Business Law Final Law Term Paper Research Coursework

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
Business Law Final - Spring 2020
1. Briefly, what are the roles of management, shareholders and the board of directors in running a
publicly-traded corporation?
2 What is the purpose of an administrative agency in U.S. government?
3. In exchange for legal services rendered to her by the law firm of Westmoreland, Hall and
Bryan, Barbara Hodge wrote the following letter: “I agree to pay to your firm as attorneys’ fees
the sum of $2,760, payable at the rate of $230 per month for 12 months beginning January 1,
2004. Very truly yours, Barbara Hodge.” Is this letter a negotiable instrument?
4 . What does it mean to “pierce the corporate veil”?
5. Why is it preferable to be a holder in due course?
6. Norman was organizing a new corporation, the Collins Home Construction Company.
Fairchild knew the corporation was not yet formed but made a contract by which he agreed to sell
certain goods to Collins. The corporation was later organized and it ratified the contract with
Norman. Fairchild did not perform on the contract and was sued by Collins. Fairchild’s defense
was that he never made a contract with Collins and that a corporation that does not exist could
not have made a contract. Were these valid defenses?
7. a) Luke, Leia and Han own the Millennium Falcon as joint tenants with right of survivorship. Luke decides to sell his interest to Yoda. A) What kind of interest do Leia, Han and Yoda
have in the ship after the sale? b) A tragic plutonium explosion took the lives of Leia and Han.
Yoda claimed the Falcon by survivorship. Was he entitled to it?
8. The Wakes owned a tract of land. They used one part of the tract as a farm and the other as a
cattle ranch. Each spring and fall, the Wakes drove cattle from the ranch over an access road on
the farm to Butler Springs, In December 1956, the Wakes sold the farm portion of the land to
the Hesses. The contract of sale expressly reserved an easement for the Wakes to use the Butler
Springs water. In 1963, the Hesses sold the farm to the Johnsons. The new contract referred to
the Wakes’ easement. The Wakes continued to use the access road until 1964, when they sold
their ranch and granted the Butler Springs easement to the purchasers. The ranch later changed
hands several times, but each owner continued to use the access road and Butler Springs. In
1978, shortly after the Nelsons bought the ranch, the Johnsons sent them a letter “revoking
permission” to use the access road. The Nelsons alleged that they had easement rights in the
Butler Springs area and the access road leading to it. Were they correct?
9. For determining whether property used by a partnership is partnership property or a partner's
property, a court will consider several indicia of ownership, including the following: 1). Whether
title is held in the name of the partnership. 2). Who pays for repair and maintenance of the
property. 3) An agreement between the partners concerning who owns the property. Rank these
indicia in order of importance in deciding ownership. You don’t need to explain why.
10. Scrooge McDuck patented an “amphibious marsh craft.” Five years later, Huey, Louie and
Dewey — who had worked for McDuck as welders — began marketing a similar craft. The
brothers’ craft differed from the description in McDuck’s patent application in several respects.
Overall, though, the brothers’ boat performed most of the same functions about as effectively as
the McDuck boat. It used many of the same engineering concepts and techniques. Have Huey,
Louie and Dewey infringed on Uncle Scrooge’s patent?
11. Lyle and Susie have three children. All three children are adults. Lyle and Susie visited
their attorney to plan their estates. They wish to leave equal shares of their estates to their
children, but they are concerned that one child will not be able to handle an inheritance. What
should they do with respect to his share?
12. Louisa executed a will naming her two sons as executors and leaving all her property to
them. The will was properly signed and attested to by witnesses. Thereafter, Louisa died. The
original of the first will was discovered, along with two other instruments that were dated after
the first will. One was a handwritten document (Will # 2) that left her home to her grandson,
with the remainder to her two sons. The other document found in the safe-deposit box (Will # 3)
was a typed version of Will # 2. Will #3 was signed by Louisa but not properly witnessed.
Should any of these documents be admitted to probate?
13. George and Milton went to lunch at the Second Avenue Deli. George left his raincoat with
the coatroom attendant, while Milton hung his raincoat on a hook near the booth. After their
meal, Milton discovered that someone had taken his raincoat and George’s raincoat could not be
found in the coatroom. The coatroom attendant told George he thought someone might have
taken it while he was on a break. Both George and Milton sued the restaurant, claiming that the
restaurant was a bailee of the raincoats and had a duty to return them. Decide.
14. Microsoft Corporation marketed its Windows program by bundling it together with its own
versions of spreadsheet, browser and word processing programs. Microsoft told retail vendors
that the vendors could not sell computers with the Windows operating system unless they sold
the bundled versions of the other software programs. Sales of competitors’ spreadsheet, browser
and word processing programs were severely impacted. Did Microsoft violate the law?
15. Nielson had limited authority to purchase cattle for his principal, Hauser Packing Company.
Christensen, who knew of Nielson’s limited authority and also knew Neilson was exceeding that
authority, nevertheless contracted with Nielson to sell cattle to the packing company. When
Hauser refused to accept the cattle, Christensen brought suit against Nielson for damages. Who
wins and why?