MILESTONE 8
Laws of jurisdiction regarding this case
Personal jurisdiction
Discussion on Three Milestones
Personal jurisdiction allows a court to exercise its rules to a person directly in contact with the nation and people within the court’s geographical jurisdiction while in contrary the long arm principles neglect personal jurisdiction and can solve cases of this nature. Donald Margolis case fails since he reports Chris, Ian and Matt for selling him a product that was not meeting the right standards hence affecting his health since he states at a court in New York and yet matt Ian and Chris are not residents of New York. This jurisdiction was introduced in 1945 by the Supreme Court when it announced ‘minimal contacts.’
Subject matter jurisdiction
This allows for only a particular court to solve cases of absolute magnitude. Selling of the illegal goods to Donald Margolin by Chris and his accomplices is a case that affects his health and can be explained by courts specializing on criminal cases since it is an illegal activity to sell goods that are dangerous for peoples use. Federal court systems provide a platform under which different kinds of law courts are established to solve cases of varying magnitude while state court can decide any form of a claim following the law
Minimal contacts
Minimal contacts are used to determine when a court can assert personal jurisdiction in solving a case over a person in another state. Selling of the less bad funny face product by Chris and his accomplices is a case that can be addressed using minimal contacts since the product sold to Donald Margolin has directly been in connection with the state as it affects a person in New York.
Alternative dispute resolution
These are the other methods that can be used to solve a conflict that is usually not legal.
Arbitration
Parties appoint arbitrators in argument, and they solve the issue. Arbitration is time-consuming since coming into an explicit agreement between two parties is no joke although it is a peaceful method. Chris, Matt, and Ian are involved in a case of selling illegal goods, and the conflict cannot be solved using arbitration. This is because funny face website posts that no one, who buys this product, can arrest Chris, Matt, and Ian which is clear evidence that Chris and his accomplices have already threatened their customers and are showing too much pride already.
Mediation
The parties may come into an agreement utilizing someone acting as a mediator. Mediation is a method leads to both parties being satisfied as they come to an agreement and it is a peaceful method to solve this case. It may take a lot of time because the parties have to settle for general satisfaction and parties may not listen to the mediator.
Fraud
This is someone seeks to benefit financial by use of illegal means. Two parties might be charged over this case as the associates Chris, Matt and Ian are responsible for the selling of the product while the company Novelty Now also take part in manufacturing the illegal product
Defendants and possible crimes in the story
The crime committed by Ian, Chris and Matt are threatening the buyers of their product in their website by saying no one can arrest them.
The ethical process of decision-making
Firstly one has to gather the facts that are related to the decision at hand then secondly predict an outcome of the given resolution. After that one has to identify his or her feelings towards the results of the decision as well as feelings concerned with the kind of choice he or she is about to make. Thirdly one has to ask himself or herself if he or she can withstand the outcome of the decision and be able to explain the decision made. If Chris could have thought of the choices of changing the ingredient to PYR and be able to figure out its outcome, he would have made a wiser decision.
MILESTONE 2
The elements for a valid contract
A legal contract has four elements which are an offer, consideration, intention, and acceptance. Offer and acceptance elements are deemed to exist since Sam offers his invitation to be sold in the market, and he accepts on and allows the chain store to sell his good. Besides this, the relationship is not deemed since Sam, and the sellers have not signed a contract to act as evidence of their agreement. The fourth element of consideration is not deemed since Sam never thought about the area of work and did his job in his apartment which is not among the agreement within his landlord’s contract.
In contrary, other factors can make the contract invalid even when it meets all the elements. For example, if Sam was below the age of 18 years, then he will not be mature enough to enter into any legal holding contract. Also, the following factors would have hindered Sam from having a valid contract;
If he could have been a drug addict
If he was mentally incapacitated
A valid deal would not have been possibly made between Sam and the chain store, but they would have made a quasi-contract which is a responsibility of a party to fulfill the requirements of a contract despite it not having a signed agreement, but it legally should be fulfilled.
The contracts determine the rights and obligation of both the landlord and the tenant. Sam makes a lot of noise using his invention, and this affects the comfort of the other tenants, and also he does his work in his apartment which was not among the agreements but in contrary he had told the landlord about his plans before and the landlord wished him well. The landlord has legal grounds to evict Sam because he can provide the written document of their agreement between him and Sam on renting. A proof of this is the testimony from Sam’s neighbors.
MILESTONE 3
The main types of business entities
Sole proprietorship
This is a business that is owned by a person individually and is not a legal entity
Advantages
Simplicity: sole proprietorship is the purest form of a company making it manageable. In this case, Jeb owns a wind-power, and we see he has made a lot of money in his work that he financially supports the partnership business between him and Josh.
Inexpensive: it has a lower cost to start a personal business
Disadvantages
Costly in case of loss: there is no cost sharing in case of a problem incurred.
Liability: all individual assets are linked to the business. Due to the accident the woman incurs, Jeb’s market is closed since it is one of his assets
Partnership
This is a business made by cooperation between two or more people
Advantages
The markets do not need to pay taxes as each member files the profits or losses of the business according to the respective personal income tax return.
Establishing a partnership is easy. This is as the case between Josh and Jeb when they meet and decide on their roles and the terms of their company
A wide range of knowledge and skills. Jeb has the money, and Josh is skilled in managing the business. This enables josh to take charge of the business
Disadvantages
The partners might have a fear of splitting in case one wants to withdraw from the partnership
Each partner is liable for any form of loss, and their assets are directly linked to the business. Jeb’s wind farms are closed because of his partnership business after Jane gets hurt at the store in partnership
Corporation
This is a separate legal entity where individual contribute money and property so as to raise the required capital to start a business. The cooperation then mandates other people to manage the business on their behalf.
Advantages
People come together to contribute to a project hence it is easy to form the business
Liability is not on the shareholders in case of debt. They may only lose their investment but not their assets.
Disadvantages
Double taxation: profits are taxed as they are earned at a cooperate level as well as they are also taxed to the shareholders who receive dividends
Shareholders owning a bigger percentage of the corporation have much say compared to the ones with fewer shares hence no equality.
References
Gordon, J. M. (2016). A Business Plan for the Growth-Based Venture.