Business law

BCO125 BUSINESS LAW – Midterm & Rubrics

Description:

· Individual written task.

· Questions answered in order, numbered (1.a.) and in essay format. No bullet points.

· Answer the following questions in a single document using the information given to you throughout the course and additional research.

· Your answers are to be based on laws in the USA, you must choose a particular state. IE. California, Illinois, etc

· You must research and find the laws or regulations that correspond to the questions that you are answering from the USA.

· Remember to use Harvard citations in the document. Use in-text citations to indicate your sources.

1. James has asked you to help him identify and analyze what company formation options he has available in a particular state. (Cite the Laws)

a. Please advise him on what it means to be a sole trader and the advantages and disadvantages.

b. Then explain to him the significance of opening an incorporated business. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of business?

c. Then explain to him what is a Limited Liability Partnership? What responsibilities and liabilities do the partners have for themselves individually, to the firm/to each other in the firm and to the public?

2. James realizes a few years later that he has several competitors, and he would like to have an advantage over them. James is interested in the idea of merging with one of his competitors. Cite your sources.

a. Explain to James what it means to merge with another company in the chosen state.

b. Then identify and explain the steps that he and the other party would need to take to merge their businesses together – remember to cite the laws from your chosen state.

c. James was able to convince Mike, a competitor, to merge their companies together, explain to James what three separate groups of professionals are recommended to be consulted to assist him with this merger. What are their purposes?

3. Unable to merger with one of his competitors James would like to know how he can acquire one of his competitor’s business even though his competitor does not want to sell it to him. Cite your sources.

a. Explain to James what it means to acquire another company in the chosen state and the laws that govern.

b. Then identify and explain the steps that he would need to take to acquire a company when the owner does not want to sell – remember to cite laws from your chosen state.

4. Imagine James merged with Mike’s company and they had signed a formal agreement merging the two companies and this arrangement worked well for a few years but then James and Mike began to have serious problems inside the new company and James is threatening to sue Mike in court. Cite your sources.

a. Explain to James what is means to sue for breach of contract in your chosen state and what James must prove to win a breach of contract lawsuit.

b. Explain to James what it would mean if he wins the breach of contract case, what is the legal significance to their original contract?

c. Explain to James what it would mean if their original contract contains an Arbitration clause, how would that affect a potential lawsuit?

Formalities:

· Word count: 1000 to 1500

· PDF Format

· Cover page, Table of Contents, References and Appendix are excluded of the total word count.

· Font: Arial 11 pts.

· Text alignment: Justified.

· You are encouraged to quote, laws, regulations, relevant publications, such as academic journals and books, case studies or business reports to support your arguments.

· To find relevant publications, you may browse through EBSCO (link is on Moodle) and/or Google Scholar, where you’ll find access to many publications.

· The in-text References and the Bibliography must be in Harvard’s citation style.

Submission: Week 7 – Via Moodle (Turnitin). Submission is due Week 7, 14 March before 23:59 (Barcelona’s time).

Weight: This task is a 30% of your total grade for this subject.

Outcomes: This task assesses the following learning outcomes:

· Understand the role of law as a business and management tool.

· Identify different issues and laws applicable in the context of doing business.

· Examine the different legal approaches and legal tools available for the conduct of business.

Rubrics

	Exceptional 90-100	Good 80-89	Fair 70-79	Marginal fail 60-69
Identification of main Issues/Problems 25%	Identifies and demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the main issues / problems in the case study	Identifies and demonstrates an accomplished understanding of most of the issues/problems.	Identifies and demonstrates acceptable understanding of some of the issues/problems in the case study	Does not identify or demonstrate an acceptable understanding of the issues/problems in the case study
Analysis and Evaluation of Issues / Problems 25%	Presents an insightful and thorough analysis of all identified issues/problems	Presents a thorough analysis of most of the issues identified.	Presents a superficial analysis of some of the identified issues.	Presents an incomplete analysis of the identified issues.
Development of Ideas and Opinions 25%	Supports diagnosis and opinions with strong arguments and well-documented evidence; presents a balanced and critical view; interpretation is both reasonable and objective.	Supports diagnosis and opinions with limited reasoning and evidence; presents a somewhat one-sided argument; demonstrates little engagement with ideas presented	Little action suggested and/or inappropriate solutions proposed to the issues in the case study.	No action suggested and/or inappropriate solutions proposed to the issues in the case study
Link to Legal Theories and Additional Research 25%	Makes appropriate and powerful connections between identified issues/problems and strategic concepts studied in the course readings and lectures; supplements legal cases with relevant and thoughtful research and cites all sources of information	Makes appropriate but somewhat vague connections between identified issues/problems and concepts studied in readings and lectures; demonstrates limited command of the analytical tools studied; supplements legal cases with limited research.	Makes inappropriate or little connection between issues identified and the concepts studied in the readings; supplements case study, if at all, with incomplete research and documentation.	Makes no connection between issues identified and the concepts studied in the readings; supplements case study, if at all, with incomplete research and documentation.