You work for the corporate services group at Globo Tech Pty Ltd. After your manager learned that you are studying LAWS20058, you were assigned to the Start-Up team as a business law specialist. You will assist clients to understand the legal requirements of establishing a new business.

Your first client is Ronald, a coffee roaster, who recently migrated to Australia from England. Ronald now lives in Sydney, where he is embarking on a new business venture. He established a coffee roasting company in Sydneys suburbs called Backwards Pass Coffee Pty Ltd. The business will roast premium coffee that is sold to retail and wholesale clients. The business will also operate a caf at its manufacturing premises. While Ronald is very experienced in the British hospitality industry, he knows little about the Australian legal system and its commercial laws.

YOUR TASK

You must write a business report for Ronald that provides advice on all business law questions in Parts A, B and C of this assignment. The report will be given to Ronald at your first meeting as a resource he can use in setting up and then operating his business. Ronald can use the report to seek further advice on any specific legal issues.

ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

PART A FINDING LAW

Ronald has many questions about running his business in Australia. Can he serve coffee in takeaway cups with plastic lids, or is there now a ban on single use plastics? If he runs his caf on a Friday or Saturday night and wants to add beer, wine and cocktails to the menu, must he obtain a liquor license? How does he register his business as a company? If his trademark is a black-and-white image of steam coming out of a coffee cup, how can make sure that no one else uses that or a similar image? How can he dismiss staff for underperforming without being accused of unfair dismissal? If he wants to import coffee beans from Colombia, how much customs duty does he have to pay?

For start-up businesses, such as Ronalds, finding the relevant law is essential to commence and operate a business successfully in Australia. There are now numerous online legal resources, many of which vary in quality. Therefore, business people need to be able to locate and evaluate the reliability of a vast array of legal materials. This allows the most suitable legal resource to be identified and used.

In Part A of your report you must:

Identify any TWO legal issues that you think are important for Ronald to start and run his business in Australia, one of which must be a FEDERAL matter and the other must be a STATE or TERRITORY matter. You may select the issues among the list of questions Ronald has asked above or you can come up with your own. In addition to stating each issue clearly, identify whether each issue comes under (a) federal or (b) state/territory jurisdiction and give brief reasons why.

Find the TWO relevant STATUTES that regulate the two issues you selected above. Identify the online resources you used and search techniques you adopted to find the applicable legislation on each issue.

Find TWO CASES involving restaurants, cafes or food franchises decided within the last five years. One case must be a decision of a court exercising federal jurisdiction; the other, by a court exercising State or Territory jurisdiction. The legal issues can be on ANY topic potentially relevant to Ronalds business; you are not restricted to the two issues you discussed in questions 1 and 2 above. Identify the online resources you used and the search techniques you adopted to find the two cases. Summarise the legal issue in the two cases (if there are many issues, choose just one key issue); briefly describe the legal outcome the court reached; and explain briefly to Ronald the implications of these cases to his business.

350 words 10 marks

Part B business, law AND THE AUSTRALIAN LEGAL SYSTEM

Many entrepreneurs who start a small business possess limited knowledge of the Australian legal system and how legal rules and principles shape their daily operations. When undertaking the process to start-up and then operate business, it is important for entrepreneurs and their staff to understand how the key features of Australias legal system will impact their activities.

In Part B of your report you must:

Identify the key legal changes required by the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Describe the importance of the Uluru Statement in recognising indigenous peoples in the Australian legal system. Evaluate the Constitutional reforms needed to implement the key legal changes in the Uluru Statement.

Describe the key features of the separation of powers doctrine. In your answer you need to also identify the purpose of the doctrine and how it is embedded in the Australian Constitution.

Identify and describe the key features of the common law. Evaluate how the common law can change. In your answer provide one example of a common law that regulates business.

400 words 10 marks

PART C BUSINESS, AGREEMENTS AND CONTRACT LAW

In developing and implementing a business plan, your client needs to understand Australian contract law. To manage commercial and legal risks, business people need to recognise the legal obligations created by the common law of contract in creating a legally enforceable contract. Your answer in Part C must answer the following two questions.

1. Terms of a contract and remedies

Ronald requires advice on how to identify and manage the commercial and legal risk associated with entering business agreements as he is unfamiliar with Australian contract law. You must advise Ronald how contract terms and remedies impact business arrangements.

In Part C.1 of your report you must:

Identify and describe the legal differences between the classification of a term of a contract as either a condition or a warranty. Evaluate the different commercial impact of breaching a condition or a warranty in relation to available remedies. Your answer must be supported by common law of contract legal principles and cases. Do not discuss statute law.

Identify and describe three types of remedies available when a contract has been breached. In your answer identify whether each remedy is a common law remedy or equitable remedy. Identify the relevant dispute forum that would issue each type of remedy.

There are multiple forms of dispute resolution for resolving commercial disputes. Identify and describe the key features of litigation and arbitration. Evaluate the benefits and limitations of each method of dispute resolution.