Legal Binding Agreements: Business Law and Ethics Assignment

This assignment delves into the realm of business law and ethics, offering a comprehensive analysis of contractual agreements, legal binding, and ethical considerations. The assignment presents various scenarios involving parties such as Simon, Julie, Peter, Tina, and Michael, to examine the validity and enforceability of agreements. Key concepts discussed include the elements of a binding contract, the implications of breach of contract, and the application of estoppel. The analysis draws upon relevant case laws like Williams v. Tomaras and Andrew v. Jonathan to illustrate legal principles. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of business law in resolving disputes and ensuring ethical conduct within the commercial sector. The assignment is structured with an introduction, main body with case studies, and a conclusion, supported by cited references to academic sources.

INTRODUCTION TO
BUSINESS LAW
AND ETHICS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. Is there a binding agreement between Simon and Julie, for the job in February?..................1
2. Is there a binding agreement between Peter and Julie, for the local fundraiser job?..............2
3. Is the new agreement between Tina and Julie legally binding?..............................................3
4. Can Michael be ‘estopped’ from saying that he has no agreement with Julie?......................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5
.........................................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Business law is defined as the body of law which deals in the sector of commerce and
trade. It have the capacity to deal with the matter of public law and private law but it is important
that subject are related with civil crime1. There are different branches of business law and they
are contract law, company law, intellectual property law, tax law and many more. This file will
be related with contract and agreement and whether they are legal binding in nature or not. Even
various case law will help to understand the file in detail.
MAIN BODY
1. Is there a binding agreement between Simon and Julie, for the job in February?
Given Scenario: The case is related with Julie and Simon. Here, Julie owns a small
which is subject to managing traffic on specific events. Now, Simon wants to hire Julie in the
first week for managing the traffic at the time of earthworks. After having the conversation on
call Simon took some time to reply for hiring Julie but due to some of the official Julie was
unable to check the mail box and SMS of Simon.
Contract: It is the form of agreement where involvement of two or more then two parties
is mandatory. It is necessary that contract should be legal in nature and must be enforceable by
law. To make any contract as valid there must offer and acceptance. Mainly, agreement can be of
two types such as written agreement and voluntary agreement. The contract can only be done
with those party which are available and agrees to enter into it. It means that there must be
subject manner as the beginning2.
Legal binding: It is one of those contract agreement which have been approved by
federal contract law. It is necessary that once formation of contract has been through then it is
necessary that agreed party must follow each and every rule and regulation of contract paper and
even they should perform their part of work and duties on time. Even it is important in most of
the cases that for making any contract as legal binding it should be commenced in written form.
1 Aubert, J.J., 2016. Law, Business Ventures and Trade. In The Oxford Handbook of
Roman Law and Society.
2 Savelyev, A., 2017. Contract law 2.0:‘Smart’contracts as the beginning of the end of
classic contract law. Information & Communications Technology Law. 26(2). pp.116-
134.
1

Conclusion of the case: It can be concluded form the above the explanation of term
contract and legal binding that there is no legal binding in this case because their was no written
agreement between Simon and Julie. It can be understood that, it was important for both the
party to agree on the term and condition of the contract but in this case they even didn't enter into
a contract. So, it can be easily said that their was no legal binding in this case.
Related case law
Case: Williams v Tomaras
Facts: Here, William and Tomaras had a conversation with each other regarding purchase of car
but it there was no intention of Tomaras to enter into a contract as he wanted some time to think
about it. But, Williams wants to file a case against that Tomaras breached the contract3.
Judgement: In this case the judges decided that there was no legal binding and even both
parties even didn't enter into the contract so there was no contract and because of that even there
is no breach of contract.
2. Is there a binding agreement between Peter and Julie, for the local fundraiser job?
Given Scenario: The case is related with Peter and Julie were they had a conversation
with each other on call. Here, Peter called Julie to manage the traffic for the event which they are
going to enter and in reply Julie agreed to work for Peter where they both discussed the term and
condition for managing the event. But, before the day of event suddenly Julie remember that she
she had accidentally double booked her team so she was unable to mange the work load and told
Peter that she will not be able to perform her task for Eastern Park event. But, at the end Peter
told to Julie that they had a binding agreement.
Beach of Contract: It is the situation in which one of the party fails to perform their task
and duty on time due to certain reason. But, it is not allowed to break the term and condition of
the contract as there is heavy penalty in the condition where it is not completed. It falls under the
category of civil wrong4.
3 Astrove, S. L and et. al., 2015. Psychological Contract Breach and Counterproductive
Work Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model. In Academy of Management
Proceedings (Vol. 2015, No. 1, p. 11094). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of
Management.
4 Solinger, O. N. and et. al., 2016. Bouncing back from psychological contract breach:
How commitment recovers over time. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 37(4).
pp.494-514.
2

Conclusion of the case: From the above scenario, it can be understood that there was a
legal agreement between Peter and Julie. Even there was offer and acceptance in this contract.
So, it can be said that the contract was of legal binding in nature and because of that Julie is not
allowed to say that they are unable to perform their task. If Julie don't compete the term and
condition of the contract then it will fall under the category of breach of contract.
Related Case law
Case: Andrew v Jonathan
Facts: In this case, both the party enter into a contract with their own willingness. The contract
was related with providing service to Jonathan for the providing the security of house during
night time5. Here, Andrew agreed to provide the service, but due lack of manpower he was unble
to perform his duty. So, in this situation Jonathan said to provide security as he had agreed to
provide the service. In this case, Andrew filed the case by saying that Jonathan is forcing him to
provide the service of security of his house even he don't have the additional number of person
Judgement: In this case, the judges of the court decided that there was a offer and acceptance in
this agreement where legal binding can also be found. So, it is the responsibility of Andrew to
provide the service. Else, it will fall under the category of breach of contract6.
3. Is the new agreement between Tina and Julie legally binding?
Given Scenario: The given scenario is related with not paying the actual amount of
money which must be paid on specific period of time. Here, Tina was unable to pay the amount
$2300 to Julie for which she had taken the service. But, to come out of the contract Tina tries to
come up with counter offer in front of Julie. In this case, Tina said that she will pay $1500 and
even she will help to get more number of jobs in future as her aunty manges the project every
month.
Conclusion of the case: It can be understood the agreement which is going to take place
between Tina and Julie is not legal binding in nature. As there must be subject matter and in this
case the agreement should be between Tina, Tania (the aunty of Tina) and Julie. But here, both
the party even doesn't involve Tania in the contract that she will give more job offer to Julie if
5 Bow, M. and Field, L., 2016. Proprietary estoppel and the risks of mixing family and
business. LSJ: Law Society of NSW Journal. (25). p.84.
6 Alzola, M., 2017. Character-based business ethics. In The Oxford handbook of virtue.
3

she is ready to take $1500. So, it can be easily understood that there is no legal binding in this
contract between Tina and Julie.
4. Can Michael be ‘estopped’ from saying that he has no agreement with Julie?
Given Scenario: The case had taken place between Michael and Julie were Michael is
willing that Julie should work for him in the project where traffic should be managed in low
lights and visibility on steep mountain. As it was on the tricky business deal so Julie want to
work only one the agreement is completed but due to special permission of Michael, Julie
started to purchase the equipment which were required to manage the traffic. The cost of buying
the equipment was $3,000. It was found that Michael denies to work with Julie any more.
Estoppel: It is the legal situation which helps to prevent someone to change the mindset
of person who are try to break the term and condition of contract7. But, it doest allow to change
the condition on which one the parties have agreed. If it happens then it necessary to pay the
amount of expenses which have been pad by the innocent party.
Conclusion of the case: It can be understood from the above laws and facts that in this
case Michael cannot denies that facts that there was no agreement with Julie. So, Michel wants to
exit from the case then he must pay the amount of money to Julie which she had spend on
buying the equipment for Michael else this will fall under the category of breach of contract.
CONCLUSION
From the file, it can be concluded that business law is very essential as it helps to deal
with the situation where it is not easy to tackle the condition. Contract law is also important
because it tells that how anyone can enter into the contract and what are the essential things
which are required at the time of entering into the contract. Also, Legal binding says that it is
necessary that agreed party must perform there part of work else legal action can be taken.
7 Merkin, R. and Devenney, J., 2018. Estoppel and promises: the importance of
coherence, rationalisation, and adhering to basic principles. In Essays in Memory of
Professor Jill Poole(pp. 153-168). Informa Law from Routledge.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Alzola, M., 2017. Character-based business ethics. In The Oxford handbook of virtue.
Astrove, S. L and et. al., 2015. Psychological Contract Breach and Counterproductive Work
Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model. In Academy of Management Proceedings
(Vol. 2015, No. 1, p. 11094). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
Aubert, J.J., 2016. Law, Business Ventures and Trade. In The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law
and Society.
Bow, M. and Field, L., 2016. Proprietary estoppel and the risks of mixing family and business.
LSJ: Law Society of NSW Journal. (25). p.84.
Merkin, R. and Devenney, J., 2018. Estoppel and promises: the importance of coherence,
rationalisation, and adhering to basic principles. In Essays in Memory of Professor Jill
Poole(pp. 153-168). Informa Law from Routledge.
Savelyev, A., 2017. Contract law 2.0:‘Smart’contracts as the beginning of the end of classic
contract law. Information & Communications Technology Law. 26(2). pp.116-134.
Solinger, O. N. and et. al., 2016. Bouncing back from psychological contract breach: How
commitment recovers over time. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 37(4). pp.494-
514.
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