BLW17 Business Law Case Study

This assignment is a case study for the Business Law course (BLW17) focusing on the application of the Partnership Act of 1891. It presents three scenarios: identifying partners in a business, determining liability for a debt incurred by one partner, and classifying a worker as an employee or independent contractor. Each scenario involves analyzing relevant legal principles, applying them to the facts, and drawing conclusions. The assignment demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of Australian partnership law and employment law, referencing relevant case laws and legislation. The student uses a structured approach, clearly outlining the issue, rule, application, and conclusion for each scenario. The assignment includes a detailed reference list, adhering to academic citation standards.

SCHOOL OF LAW
BLW17 Business Law
ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET
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ASSESSMENT - CASE STUDY
Word length required 2,000 words Actual word length
Due date: THURSAY 25THJANUARY, 23.00 (11.00 PM SOUTH AUSTRALIAN TIME)
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Introduction
The partnership is a type of a business conducted by two or individuals. In addition to this in
the partnership business, all the members have equal responsibilities while carrying the
business-related activities. On the other hand in the partnership business, all the business
related activities and responsibilities are equally divided by the members of the business.
Contrary to this all the profits of the business are equally divided among the business
partners. On the other hand, all the partners are equally responsible for paying the debt of the
business. In the present assignment, the provisions of the Partnership Act of 1981 will be
discussed with the help of the given case study.
Answer 1
Issue
In the given case study it has been mentioned two friends are planning to launch an IT in
which they will invest an equal amount of capital. Therefore in this part identification of the
partners are needs to be pointed out in order to carry the business-related activities
successfully.
Rule
In addition to this, another individual also invested in the business in order to enhance the
business activity of the business. According to the partnership act of 1891 partnership
business can be launched between two people living in the same jurisdiction or in a different
jurisdiction. On the other hand, according to the partnership act, all the members of the
business are equally responsible for paying any kind of debt taken for the enhancement of the
business activities. In addition to this according to the partnership act of 1981, there is three
kind of partnership business such as limited partnership in which the responsibility of the
debt is limited to the partner. Next comes the general partnership, according to the
partnership law of Australia when a business activity is being carried out between two or
more individuals is termed as a general partnership. Contrary to this if the relations between
the partners are mentioned in the book of corporation law then it cannot be termed as
partnership business. In the concerned law, it has also been mentioned that joint tenancy,
owning common property or part ownership cannot be termed as partnership business
because it does not include equal investment. On the other hand, sharing the gross profit of
the business among the individuals does not create partnership ownership (Tomasic et al.
2014).

Application of the rule
In the present case study, the partner act is to be applied in order to identify the partner of the
business. In the above case study, it is mentioned that initially the business was launched by
two of the friend later another person joined in the business in order to increase the business
activities. According to Warhurst et al. (2014), in the above case, Bob and Ali can be
considered as the partners of the business because they have already invested an equal
amount of capital for the productivity of the business. On the other hand, they have also
created a joint account in order to enhance the productivity of the business. Contrary to this it
has to be mentioned though Cheng has invested more capital in the business the individual
cannot be the partner because he receives more amount of profit from the business. And
according to the general partnership Act an individual who receives a certain amount of profit
from, the business cannot be considered as the partner of the business. As seen in the case of
Long V James Morrison 13 CLR 1, the third individual cannot be recognised as a partner in
the business as he receives a particular amount of profit money from the business (Long V
James Morrison 13 CLR 1, 2016). On the other hand in the case Gabby Gabriel Castle
Jackson advertising pty LTD and volume sales PTY Limited it has been seen that Volume
sales cannot be termed as the partner of the advertising agency because the organisation has
already earned a certain amount of profit from the sales volume ( Gabby Gabriel Castle
Jackson advertising pty LTD VS volume sales PTY Limited, 2015).
Conclusion
According to the partnership act of 1891 if an individual receives a certain amount of profit
from the business cannot be considered as a general partner of the business. Therefore, in the
above case, Ali and Bob can only be considered as the partners of the business that has been
launched because Chen receives 8 percent profit from the output of the business and he used
to get paid on an hourly basis for doing the office work.
Answer 2
Issue
In the present scenario, it is needed to be assumed that all the three individuals are in the
business and contribute to the enhancement of the business activity of the enterprise. On the
other hand in the present scenario, the individual responsible for the debt of the software
purchased is needed to be pointed out In order to clear the debt on time without affecting the
productivity of the business
Rule
According to the partnership act of 1891 under section 2, it has been mentioned that money
or assets need to be borrowed or lent to any other person by taking the consent of all the
members of the organisation. On the other hand, it has been seen in the law that all the

members of the organisation are equally responsible for repaying the debt. In addition to this,
it has been mentioned that the debt needs to be repaid at a stipulated time and at the time of
repaying the debt no goodwill of the borrower and the lender will be taken into consideration.
In the law, it has also been mentioned that the provisions of liability are same in both the
cases ( General partnership and limited partnership business). In the general partnership
business, it has been mentioned in the law that all the members of the business need to take
the decision unanimously while selling, purchasing, lending and borrowing any commodity,
capital related to the business activity. In addition to this, it has also been mentioned that all
the partners of the business are equally responsible for repaying any kind of debt related to
the business unless it is taken for any wrong purpose (Corcoran, 2015).
Application of the law
In the present case study it has been mentioned that in one of the management meeting it has
been decided that if any one of the partner required to purchase any kind of material related
to the business he needs to take the consent of the other two partners and it was also
mentioned that no individual purchased will be made if the cost of the product goes above $
10,000 (Fletcher, 2014)
Though according to the partnership act of 1891 all the partners are liable to repay the debt
related to the organisation unless it has has taken for any kind of wrong intention but for the
present case study the law is not true because it has been mentioned that in the concerned
organisation no individual purchased to be made if the cost of the product goes above a
certain amount. Thus, it can be said that in the above case Cheng is alone liable to pay the
cost of the software because the cost of the software is $ 30,000 which is above $ 10,000.
According to Merrill (2014), while purchasing the software he did not consult the other two
partners. Even at that point in time, the purchased software was not needed for the
organisation. In the judgement of the Australian High court in the case of the General Partner
Quintaste Pty Ltd v Commissioner of taxation it has been seen that D marks were not
engaged in limited partnership, therefore, all the partners were liable to pay the debt to the tax
commission in the form of tax ( General Partner Quintaste Pty Ltd v Commissioner of
Taxation, 2016) . On the other hand in the case between HEDLEY BYRNE AND CO LTD V
HELLER AND PARTNERS LTD, the court has given a judgement that if the individual is
capable of understanding the need of the product in the organisation then the individual can
purchase the product for the organisation without designing any kind of agreement. It has
also been mentioned that of the individual has the skill to understand the need of a particular
product by the organisation then he can purchase the product without being held guilty
( HEDLEY BYRNE AND CO LTD V HELLER AND PARTNERS LTD, 2015).

Conclusion
Thus, in the above scenario, Cheng is alone responsible for paying the cost of the software
because the cost of the software is out of the budget of the organisation. Besides this, while
purchasing the software the individual did not consult the other two partners which he was
supposed to do that because the price of the software out of the estimated budget and lastly,
the purchased software was not needed for the organisation at that point of time.
Answer 3
Issue
In the present scenario, it has been that Their partners of the organisation has expanded the
business-related activities and has hired a new employee whose name is Joshie who was
allowed to work from home as well as office premises. Thus, the issue of the present scenario
is weather Josie will be termed as an independent contractor or an employee of the
organisation
Rule
In the above scenario, the employment laws of Australia will be considered. The labour law
of Australia is of dual structure which is sometimes governed by the Commonwealth.
According to the law all the members of the organisations needed to be treated equally
irrespective of caste, sex and creed. Initially, the labour law of Australia was a narrow one
and according to the section 51 of the Australian constitution the labour law was made by the
Commonwealth and the wellbeing of the employees was neglected. Contrary to this the
commonwealth court of conciliation and addition has modified the labour laws of the state
and the wellbeing of the employees was paid attention and it has also mentioned in the law
that the employees will be awarded according to the performance in their respective field. On
the other hand, according to the workplace regulation act, all the members need to get equal
opportunities in the workplace and the well-being of the employees is the responsibility of the
employers
Application of the law
In the given scenario it is necessary to judge whether Joshie can be considered as the
employee of the concerned IT Company. According to the fair work act all the employees’
need to get equal opportunity in the workplace. According to the concerned law of the
employees work for 38 hours in a weak the individual will be termed as the employee of the
concerned organization. On the other hand, the female employees need to get flexible work
hours and are eligible to get unpaid leave if the individual is not fit. In addition to this, it has
been mentioned if the employees earn more than $18,200 then the individual needs to pay
income tax. It is also mentioned that if the employees earn in the law that certain amount of
money is needed to be paid to the employees and all the responsibilities of the workers are on

the management till the employee is in office. In the case of the General Partner Quintaste
Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation, it was seen that the court has suggested Quintaste pty
ltd to pay tax to the government because it earns a taxable amount (General Partner Quintaste
Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation, 2015)
Conclusion:
Thus, in the above scenario, it has been proved that Joshie can be considered as the employee
of the organisation because she works more than 36 hours in a week. Contrary to this the
employee does not need to pay tax because she is paid on an hourly basis so, her income is
not more than $18,200.
Conclusion:
Thus, in this assignment it has been found in Australia the organisation follows the
partnership laws in order to enhance the business activities of the organisation. On the other
hand, it has been mentioned that in partnership business all the members of the business are
equally responsible for the organisation and all the decision needs to be taken jointly in order
to enhance the productivity of the business. On the other hand in this assignment, the labour
laws have also been discussed.

List your references here
Reference list
Books
Tomasic, R., Bottomley, S. and McQueen, R., 2014. Corporations law in Australia.
Australia: Federation Press.
Warhurst, C., Keep, E. and Grugulis, I. eds., 2014. The skills that matter.UK: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Journals
Corcoran, S., 2014. Corporate law and the Australian constitution: A history of section 51
(xx) of the Australian constitution. The Journal of Legal History, 15(2), pp.131-162.
Fletcher, K., 2014. Incorporated Limited Partnerships: Venture Capital's Contribution to
Legal Development. Australian Journal of Corporate Law, 17(2), pp.157-174.
Guttman, R.,2012. Job Training Partnership Act: new help for the unemployed, 7(8), pp. 66-
96.
Merrill, E.S.,2012. Partnership Property and Partnership Authority Under the Revised
Uniform Partnership Act. The Business Lawyer, pp.83-105.
Smith, A.D.M., Sainsbury, K.J. and Stevens, R.A., 2012Implementing effective -management
systems–management strategy evaluation and the Australian partnership approach. ICES
Journal of Marine Science, 56(6), pp.967-979.
Websites
Long V James Morrison 13 CLR 1 (2016), Report of cases determined in the High Court of
Australia, Accessed on 10.01.2018, from: https://jade.io/article/62121
Gabby Gabriel Castle jackson advertising pty LTD VS volume sales PTY Limited, (2015),
judgement of the Australian High Court, accessed on 10.1.2018, from:
https://www.ato.gov.au
General Partner Quintaste Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Taxation (2016), report of the case
determined in the High court of Australia, Assessed on 10.1.2018, from:
https://home.kpmg.com/au/en/home/insights/2016/06/marks-partnership-case-30-june-
2016.html

HEDLEY BYRNE AND CO LTD V HELLER AND PARTNERS LTD, (2015), judgement
of the court , acessed on 10.1.2018, from: http://swarb.co.uk/hedley-byrne-and-co-ltd-v-
heller-and-partners-ltd-hl-28-may-1963/

Assessment feedback
School of Law
BUSINESS LAW (BLW 17)
The Course Objectives and Graduate Qualities being assessed by this assignment are:
GQ1. GQ2. GQ3. GQ4. GQ5. GQ6
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1. Content
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depth?
 Are all of the key issues addressed?
2. Structure
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 Is the conclusion justified?
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4. Referencing
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 Are quotations (where needed) referenced appropriately?
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