Business Law and Ethics Project: Case Study, UK Legal Ethics Analysis

This project delves into the realms of business law and ethics, presenting a comprehensive analysis of a case study involving a negligence claim against a bank. The project meticulously examines the concept of Tort of Negligence, exploring its key elements such as duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and harm. It scrutinizes the ethical considerations of the bank, including its responsibility towards its customers and the potential consequences of negligence. Furthermore, the project extends its scope to the UK legal profession, differentiating between solicitors and barristers while highlighting their respective roles and ethical obligations. It references relevant court cases and decisions to support its arguments, providing a nuanced understanding of the legal and ethical frameworks governing business operations and professional conduct in the UK.

Business Law and Ethics

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PROJECT 1.....................................................................................................................................3
Explain the given case study........................................................................................................3
PROJECT 2.....................................................................................................................................6
Discuss the above topic with reference to the UK’s legal profession from an ethical
perspective. Refer to relevant court cases and decisions to support your arguments..................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business law is law which works for commercial sector and that plays the major role within
the development of economy level of a nation. On the other side, it is necessary to understand
that any of the company which has been formed for the purpose earning profit should be able to
follow the guidelines and they must be aware about ethical values which plays the most crucial
role for any of the business industry. Law and ethics are the two different terms but both should
be carried together by a business entity. In respect to the file, two different task will be prepared
where first task will relate with solving case study which is connect Tort of Negligence which
will also include duty of care and many more. On the other side, second task will discuss about
junior level of lawyer and senior level of lawyer and more sub topics will be discussed in it.
PROJECT 1
Explain the given case study
The given case study is between Samantha and Extortionate Plc where she went to bank
for the purpose of enquiring about loan so that she can easily start her business activity. On the
same time when she was leaving, she fell down from stair and she got injured. But, there was a
clause written within Extortionate Plc which clearly indicates that company will not be
responsible for any of the damages (Alfawaer, 2017). But, after some days, Samantha friends
told her that she is not only the who got injury within the same bank as number of people are
there and who has been claiming from the company and even she provided the link where
number of people were seeking the claim. The major issue in this respective case is that whether
Samantha should get damage amount or not because bank has also included clause and according
to them it becomes the responsibility of public that they must be able to consider about those
case so that accident will not happen in any of the circumstances.
Tort of Negligence can be explained as legal wrong where action taken by one person has
a effect on another and in that respective case they suffer as well. This types of wrong falls under
the category of civil wrong where damages are required to be paid off by the defaulter to
innocent party. In order to make any of the case as Negligence Tort, basically there are four
different elements which is needed to be proved and they are duty to take care, breach of a duty,
cause because of the breach of duty and Harm (Negligence Tort Law, 2019). If all of this
elements are satisfied, then in that respective circumstances legal action can be taken by innocent

party. On the other side, whenever any of the negligence occurs then in that respective situation
it is necessary for court to identify that which types of claim should be given so that plaintiff can
recover their damage. First one is full compensation where all of the damages are to be paid by
defaulter company (Bodansky, 2016). Secondly, there is a situation where partially payment is to
be done which means that both of the party are equally responsible for the mistaken and in that
respective situation, it becomes necessary that only half of the damage amount should be paid.
Finally, third one is for no compensation where although, default has been performed but still,
judges found that there is no requirement to pay any of the damage amount. This are the basis
area which is focused in any of those case where default has been performed by the party. Also,
proper justice can be easily provided to the innocent party if he or she is able to understand about
above mentioned points in detail.
While discussion about the case and its relatable question, it can be said that Tort is
simply mistake or error which has been done by individual or an association and in that
respective condition they must be able to take responsibility for the mistake which has been done
by them. So, it is necessary for any of the individual to understand that whenever they perform
any of the work, they should be able to identify that any of the work which is being performed by
them should be done in a systematic manner for the purpose of accomplishing the goals on
specific time period. On the other side, Duty of care means the situation where one who is
performing any of the work has the responsibility to take care of other people because slight
mistake can easily create issues for other people. One of the example to understand about duty to
take care is Grant v. Australian Knitting Mills Ltd., 1935 AC 85. In this case, it is being found
that manufacturers didn’t provide all of the information to purchaser due to which he had to
suffer from different types of problem and here liability arises upon the manufacturer
(Negligence Tort Law, 2019).
On the other side, as per the guidelines of Tort of Negligence, in any of the situation,
Extortionate Plc will have to compensate Samantha for her injury and all of the other expenses
from which she had to suffer. It is because bank was well known that there are number of people
who visit to bank and because of the carpet placed in it, they are unable to manage their balance.
It simply covert into more number of accident within the bank. Although, they have included the
clause but every time including a clause will not work because that doesn’t have anything to do

with it. In short, it will be the responsibility of Bank to pay off the compensation amount to the
one who has suffered from losses.
In present scenario, bank plays the crucial role because they are the one who provides
fund as a loan amount to public including interest which is needed to be repaid after certain
period of time. In the given case scenario, it was found that due to the negligence of bank
Samantha and many other innocent person has to suffer and even they faced injury as well. In
other to resolve this respective case, it is the responsibility of bank to pay off all of the expenses
which has incurred by Samantha (Endicott, 2016). There are some of the ethical consideration of
bank which they own from public. Firstly, they should understand that if any of the object is
available within the company and that has been creating issue for them then in that respective
situation some solution is required to obtained. Secondly, if any of the person suffer from injury
then they should be able to pay of the damages which is very much important. Similarly, it was
the bank who has been facing the issues related to carpet and they should be able to replace it but
they didn’t do that and it was one of the main duty of bank which they had ignored. Also the
another ethical consideration is that if person has faced the problem then in that respective
situation their problem must have been solved in any of the circumstances and if fails to do so
then legal action should be taken against them.
After having a detail analysis on the case, it is very much important to understand that it
was the bank due to which Samantha got injured and they must find out some of the effective
solution in it. But on the other side, bank still have the opportunity to defence themselves and for
that they are required to come ahead with some of the effective points. Firstly, it is necessary for
them to prove that at the time of entering into the bank, information was given to her that there is
a carpet in to which she might fall so it is better for her to take care and if she fails in it then she
would not be able to take legal action against bank (Feres, Silva and Silva, 2018). The second
important thing is that the clause has been included within the bank and that also falls under the
category of Article of Association of company. But, it was the fault of Samantha that she totally
ignored the points which has been included within the organisation’s Article of Association. If
bank can satisfy the panel on this two points, then there is huge possibilities that they can save
themselves from penalty.

Overall, it was the default performed by the side of bank as they showed their
carelessness even after knowing that it might create issues for the visitors who visits the bank on
a daily basis. If that carpet could have been placed properly then there would not have been any
of the probability of occurrence of any injury but they didn’t do that even after knowing the
outcome which may occur because of the simple mistake.
PROJECT 2
Discuss the above topic with reference to the UK’s legal profession from an ethical perspective.
Refer to relevant court cases and decisions to support your arguments.
In present scenario, UK is one of those nation where each and everything are managed in
a systematic manner and that directly helps in accomplishing the goals for any of the person. On
the other side, it is necessary to understand that legal professionals are playing vital role within
the UK which has been directly helping to find out the effective solution through which problem
can be resolved in best possible manner. Talking about UK, there are two types of lawyer who
handles different nature of case and those lawyers are junior level lawyer (Solicitors) and Senior
lawyers (Barrister).
Junior Lawyer (Solicitor): This are those lawyer who plays the necessary role for the client
because this are effective in providing some of the effective advices to the client which is
essential for them. Solicitors deal with those nature of case which are of business matter,
contracts, conveyance, wills, inheritance and many more (French, 2018). On a daily basis they
deal with different types of cases on which they deal with legal matters as well as they simply
represent their respective client within the court. This are those lawyers within the premises of
UK who has been represented by the law Society of England and wales.
Senior Lawyer (Barrister): This are those lawyers who are specialised in their sector and
able to provide those services to their clients due to which any of the legal matter from which
they are suffering can be solved out in best possible manner. They are specialised in their own
sector and representing any of the case within court. This are those types of cases where
audiences are allowed to cover the case and find the points and facts which are presented within
the court. Barristers are regulated by the Barrister’s Association of the same jurisdiction in which
case are competent (Concept and Differences between a Lawyer, a Solicitor and a Barrister in
UK, 2019). Barristers are always specialised in their sector and generally they are called by

solicitors where they find that case is of complex nature. But, as per current regulations of UK,
barristers have been given permission to deal with any of the case directly.
Talking about both lawyer, they have been assigned different roles and responsibility so that
any of the complex nature of case can be resolved in an easiest manner. On the other side, while
talking about other nation, they categorised both lawyer in same category and mandates to follow
the guidelines in detail. This types of system are beneficial in some of the circumstances and in
some of the situation it might create issues as well. It is because unnecessary expenses may occur
for the client (Musson, 2018). Whenever any of the client has to solve the case they were not
allowed to deal with barrister directly and in this particular situation they are needed to take the
help of solicitors. It means that client has to pay fees to two different persons where it could have
been solved even by paying single professional body only.
In current scenario, UK is among one of the nation where there are two types of lawyer, it
is necessary to understand that whenever any of the nation have two level of lawyer, it will
certainly raise the standards of lawyers as well as equal opportunity will be provided to each and
every person. Talking about other nation, lawyer is facing lots of problem because on a daily
basis new lawyers are entering into the market but due to lack of experience and knowledge they
have to suffer and even it simply does not allow them to enhance their knowledge and
experience. But, on the other side, it can be said that opportunities are being provided to new
lawyers as well in the premises of UK. In simply words, there are some of the people in other
nation who hires barristers directly who charges higher amount of price even for those cases
which are simple in nature and which can be solved easily but, in UK it is not possible to see this
particular situation. It is means that dividing lawyers allows the client to reduce their overall
expenses because there are number of cases which can be easily solved by solicitors where they
can give them effective advices which can be result oriented (Partington, 2019). On the other
side, this is not possible in another nation because client is required to select client as per their
own choices and willingness which means that their expenses will also increases automatically.
There are some of the person who thinks that this process of dealing with case can be
length but they are needed to understand that this can be result oriented as well. It is because
selection of higher level of authority is always expensive in those situation where problem can be
resolved by following simple procedure. Discussing this topic in ethical manner, it can be easily

said that whenever any of legal problem arises people requires the help of solicitor but it is
necessary for solicitor to advice whether case can be solved by their guidance or there is the
requirement of barristers because of the complex nature of case. In addition, it can also be said
that there are some of the situation due to which person has to suffer because there is lack of
knowledge within solicitors because they are not specialised in one of the particular sector which
is one of the main thing within the UK (Qunran and Chen, 2019).
Talking about the people of UK, they are satisfied with the decision of court where they
have distinguished lawyer on the basis of their knowledge, experience and qualification. It
certainly helps them to obtain effective result which is very essential. Although there are some of
the people as well who thinks that dividing the profession of lawyer is not helpful for individual
body because there are of the experienced solicitors as well who should be paid higher amount of
money but they are not being paid because they do not fall under the category of barristers. But,
still people are satisfied with the work which is being performed by the lawyer because it has
been found that barristers have to involve long time period within any of the case if problem is
required to be solved. Ant of the barristers have to analyse the case in detail so that appropriate
facts can be presented which is very much important in present scenario. Whenever any of the
barrister handles the case, they simply take those decisions which are beneficial for the client.
Even they handle the case in effective manner due to which time and money both can be saved of
any client. There was one of the case between Rhondel v Worsley (1969), where client field the
case against solicitor for the negligence which simply states if any of the solicitor do not act as
per the requirement then client has the option to take legal action. But, on the other side, client
never gets the option to sue barristers which was overrules in one of the landmark case between
Hall v Simons (July 2000). In short, it can be easily assumed that although UK has two types of
lawyer where their roles and responsibilities are totally different from each other (Schauer,
2019). Even there are some of the situation where higher expenses may incur for some of time in
some of the circumstances. But, law do not permit to take any of the case lightly and if any of the
lawyer does that then in that respective situation client has been given the option to file the case
against defaulter.
Overall, the legal system of having two different types of lawyer within the premises of
UK has been effective because client has the option to select suitable candidate who is capable of

solving the case. Sometimes having two different types of lawyer can be expensive as well
because at initial level case is needed to be handled by solicitor where fee is required to be paid.
It means that client is required to pay fee to two different persons for solving the case (Shen,
2018).
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it is necessary to understand that whenever any of the business is
incorporated some of the legal rules and regulations are needed to be followed. Guidelines of
business law can be effective in that respective situation but on the same time, it is necessary to
understand that any of the decision should be based on ethical values as that plays the significant
role in current scenario. In order to prove any of the case has tort of negligence, four basic
elements must be satisfied and if those are not satisfied then there is no surety that problem can
be resolved. Finally, two different types of lawyer are there in UK and both of them have
different types of roles and responsibility.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Alfawaer, A. M., 2017. Grave Judicial Errors within the Jordanian Legal System: Causes, Legal
Provisions and Solutions. J. Pol. & L., 10, p.122.
Bodansky, D., 2016. The Paris climate change agreement: a new hope?. American Journal of
International Law, 110(2), pp.288-319.
Endicott, T. A., 2016. Law and language. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Feres, M. V. C., Silva, L. A. D. and Silva, A., 2018. The Constitutional Principle of Scientific
Development Based on Social Interest and the Patent Legal System: The Case of
Chagas Disease. FERES, Marcos Vinício Chein, pp.81-103.
French, R., 2018. United states influence on the Australian legal system. UW Austl. L. Rev., 43,
p.11.
Musson, A., 2018. Medieval law in context: the growth of legal consciousness from Magna
Carta to the Peasants’ Revolt. Manchester University Press.
Partington, M., 2019. Introduction to the English Legal System 2019-2020. Oxford University
Press, USA.
Qunran, Q. and Chen, Y., 2019. The People's Assessors in China's Legal System: Current Legal
Structure for Their Duty and Its Justification. Tsinghua China L. Rev., 12, p.171.
Schauer, F., 2019. Friedrich Waismann and the Distinctive Logic of Legal Language.
In Friedrich Waismann (pp. 261-277). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Shen, G., 2018. Revision of China's Legislation Law: Towards a More Orderly, Fair and Just
Legal System. Hong Kong LJ, 48, p.1137.
Online
Negligence Tort Law. 2019. [Online]. Available Through: <https://www.toppr.com/guides/legal-
aptitude/law-of-torts/negligence-tort-law/>
Concept and Differences between a Lawyer, a Solicitor and a Barrister in UK. 2019. [Online].
Available Through: <https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/concept-and-differences-between-a-
lawyer-a-solicitor-and-a-barrister-in-uk-18875>