Business Law Report: Contract, Negligence, and Business Mediums

This report delves into key aspects of business law, focusing on contract law, negligence, and the various business mediums available to entrepreneurs. The analysis begins with an explanation of contract law, outlining the essential requirements for a valid contract under English and Welsh law. It then examines a case study involving Elixir Gardens, a sole trader, and explores the criteria Jerry (the claimant) must satisfy in an action for negligence. The report further discusses the business mediums available to Ringo and his friends, including partnerships and companies, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of each. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of correctly identifying the employment status of workers to ensure legal compliance. The analysis includes relevant case law and legal principles to support the arguments.

COURSEWORK

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. A) Explain the contract Law and what are the requirements for a valid contract to be
formed?........................................................................................................................................1
B) Would Ringo be liable to pay Paul based on the facts above?...............................................2
2 In light of the facts above, discuss the criteria that Jerry (as the claimant) would need to
satisfy in an action for negligence. .............................................................................................3
3) Explain the business mediums available to the Ringo and his friends....................................4
4. Describing why it is important for Ringo, John and Yoko to identify the correct
employment status of any worker................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Law is that system which is created and enforced by the social and governmental institution
in order to regulate the behaviour. On the other side, business law is that body which mainly
governs the business as well as commerce and it also deals with both private and public law. In
the same way, report's main aim is to understand the meaning of law and rules and regulations
that needs to be comply by the business managers for smooth functioning of a business. The
report is based upon the case study of Elixir Gardens which is a sole trader and study will
describe the contract under the English and Wales by presenting the requirements for a valid
contract. Further the report will also describe the criteria in which Jerry need to satisfy in an
action for negligence. Moreover, study describe the main business medium which is available to
Ringo and his friends John and Yoko with pros and cons
MAIN BODY
1. A) Explain the contract Law and what are the requirements for a valid contract to be formed?
As per the Law of England and Wales, Contract is the mutual agreement which takes place
between more than two parties. Generally, the contract formation begins with the offer from one
party to the another and ends with the acceptance of the offer by the other party in the agreement.
Contract is generally formed on the basis of the consideration i.e. payment. As per the English
court law a body which regulate the contracts in England and Wales there are five minimum
criteria which has to be full field by the contract to name as the contract in the eye of the Law
(Poole, 2016). Criteria is as follows:
Offer: It is the basic requirement of the contract in which one party should present the
offer to the other for giving the services in exchange of the money.
Acceptance: It is the most important requirement to make a contract that other party
should accept the offer proposed by the offering party.
Agreement: English Court always looks at the agreement as the primary requirement to
call a contract a legal contract. As it is mandatory for the contract to have an agreement between
the two parties in which one party should have made the offer to the other party and the other
party must have accepted the offer to bind the legal contract in the eye of the Law. Agreement
can go through any method of the communication, whether oral, by phone, through telex, fax or
email.
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Contractual intension: As per the law, the agreement is basis of the contract but all the
contract are not enforceable, so it is mandatory for the party to legally intend to bind the
agreement and the parties. It is mandatory for both the parties to agree on legally binding the
agreement so that it is called as a legal contract (Beale and et.al., 2019). For example: If the
contractor is ready to bind in the contract and the party is not intended to do the same then the
contract is invalid.
Consideration: It is the last requirement of the agreement to call it as a legal contract.
This requirement defines that there should be consideration which should be given by one party
to the another. Consideration is the amount given to complete the contract. Consideration can be
given immediately or can be promised to pay in future. The consideration cannot be negotiated
once the contract is form and the rate of the consideration cannot be changed (Requirement for
Legal Contract, 2019).
B) Would Ringo be liable to pay Paul based on the facts above?
Their was a agreement between Paul and Ringo in which Paul has offered the services to Ringo
and Ringo has accepted the offer of the Paul to mow the Lawn on the Weekend. Paul as per the
promise has offered the services and has mowed the Lawn for Ringo but afterwards Ringo
refused to pay the consideration (money). As per the Law there are some responsibility of the
Contractor such as:
 Contractor are bind to pay the consideration as decided
 Contractor are having the Right to monitor and see the Task performance
 Contractor are having the Right to claim the penalties in case of the task is not performed
by the other party
As there are three main requirements which need to be passed by all the contract to called it
as a legal contract. The above contract Between Ringo and Paul matches two requirement of the
legal contract i.e. agreement and Consideration but does not justify the contractual intension. As
in this case the third criteria is not passed by Ringo, he is not liable to pay any consideration to
Paul as the contract is not legal in the eyes of law (Andrews, 2015). If in this case the agreement
mentioned about the contractual intent by both the party than Paul can file a case against Ringo
to claim the 10 GBP as per the right of the party and Ringo will be forced to pay the money and
Ringo has to bear the penalty charges for not following the rules according to the English
contractual law.
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As per the Law Ringo is bind to pay the money to Paul as in the eyes of law both the parties
are in contract so it is the responsibility of Ringo to pay 10 GBP to Paul.
2 In light of the facts above, discuss the criteria that Jerry (as the claimant) would need to satisfy
in an action for negligence.
Negligence law is the law which states that the party which has suffered the harm by the
act of the other party who is in contract of duty of care is liable to claim the remedies for the
harm caused by the other party. In the case of Jerry and George, Jerry has to prove the following
thing to the court to claim the remedies from Elixir Gardens.
Duty of Care: Duty of care is the agreement in which one party grant the permission to
the other party to provide their services on the given task. Jerry has to prove the court that
George was under the Duty of care, this can be proved by Jerry by showing the agreement to the
court that Jerry was employed for the services of the Elixir Garden to cut down the tree in the
backyard in such a way that Sun Light started to come in the Jerry's house which was before
hidden by the long trees that were in front of the house. This is not required or mandatory to be a
written agreement, it can be of oral as well (Andrews, 2015).
Breach of Duty: Breach of the duty is the offence which has been performed by the party
by not offering the standard of the work expected by the other party in agreement. Jerry also has
to prove to the court that George has break the law which was assigned to the Elixir garden as it
was the responsibility of the George to measure the Height of the tree itself before cutting the
tree. George must have taken the precaution while cutting the tree, but it was not taken by the
George or it was neglected so it called as Breach of Duty from Elixir Gardens side.
Loss Suffered: It is the loss which was suffered by the party due to the damage caused
by Breach of Duty. Jerry also has to show the loss which has been suffered due to the Breach of
Duty from the Elixir Garden side, as due to the George fault Jerry roof has been damaged
extensively. So Jerry has to show the same damage to the court as without any damage court
does not entertain the Negligence case as a valid case in the eye of the Law.
Jerry can claim the Negligence against the Elixir Garden but has to make sure that the claim
which are claim should be claim in the span of the six year from the date of the breach of the
contract. This period may be extended if evidence of negligence only becomes apparent much
later down the line (Fulbrook, 2017).
As per the Negligence law of the UK Jerry can claim the following remedies from the Elixir
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Gardner for the Breach of the duty which has been performed by the George.
 Jerry can ask for the compensation of the amount which has been suffered as a loss by the
Jerry due to the damage of the roof in of the house.
 Jerry can also ask for the full repair of the roof from the Elixir Gardner side.
In the case of Najeeb vs Great Ormond Street Hospital in year 2010 as the Great Ormond
Street was the culprit of breaching the Duty the UK lawsuit, settled by Field Fisher Waterhouse
LLP has asked the Great Ormond Street Hospital to give 24 Million Pound Euro to the Najeeb
over the course of Najeeb life because due to the fault of the Hospital the whole body of the
Najeeb was damaged (Example of Negligence Law, 2018).
3) Explain the business mediums available to the Ringo and his friends
Ringo is looking to expand the business so for the same reason he is looking to include friends in
the business and they have come together with mutual agreement that they will share the profit
equally. So the below are the types of the business type which can be used by them.
Partnership: It is the medium of the business which is owned and managed by more than
two people. All the owner of the Partnership firm used to have the unlimited liability of the
business. The partnership firm used to be formed on the basis of the partnership deed which used
to define the share of the partner in the organization and also it defines all the rules and
regulation of the organization.
Advantages
Specialization: As the ownership of the business is in more than one individual it is easy
for them to run a business with a diverse set of the skills (Schmit, 2016). Which eventually
enhance the overall performance of the business. All the three will bring their sort of knowledge
in the business.
Source of the capital: It proves easy for the owner to found out the source of the fund
for the business as there are more than one owner, so the contribution of the capital is to be on
the agreed ratio which does not create the extra liability on one owner.
Disadvantages
Unlimited Liability: It is one of the biggest disadvantage of the partnership medium as
all the owner in the Partnership is having the unlimited liability for any loss occurs in the
business operation. All the three partners has to pay the loss if any uncertainty happen.
Company: It is the another medium of the business in which a legal entity is made up of
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an association of the people. People can be legal nature or the mixture of the both, for carrying
commercial and industrial enterprises. The capital of the company form of the medium is
generally issued in the share form in which different shareholder used to apply for the unit of
their contribution in the organization.
Advantages
Limited Liability: The biggest benefit which company form of the business will be
bringing is that the liability of all the stakeholder in the company will be limited to the amount of
the share which is owned by the shareholder. All the three friend will be liable for the share
which is owned by them in the business only.
Expansion Potential: As there is no limitation of the stakeholder in the Public limited
company it gets very easy for the company to expand by the way of issuing new shares and
debenture (Andrews, 2015).
Disadvantages
Restriction and the Personal Interest: As compare to the other medium of the business
this medium requires the larger number of the formal activity to be followed for running the
activity of the business, which sometimes consume the good amount of time. Personal interest of
the individual are also overlooked in the company form of the business as there are many
stakeholder and all are having different opinion. All the three friend will not able to express their
point of view very clearly in the organization.
Cooperation: It is the another form of the medium of the business which is created by
the Royal Charter, state or common Law. This are the entity which are established as a separate
legal entity from their business. Capital of the Cooperation can be issued by issue the share of the
cooperation or with the help of the owners’ fund.
Advantage
Ownership transfer: It is very easy for the owner in the cooperation to transfer the
shares to the other by just selling the shares of the co-operation which is held by the owner as
compare to the company in which they require the large amount of the legal document to do the
same. All the friend can leave the business at any point of time.
Limited Liability: Cooperation form of the business also has the feature of the limited
liability in which the shareholder is just liable for the unit of the share which is owned by the
shareholder. All the three friend will be liable for the share which is owned by them in the
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business only.
Disadvantage
Decision making: Decision making in the cooperation used to be slow as the number of
the investor in the cooperation is high so the opinion of all the stakeholder need to be looked by
the cooperation (Fulbrook, 2017).
Elixir Gardens can opt for the partnership form of the business as the best form of the
business as Ringo and friend of Ringo are ready to share the liability of the business equally
which will generally help the business in getting the better expansion opportunity.
4. Describing why it is important for Ringo, John and Yoko to identify the correct employment
status of any worker
As per the case study, it is analysed that there is a need to follow the employment status
in which Ringo, John and Yoko have to understand the main characteristic which allow them to
define their role individually within Elixir Gardens. Apart from this, they have to follow the
Employment Right Act, 1996 in which all the employees are entitled to a contract of the
employment which further form the basis of the employment and they have to pay equally
without any bias (Bishop and et.al., 2019). Moreover, the law also covers all the key aspect such
as discrimination law, Equality law, Equal pay etc. In the same way, Ringo, John and Yoko all
have to determine the correct employment status in their hiring process. For that Ringo, John and
Yoko has to determine which type of employment status a person fall into, because they hire
George who is an employee of Ringo due to which case of Jerry conservatory has happened. So,
in order to analyse his liability, it is important for Ringo, John and Yoko to identify the correct
employment status of any worker. That is why, to identify the correct employment status, they
have follow the following steps:
Employee: It is the first category in which a person may fall, in which an employee is
that individual who has contract of service and they are under the control of employer. For that,
all Elixir Garden has to provide all the minimum legal employment rights such as statutory sick
pay, maternity or paternity leave, right not to be unfairly dismissed, National Minimum wage,
normal working hours. Through this, Ringo, John and Yoko should have to determine all the
laws before hiring (Haines, 2018).
Worker: It is the second category under which Ringo, John and Yoko may recruit the
candidate. A worker is those individual who work for an employer whether they are under the
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contract of employment and they also have the limited right to control where and when the work
is done. If Elixir Garden has to hire an employee then they have to provide the following right to
worker such as Working Time limit should be 48 hours per week, sick pay rights, working at
night, not allowed to discriminate. Thus, it helps them to recruit the best candidate for the vacant
position.
Self- Employed: they are the person who have a freedom to decide here they have to
work and they mainly provide the main item of an equipment which is used to carry out the work
and they are also free to send other people in order to carry out the work in their place (Bellaby,
2019). In this position, Ringo, John and Yoko should keep in mind that they are not allowed to
discriminate other on the basis of race, caste and gender, further, they are also entitled to
protection for their own health and safety and their right/responsibility is set out in their contract
with client.
Moreover, it is quite necessary for Ringo, John and Yoko to determine the correct
employment status because they hire, George is an employee of Ringo due to which case of Jerry
conservatory had happened. So, in order to analyse his liability, it is important for Ringo, John
and Yoko to identify the correct employment status of any worker. they should also include the
basic right of Employment law in which company has to provide the minimum wages to their
employees and also minimum 5.6 week of paid annual leave per year, prevention from the unfair
dismissal and protection under the Transfer of Undertaking Regulation as well. In this way, the
Elixir garden may prevent them from hiring inappropriate person to fill the vacant seat, which is
done in the case of George (Mowbray and et.al., 2016). Beside this, Ringo, John and Yoko also
obliged to make sure that employees must be paid according to National Minimum and Living
Wage requirement but on the other side, the self employed contractors are mainly set down the
rate which they are charge for the services provided. In this way, the firm can easily identify the
employment status of any worker which they are recruit.
CONCLUSION
By summing up above report It has been concluded that laws a legislation plays an
important role for the success of a business. As report concluded that Contract is the mutual
agreement which takes place between more than two parties and for the valid contracts, there is a
need to agreement, contractual intension and consideration. Further, it is also observed from the
case study that Ringo is bind to pay the money to Paul because it is the responsibility of
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contractor to pay the consideration as decided and also have the right to monitor and see the
performance as well. Further, study also concluded that Jerry as a Claimant need to satisfy the
action of negligence and Jerry has to prove duty of care, Breach of Duty and Loss suffered in the
court. In addition to this, report concluded that partnership, cooperation and company are
available for Ringo, John and Yoko. Lastly, report concluded that three main employment status
such as Employee, worker and Self- employee which are recruit by Elixir Garden.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bishop, C. J. and et.al., 2019. Advertising paid and unpaid job roles in sport: an updated position
statement from the UK Strength and Conditioning Association.
Haines, A., 2018. UK considers closer links between employment and tax rules. International
Tax Review.
Bellaby, P., 2019. Sick from work: the body in employment. Routledge.
Mowbray, J. and et.al., 2016. Social networking sites and employment status: an investigation
based on Understanding Society data. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Data
Information and Information Management Conference (IDIMC) (pp. 75-85).
Poole, J., 2016. Textbook on contract law. Oxford University Press.
Beale, H. and et.al., 2019. Cases, materials and text on contract law. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Andrews, N., 2015. Contract law. Cambridge University Press.
Smits, J. M. ed., 2017. Contract law: a comparative introduction. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Hurwitz, B., 2018. Clinical Guidelines and the Law: Negligence, Discretion, and Judgement.
CRC Press.
Fulbrook, J., 2017. Outdoor activities, negligence and the law. Routledge.
Schmit, E., AT&T Mobility II LLC, 2016. Small/medium business application delivery platform.
U.S. Patent 9,489,185.
Online
Example of Negligence Law. 2018. .[ONLINE]. Available Through:
<https://www.towergateinsurance.co.uk/liability-insurance/professional-indemnity-
insurance/the-uk-law-of-negligence-explained>.
Requirement for Legal Contract. 2019. .[ONLINE]. Available Through:
<http://www.a4id.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/A4ID-english-contract-law-at-a-
glance.pdf>.
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