Blaw 308 Notes
Blaw 308 Notes
Blaw 308 Notes
1/23/23
● I.R.A.C is how to brief a case
● Issue, rule, analysis & counter analysis and conclusion
● Issue is always stated as a question
● If you don't know the addition facts within the analysis then state that you dont know the facts to
back that rule
● Rules are factors or elements and simply are the laws which apply to the issue
● Elements are required to establish the issue and factors are things that you weigh to show that in
totality, it supports the issue
● You can miss a factor and still have the issue but if any one element is missing then the evidence
isn't fully there to conclude the issue is there
● Analysis is two parts, one part that supports the person who wants to win and one counter for
those who are on the other side
● Counter only needs to counter one element to be valid but non counter will need to explain all 5
elements
● Conclusion will clearly state who won and why
● If conclusion is wrong but you have strong evidence then you won't lose points
● Intro vignettes are very good practice for the exams because its very similar
Chapter 35 Agency Law
● Agency- is the fiduciary relationship when one person (a principle) manifests assent to another
person (an agent) that the agent will act on the principal's behalf and be subject to the principal's
control
● Agent must consent to the act for the principal or under the principal’s control
● Agent agrees to do what the other person asks of them
● Non Delegable Obligations-
1. Entertainers where personal service is critical
2. Voting in public elections
3. Making statements under oath
4. Signing a will
● Krakauer v. Dish Network, LLC circa 2019
- Issue is Whether Satellite Systems Network (SSN) was an agent of Dish Network, LLC at
the time it made the calls to Krakauer?
- Rule(s) Elements to establish an agency include:
1. One person (the principal) manifests assent to another person (the agent) that:
a. The agent will act on the principal's behalf and
b. Be subject to the principal’s control
2. The other person (the agent) manifests assent to the relationship or
3. The other person (the agent) otherwise consent to act for the principal and under
the principal’s control
- Analysis and Counter Analysis (Facts that support elements)
1. Dish said SSN could use their logo
2. Contract mentioned that SSN is not an agent of Dish (diss to rule 1)
3. Unknown
-Conclusion is that they found that there is an agency relationship between Dish and SSN
● Capacity is the idea that if you have the capacity to understand the agency then you can legally
bind yourself to that agency
● Actual Authority (express or implied) What is it that the principal wants the agent to do?
- determined between the principal and the agent
- Express is created by actual words (Actual Authority)
- Implied is created when an agent is authorized to do whatever is reasonable to assume
the principal wanted the agent to give the principal’s statements and surrounding circum.
● Apparent Authority-
-determined between the principal and third party
● Factors for Authority (Rules)
1. Principal’s statements/actions
2. Nature of the agency
3. Acts reasonably necessary to carry on the agency business
4. Acts customarily done when conducting that business
● General and special agents section on chp 35 should be crossed out doesn't matter
● Sub-Agency is when an agent has an agent (Example: employee to a manager)
1/30/23 Chapter 35 Continued
● Employees & Nonemployee Agents:
- An Employee is an agent whose principal controls or has the right to control the manner
and means of the agent’s performance of work
- Employee is always an agent but an agent isnt always an employee
● Problem #5 Creteau family went to Jamaica and they were robbed at gunpoint and Creteau sued
the travel agency and lost because of the “other duties”
● Other Duties Principal to Agent
- To compensate agent
- To reimburse agent for money spent in principal’s service
- To indemnify (found responsible for charge) agent for losses suffered in conducting
principal’s business
● Problem 9 is the principal is liable for an agent's torts IF IT SAYS HES AN EMPLOYEE THEN
DONT WORRY ABOUT IT
● Direct Liability
- A principal is directly liable for an agent’s tortious conduct if the agent acts within her
actual authority or the principal ratifies the agents conduct
1F 2T 3T 4F 5T 6T
● Worker’s Compensation
- Worker’s compensation protects only employees (not independent contractors)
- When applicable, worker’s compensation laws allow injured employees to recover under
strict liability
- Exclusive Remedy: Workers’ compensation is an employee’s exclusive remedy against an
employer for covered injuries (unless the employer acted intentionally)
- Types of Recovery:
1. Hospital and medical expenses
2. Disability benefits
3. Specified recoveries for loss of certain body parts
4. Death benefits to survivors or dependents
- Employees recover only for work related injuries; those injuries that:
1. Arise out of employment
2. Happen in course of employment
● Problem # 1
- Boston’s Gourmet pizza has to pay for a pre surgery that was needed due to employee
being overweight before they can pay workers comp to have his back fusion surgery
● OSHA
- Federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (1970)
- General Duty: Employers must provide their employees with a workplace and jobs free
from recognized hazards that may cause death or serious physical harm
- Enforcing Agency: Occupational Safety and Health Administration
● Wage Supplements
- Social Security (1935)
a. Funded by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) which imposes a flat
percentage tax on employee income below a base figure and requires matching
amounts by employers to support programs
- Social security
- Disability
- Medicare
b. Unemployment Compensation
- Funded by federal and state unemployment compensation taxes paid by
employers
- Each state administers under federal guidelines
● Wage Protections
a. Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)
- Guarantee employee participation
- Record keeping, reporting, and disclosure requirements
- Pension fund managers have fiduciary responsibility
b. Fair Labor Standards Act (1935)
- Regulates wages & hours by entitling covered employees to
1. Specified minimum wage
2. Time and a half for work exceeding 40 hours per week
- Exemptions: executive, administrative, agricultural, fishing and professional personnel
- Prohibits oppressive child labor by any employer engaged in interstate commerce or
producing goods for such commerce
● Employee Equality
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
a. Independent federal agency to enforce employment discrimination laws,
investigate allegations of discrimination, and interpret statutes by issues rules,
regulations, and guidelines
- Equal Pay of 1963
a. Amended FLSA forbids pay discrimination based on gender
b. Employee may not be paid a lesser rate than employees of opposite sex for equal
work
- Defenses the employer may raise if there is a disparity 4 RULES FOR EMPLOYEE EQUALITY
1. Seniority
2. Merit (can be paid differently for have extra certs or bringing more value to the
company)
3. Quality or quantity of production
4. Any other factor other sex (any other reason why they might be paid differently)
- Theories of Discrimination
a. Discrimination is refusing to hire, failing to promote, firing, or otherwise reducing a
person's employment opportunities for a person in a protected class (Race, color,
religion, sex, national origin)
b. Two Different Ways to Prove Discrimination:
- Disparate treatment
- Disparate impact
- Corporation
a. Regular “C”, Subchapter “S”, nonprofit, benefit, professional
b. Shareholders own the interest of the company, and board of directors run the
business
c. Own EIN and gets taxed at the corporate level
d. Professional corporation is licensed by the state
● Partnerships
- RUPA definition (4 Elements):
not for use in every state but for this class its all we will use
1. Association of two or more persons
2. to carry on (actively engaged in something i.e. forming a business)
3. as co-owners (both owners, both making decisions and/or share profits)
4. a business for profit (making a profit or intend to)
- Key characteristics of RUPA: create with no formality, partners have unlimited liability, and the
partners share profits and losses
- Problem #4 Partnership?
a. Rick Yurko and the three women are a joint venture not a partnership so Yurko did not
need to split the money with them
- Problem #6 Partnership?
a. Don King & Scott Willson are partners, they agreed to share profits and made joint
decisions and both made contributions to the business either money or labor
● Purported Partners
a. Protects third parties
b. Is when you didn't know you formed a partnership
c. The Doctrine of Purported Partners is
- If a third party proves one apparent partner misled them to believe the two or
more people were partners, the third party may sue the partner causing the
deception for damages suffered when the apparent partnership failed to perform
as agreed
- Not an actual partnership
- All of these except Duty to Care can be changed if given permission. Duty to Care cannot be
modified by the partnership
- Ann is in a partnership with Elkie so can she invest in her bfs auto shop? Yes it is okay, does not
violate any duties. Can she invest in her neighbors bar n grill? No because of Duty 7 because a
tavern and bar n grill are very similar
● Compensation of Partners
- Unless there is an agreement to the contrary, partners share profits equally,
according to the number of partners, and not according to their capital
contributions or the amount that each devotes to the partnership
- Losses are shared in the same proportion as profits are shared
-Ratification is when a partner accepts an act as if there was authority after finds out that a partner did
an act without authority
- Special Transactions (real property or credit)
a. An individual partner’s transfer of real property owned by the partnership will bind the
partnership if expressly, impliedly, or apparently authorized, or ratified by the ownership
b. An individual partner may not borrow money in a partnership’s name without express,
implied, or apparent authority
- At-will is when there is no real definitive plan in motion or written agreement between partners
- No particular undertaking or leaves when there is a definite term
- All events on page 81 for events causing dissolution and winding up except 7,8,9 and can be
changed in a partnership agreement to not cause dissolution or winding up
- 7,8,9 MUST result in dissolution and winding up
- During winding up, you must fulfill your obligations to your existing contracts but you cannot
make any new contracts (Implied Authority) Power to do acts that appropriate for winding up the
partnership business
● Distribution of Assets
- After the partnership assets have been sold during the winding up, proceeds are
distributed to those who have claims against the partnership
a. Creditor claims are satisfied first (including those from partners)
b. Credited (increased) to a partner’s capital account for partner’s share of profits
c. Charged (decreased) to a partner’s capital account for partner’s share of losses
- After partnership assets have been distributed, termination of partnership occurs automatically
- Creditors can be those who have loaned money to the partnership and they can be paid when
other creditors of the partnership are paid
- After the claims of the creditors have been paid, the remaining proceeds from the sale of the
partnership assets will be distributed to the partners according to the net amounts in their capital
accounts for their shares of profits
- Partnership isn't terminated until there is no more money in the business meaning its been
completely distributed
- Balance out capital accounts before splitting profits to partners
Test knowledge 1. F its winding up 2. F not required 3. F its dissociation 4. F must pay creditors
first 5. T 6. F
4/3/2023 Chapter 40 Limited Liability Companies, Limited Partnerships, and Limited Liability
Limited Partnerships
- Problem #6
a. Was it a wrongful or nonwrongful dissociation (it was because of bankruptcy)
b. Chapman is wrongfully dissociated because he filed for bankruptcy
c. Comer is the sole remaining member and he's a manager has the right to sell the land
- McDonough v. McDonough
- Moser v Moser
a. I1: Whether the LP gifts to the children were completed?
b. I2: Whether the LP assets were marital property?
c. R1:
- Test Knowledge 1. T 2. T 3. F 4. F 5. F 6. T
Chapter 41 History and Nature of Corporations (MAY 8TH IS FINAL REVIEW SESSION)
● Classifications of Corporations
- By purpose
1. For-profit corporations
2. Not-for-profit corporations (only has members)
3. Government corporations
4. Benefit corporations aka social purpose corporations (do good for society)
- By Ownership
1. Publicly held (shareholders)
2. Close (few shareholders under 100 shareholders)
- Subchapter S
3. Government- owned
- By Origin
1. Domestic-the state of incorporation
2. Foreign- all other states in which the company operates
3. Alien- all countries other than where incorporated
Characteristics of Corporation:
- Free transferability
- Ability of corporation to raise large amounts of capital
- Limited liability of owners
- Corporation has life outside of owners
- Separations of owners from management
- A state may require a foreign or alien corporation to qualify to do business within the state to obtain a Certificate
Of authority
- Not Doing Business includes:
1. Soliciting orders (by mail or employees)
2. Selling through independent contractors
3. Owning property for investment purposes
4. Conducting an isolated transaction completed within 30 days
5. Maintaining a bank account for collection purposes
- Doing Business includes:
1. Contracts related to local business or sales
2. Owning/using real property for business
3. Maintaining stock for order fulfillment
4. Performing service activities
5. Maintaining an office for intrastate business
6. E-commerce sales sufficient to require collection of sales tax
● Incorporation
1. Prepare Articles of Incorporation
2. Sign and authenticate the articles of incorporation
3. File the articles with the secretary of state and pay applicable fees
4. Receive file articles back
5. Hold organizational meeting to adopt bylaws, elect officers, and transact other business
6. File an annual report with the secretary of state and pay annual franchise fee/tax
● Defective Incorporation
- De Jure Corporation
a. Substantial compliance with each mandatory requirements to incorporate the
business (all 7 elements of incorporation)
b. The validity of the corporation can only be attacked by the state of incorporation
for noncompliance
- De Facto Corporation
a. Substantial compliance with most mandatory requirements to incorporate the business
b. The validity of the corporation can be attacked by the 3rd party, itself, the state of
incorporation
c. Estoppel is a defense
- Krupinski v. Deyesso
a. I: In what capacity did Deyesso enter into the contract with Krupinski to be a manager of
a club?
b. R: A promoter is an individual who makes a contract on behalf of an entity that lacks
capacity to enter into a contract itself; it is a question of fact to be determined by the trier
of fact
● Shareholder Meetings
- State statutes and the MBCA require annual meetings of shareholders to be held
- Special Meetings of shareholders may be held whenever a corporate matter arises that
requires immediate shareholders action
- Notice of meetings must be given to shareholders or record (entitled to vote) as of date
fixed by the board of directors
- Quorum of outstanding shares must be represented at meeting by shareholders
- Majority of votes cast at shareholders meeting will decide issues put to a vote
- Shareholder’s Election of Directors
a. Straight voting (give your shares to any of the directors as a casted vote)
b. Class voting (each separate class like A,B,C class can vote in a director)
c. Cumulative voting (protects minority shareholders by giving them their shares
multiplied by how many directors that are being voted in and thats how many
you will have to vote with)
● Dissenter’s Rights
- In general, those who oppose an approved action have little recourse
- Dissenter’s rights or Rights of Appraisal have been created to protect dissenters by
requiring corporation to pay dissenting shareholders fair market value of their shares
a. Many states and the MBCA exclude shares traded on a recognized securities
exchange
● Shareholder’s Inspection and Information Rights
- Corporate managers resist shareholder’s inspecting corporate books and records, but most
state corporation statutes specifically grant shareholders inspection rights
- Shareholders have the right to receive important information about the corporation, such
as financial statements, including a balance sheet, an income statement, and a statement
of changes in shareholders equity
● Preemptive Rights
- Corporation law recognizes importance of giving a shareholder option (or preemptive
right) of maintaining value of their shares and retaining their proportionate interest in the
corporation
- A preemptive right gives the shareholder an option to subscribe to a new issuance of
shares in proportion to the shareholder’s current interest in the corporation
● Distribution to Shareholders
- Shareholders may receive distributions of the corporation’s assets, generally in the form
of cash, stock or property dividend
a. Declared by the board of directors and paid on the date set by the directors
b. Once declared, dividends are debts of the corporation and shareholders may sue
to force payment of dividends
c. Preferred shares generally have a set dividend rate stated in the articles of
incorporation
● Shareholder Liability
- A shareholder may be liable to the corporation if:
a. Shareholder receives dividends or distributions with knowledge of their liability
b. Defective attempts to incorporate and piercing the corporate veil provide a basis
to hold a shareholder liable for corporate debts beyond a capital contribution
c. Selling shares for a premium over fair market value of minority shares is due to a
wrongful act or omission
d. Controlling shareholder breaches a fiduciary duty to control the corporation in a
fair, just, and equitable manner that benefits all shareholders proportionately
- Majority shareholders have a duty to be impartial, and not prefer themselves over minority
shareholders
Chapter 45 5/8/2023
● Securities Regulations
- Purposes of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Exchange Act of 1933
1. Require disclosure of meaningful information about a security and its issuer to
allow investors to make intelligent investment decisions
2. Impose liability on those who make inadequate and erroneous disclosures of
information
3. Regulate insiders, professional sellers of securities, securities exchanges, and
other self-regulatory securities organizations
- Securities are any investment of money in a common enterprise with an expectation to turn a profit
from the efforts of others
- Securities Act of 1933 regulates sales of securities while they pass from the hands of the issuer into the
hands of public investors
- Two principal regulatory components are:
1. Registration process : pre filing period, waiting period, post effective period and now younon d
can sell securities
2. Liability Provisions: not everyone has to register if you are exempt, like a government or 3 year
drafts
- Exchange Act of 1934 requires periodic disclosure of material information by issuers with publicly held
equity securities
Final Exam Review 5/8/2023 MAY 15TH IS FINAL AT 8 PM
- If its been on a previous exam its not likely to be on the final exam
- 2 IRACs per prompt
To Study:
- Creating the Agency Two elements
- Non delegable obligations
- Agents Authority as Expressed by the Principal, both actual and apparent authority
- Hypothetical 1 focuses on Actual & Apparent Authority both Principal (Mario) and Agent (Fred)
1. First IRAC would actual then second would be apparent between Mario and Credit Card
Company (3rd party)
- Terminating the Agency
- Fiduciary Duties of Agent to Principal (7 duties) (not likely to be on the exam)
- Fiduciary Duties of Principal to Agent (compensate, indemnify, Reimburse)
- Contract Liability of a Principal
- Estoppel
- Ratification (7 requirements)
- Contract Liability of an Agent (4 rules)
- Tort Liability of a Principal
- Respondeat Superior
- Direct Liability
- Nonemployee Agents
- Misrepresentations by Agents
- Tort Liability of an Agent (bears breach of tort liability)
- Employees (11 Reid Factors) (not likely to be on the test)
- Employee Protections (workers comp, OSHA, FMLA) (not likely to be on the test) Chapter
51
- Civil Rights Act of 1964: Title VII
- Sexual Harassment: Title VII
- Hypothetical 2 focuses on Sexual harassment: Title VII
1. First IRAC is there Prima Facie (give phils argument) and second would be defenses to
sexual harassment (phil would argue thre wasnt as defense) if the first IRAC proves no
case then you dont need to prove defenses in the second IRAC