprises of three different parts where each talks about the different aspects of business law.
The first part of the report elaborates the various essential elements which are required for the
formation of a contract. It also covers the types of partnership business which lies at the option
of the concerned parties considering the points of control and ability to pay debts. Further the last
part of the report specifies the steps which are required for the establishment of the claim under
the Act of consumer protection.
MAIN BODY
PART 1
The contracts or agreements which takes place between the [parties are the one which are
often results or become the centre of commercial disagreements. Generally in order to constitute
a valid agreement there lies the some essential elements of which which are required to be
fulfilled by both the concerned parties of the agreement. Which are the offer, which has to be
made by the one party to other. The other is of acceptance which has to be accepted by the party
to whom the offer has been made. The other is of consideration which must be of some value in
the eyes of law(Xu, Voon, and Shang, 2022). The intention to create is other essential attribute
of the legal contract which specifies that the concerned parties must have a legal intention to
enter into the agreement. The very last essential is of the certainty of the terms which are
mentioned in the contract with respect to the fulfilment of there part of performances. Thus if
any of the the mentioned factors are disputable or stands non fulfilled then it is assumed that the
contract was never created and its enforceability cannot be legally challenged in the court.
Moreover, but other than this the distinction was created between the offer and invitation
to offer under the old English common law. Invitation to offer which is also addressed by the
name of invitation to treat, in general sense is a offer which is open to negotiate whereas in offer
the terms are specific, complete and are capable of being accepted. Some of the primary ways
which can be treated as an example of this are the advertisements, display of goods in the shops
or the statement of price of any good, etc. The Carlil v. Carbolic Smoke balls Co., is one of the
major case laws which gives the clarity reading the concept of the invitation to offer. The facts
of the case are such that the company made an advertisement, stating that any person who suffers
the influenza even after consuming the balls will be subjected to get the amount of the £100 as a

reward by the company(Sadayapillai, and Kottursamy, 2022). Here the court held that the
defendant is entitled to get the stated reward by the company reason being that bas a result of
advertisement there being constituted the offer by the way of unilateral contract. Also the act of
the company of depositing the £1000, shows that the company has a legal intention in order to
have a legally enforceable contract.
Other than this the Auction can be considered as one of such example which
differentiates between both the said concepts with respect to their manner in which they need to
be treated. Such as an auction with reserve is considered as an invitation to treat reason being
there lies the option on the part of auctioneer to reject the already placed bid. Whereas in other
scenario,which is the auction without reserve is considered as offer reason being there lies the
obligation on the part of auctioneer to accept the highest made bid. The acceptance is also a
varying concept which plays a major role for the ascertainment of the contract. As per the
general rule, the acceptance must be clearly communicated to the offeree and tends to create no
binding effect in the absence of it. Other than this, as per the postal rule, the acceptance becomes
valid as soon as the letter is being posted by the offeree. But at the same time the rules states no
exceptions for the cases where the said letter got destroyed or lost on its way(Prasad, 2019).
Furthermore, specifically with respect to the, given case study, is a scenario which
comprises of the aspects of invitation to treat as here the invitation is made by the Bob who is the
owner of the van by the way of advertisement stating the interested prices of £1,000. for the very
first person, named Gemma, there stands no formation of the valid contract reason being rather
than accepting the stated prices, Gemma offered a new prices of £800 which cannot be
considered as the acceptance rather by this a counter offer was placed by the Gemma. Further
with respect to the voice mail which she left accepting the prices, also does not amount to
acceptance reason being the general rule of postal acceptance does not apply to the modern
forms of communications such as e-mail, etc. further for parties named, Dennis and Stephanie,
there can take place the valid contract between the said parties and Bob because as per the
general rule of postal acceptance as soon as the letter is posted the acceptance is said to be made.
Also in the case of Partridge v. Crittenden of 1968, the the selling of piano, of which the
advertisement was made in the newspaper was considered as the invitation to offer because of
the limited stock of the piano. Similarly for the other party named, Michael, who on seeing the
notice puts a note in Bobs letter box stating that that he likes to buy the van along with the stated

money. Here also the enforceability of the contract can be asked while applying the general rule
of postal acceptance(Matsushita, K., 2018).
PART 2
Every individual before jumping for the option of business from must have a keen
knowledge of all the other available forms which are prevailing in the market. Because one also
needs to answer for the acts done by their business partner or even can also be sued. One can also
be subjected to pay the creditors or courts fees out of their personal assets as well. Generally
there lies the four types of partnerships forms, each bearing different aspects and benefits. The
partnership has been defined as the the business or enterprise which is being mutually shared or
handled by the multiple owners. Wherever any person decides to start a business along with the
other persons then he is automatically said to have been in a partnership business. Generally it
need not have to be registered reason being this form not being a legal business entity. But there
lies some form of partnership business which are required to be registered as by this the personal
assets of the individual can be safeguarded while providing the protection of limited
liability(Shevchenko, O., 2020). Further the partnership is said to be an financially and legally
inseparable by its owners, hence in this the individual income of the person may be passed
through to the owners personal income for the purpose of taxes. Other than this the partnership
forms are considered as the less costly with respect to their formation as compared to that of the
other forms and corporations. Because of this the Jennifer and Emma, who are considering to
enter into the partnership business must have a thorough knowledge of the all forms of
partnerships in order to ascertain the suitability of the business as well as their rights and duties
which they have to fulfil while acting in the capacity of the partner. Also they are looking for the
form where they can have the maximum control over the business along with their individual
liability for debts, it is required to have the analysis of all its types. There are four types of
partnership, which are as follows-
General Partnership -
All such business practises in which two or more person mutually agrees to share the
common loss, profit and other adaptability. In all such firms and the business there is been seen
that the liabilities, profit, loss, assents, decision making all are being shared in equal manner. The
registration of all the partnership firm is important and this can be made through the Companies

House(Ciurea, M., 2019). All such operational practises are being implied through managing the
business all together. Advantages of this can be that profit sharing is managed in mutual manner
along with the power for decision making. The capital or the funds management can be made in
easier form through which there can be managed all the investments in proportionate manner and
all the alignment with the general combination can be framed. There also the some
disadvantages which are that in case of death of any of the partners their will be seen the
permanent dissolution of the company due to which all the partners will have to leave the firm
even after having the willingness to manage it(Gokani et.al., 2018). Also there lies the conflicts
in the decision making process through which all the issues are being idealised and there is seen
that this can create the dissolution of the firm.
Limited liability Partnership -
It is mainly an important limited liability partnership in which all the management with
regard to the partnership. In these kind of business the partners merely shares common profit,
loss, liabilities and the mutual interest in the business but in all the limited liability business
practises their can be seen that the members will have to manage all the sharing and the
investment to be made according to their requirements. Through all such the profit is also been
given according to the shares being made in between them. Their is implied that their is been
carried that all the savings and the major loss are inflected in them through their means. This
manages that all the income tax are being given by the LLP according to the profit which is been
generated in them(Litrico, and Besharov, 2019). The advantages of this can be that all the
contribution which are being made by the partners will be according to the requirements and the
capital that are been framed through all the movable and the immovable and the intangible
assets. Also there lies no restriction on the number of partners as their can be so many partners
who can join the firm all together. Disadvantages can be that the companies in order to manage
the LLP are acquired to manage the high taxations and there is been seen that all the persons will
have to give the income tax according to the profit which is been gained by them(Bekmansurov,
et.al., 2019).
Limited Partnership -

This form of partnership are considered as the formal business entities which are also authorised
by the state. It mainly comprises of one general partner who stands responsible for the business
on behalf of all the other partners. Moreover, the partners of this form are invest in the business
only for the purpose of returns and does not stand responsible for the both the liabilities as well
as debts. Also the partners in this form are not required top settle the debts more than their part of
share which they had invested in the business, this means that their liability is limited to the
extent, the ratio in which they bear the profits(Bell, 2020). Moreover, after analysing all the
types of partnership form, the type of limited partnership is the one which stands most
appropriate as per the given requirements of the Jennifer and Emma. By the adoption t[of this
form they can have the full and direct control as they need over their business. Also by this both
the concerned partners can have settle the debts of their own parts of share
PART 3
The Act of consumer protection of 1987 is the one which safeguards the rights of the consumers
while providing the right to claim for the protection, in case if any damage, injury or death is
caused by the result of defective product. By the help of this Act the individual can claim the
compensation for such injuries against the person who has produced such defective goods.
Moreover, the said Act of consumer protection also comprises of the test of strict liability for the
products which are produced defectively in the United Kingdom by the concerned producers
while making them liable for the damages which has been caused to the consumers(Baden,
McIntyre, and Homberg, 2019).
Moreover with respect to the question that what damages can be claimed under the Act, section
2910 of it, says that the damages are said to be established when there has been any damage.
This in simple terms means that the any person who suffers the damages or injury as a result of
the defect then he is entitle to ask or claim the compensation and also not just whoever brought
the product or services. But there also lies some types of damages, mainly the damages related to
property or the personal injuries, which are being excluded specifically by the Act of consumer
protection of 1987. some of the said exception are when the damages or loss has been occurred
to the product itself, or the damages is of such nature which in ordinary case is not intended to
have for the private use or the last is that the damages which has been occurred to property are of
the the value below £275. AS per the provisions of the Act, one cannot bring the claim against
damages or injuries, for more than three years starting from the date when the consumer become

aware of the damages or the said damages come into the notice. Also if the date of the product
has been put last into circulation since ten years then also the claim cannot be brought against
the producer.
Further section 3(1) of the Act, specifies that what defects one can claim under this. The section
states that the a product is said to be defective if the safety of the product is not as good as which
is generally expected out of it. Therefore in order to ascertain that what generally should be
expected, there lies the certain factors which are need to be taken into consideration. The very
first is that whether there lies any warning signs or labels or some other related instructions are
provided with the product or not. The other can be that the how the said product has been
marketed as the warning signs or the instruction of the product must b taken into notice. The
other can be that how the product in reasonable manner is expected to be used by the consumers
or the last is that have one in reasonable manner expected the safety of the product to have
deteriorated after a period of time(Huang, 2018).
Moreover section 2(1) of the consumer protection Act helps in ascertaining that how much
damages are to be made. The section specifies that the in order to claim the compensation the
damages must have been caused partly or wholly by the defect which has been mentioned by the
consumer. In simple terms which means that the said defect or injury must need not have to be
the sole cause of any of the damages or the injuries but rather it must have contributed to it.
Moreover even though the said Act comprises of the test of strict liability, then also the
companies lies at par to defend the claim which has been made against them for their products if
they succeeds in proving or establishing any of the below mentioned facts -
 The producer didn't supply or sell the concerned product,
 The said product was not in the state of defective and was in good condition, when was
supplied by the producer,
 AT the time of production of the product the level of scientific and technical knowledge
wasn't that advanced enough for the purpose of knowing or in order to ascertain the
defect in the product.
 The said product wasn't the operative or sole cause or the damage or personal injury.

CONCLUSION
From the following report it can be summarised that the business laws play a very major
role for the governance as well as the regulation of the business. They are even classified on the
basis of business forms as well as their concerned transactions. Moreover the contract laws are
the one which looks after the commercial transactions business. It also concludes that there lies
the number of essential elements which are required to fulfilled in order to constitute a legal
enforceable contract. It also recommends the best suited form of partnership form which stand
appropriate for the given case under part 2 of the report. Further the last part of the report
specifies the elements that are necessary for establishing a defective product claim under the
Consumer Protection Act 1987.
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