Takem’s Appliances and Electronics Sally Walker, a resident of Virginia, fell behind on her payment of computer purchased and financed through Takem’s Appliances and Electronics, LLC. After the initiation of the collection process, Sally responded with a letter stating the contract is unconscionable and therefore unenforceable, that she “paid enough” and would not make any further payments, and she will sue for punitive damages and share her story with the local media. Tommy Takem, the owner and operator of Takem’s Appliances and Electronics, LLC, is seeking advice on four questions. Does the letter have any merit or should he proceed with collections? What can he do to protect himself from future litigation and public pressure? …show more content…
Takem’s office staff file all financing paperwork with the appropriate state office. Despite a high rate of default, Takem’s business maintains its profitability through a combination of collections, repossessions, fees and charges, higher prices, and markups. Because of the nature of door-to-door sales, this paper will assume that Takem’s sales team caries small appliances on hand and larger appliance require a second delivery date. The assignment states “Tommy tends to charge about 10-20 % more than most other retail outlets.” It must be assumed that this compares with business in similar geographical settings, that all other costs, such as wages and rent, are comparable, and the 10-20% applies to all services not expressly stated, such as delivery charges. Furthermore, although aggressive in their sales technique, nothing refutes the idea that the contracts are understandable to the layperson. Sally’s statement that “she paid enough” for the computer implies she made at least half of the payment prior to defaulting.
Discussion
Existing Case Law Common law, or judgemade law or case law, is “law made and applied by judges as they decide cases not governed by statutes or other types of law (Christman, 1999).” Two cases have direct relationship with Tommy’s questions. The first case, Henningsen v. Bloomfield Motors, Inc (1960), the Henningsen suffered personal injures by a defect in the steering mechanism. They sued when the
On the fourth of July in 1776 the United States became an independent nation. At that point in time, the foundation for a formal legal system was put into place. One of the oldest sources of law is the common law, which dates back to the colonial days. In the case of Davis v. Baugh, the common law rule was used in the first court trial. Common law refers back to precedent cases of similar disputes and assists the judge in making a decision after comparing both cases. Utilizing this ruling to resolve disputes in court is very helpful because it provides uniformity in court. This rule also provides an expectation of what the verdict will be based off the prior cases. Most importantly, common law allows the judge to remain neutral without the implication of personal bias on each case (Meiners, 2012, pp. 9-10).
Common law developed in the judicial system of England and its colonies before 1776. Statutory law refers to the body of law that is enacted by state and federal legislatures. Common law is not in any particular form; it consists of quotable statements taken from relevant opinions by prior judges, as well as ancient statutes, and is often summarized in legal treatises. Statutory law is found in the current published laws of each jurisdiction and is relatively concise. Although most states have adopted common law by legislative decree, state legislatures do not feel obligated to pass statutes consistent with common law, and inconsistent statutes supersede common law. Only in areas in which the legislature has not acted does common law serve as the primary authority. For example, the adoption of the Uniform Commercial Code in each state changed some rules of common law previously in effect.
In this assignment I will be giving advice to Rick’s girlfriend on whether she has a legal right to return the laptop that Rick bought for her. I will be analysing whether a valid contract was formed and who it was formed with.
Modern day common law is adjudicated similarly with it being judged according to available statutes or acts enacted by legislative bodies and decisions made in previous cases after all evidence and facts are attained. The decisions of a court/judge are binding only in a particular jurisdiction (area of control or influence), and even within jurisdiction, some courts have more power than others. Due to this before a decision is made it must be accepted by higher courts (Statute and Common Law, 2014).
One of the many resources available to Home Depot is the use of environmentally friendly supplies. Recently, Home Depot began shifting to greener products and practices, such as no longer using wood from the Amazon forest, and removing harmful chemicals like formaldehyde from their paint products. They have also began to use water recycling pumps for their irrigation centers and are in the process of creating solar powered roofs for their stores which can drastically reduce their carbon footprint. Home Depot is also recycling and reusing as much as they can, from lightbulbs to power tools. The VRINE model below measures the impact of this resource. Although it is valuable and exploitable, it is not rare or non-substitutable. This makes it a valuable resource for the short term but not a sustainable resource for competitive advantage.
Common law is law originating from use and custom rather than from written statutes. The term refers to non-statutory customs, traditions, and precedents that help guide judicial decision making (Schmalleger). The judge
Common law is also known as case law, or law by precedent, is a type of legal tradition developed through decisions of legal bodies (courts, tribunals, etc.). Common law systems originated in Anglo-Saxon England as opposed to the Roman Empire, and believe that legal precedent, based on cultural tradition, should carry more weight that judicial mandates. Courts look at an incident and use what was found and decided as a way to base future decisions, thus guaranteeing a more solid legal tradition; but only binding in particular jurisdictions (Plucknett, 2001). Law in the United States is based on common law, using the Constitution as the backbone for all legal theory. The system of law coming from the three branches of government and moving from the Federal system down to the local levels, and in the case of appeals, from the local level up to the U.S. Supreme Court, is part of the idea of federalism and is based on the assumption
Historically, common law emphasized the importance of judicial decisions rather than utilizing the structure of codes, legal rules, and statutes as courts do today. In the past, judges documented and issued their decisions which were later circulated from one court to another and became known as common law. In cases where parties disagreed, common law court would look at previous decisions made in related cases and incorporate those decisions into the current case (Siegel, et al., 2011). If similar disputes had been resolved in the previous case, the court would utilize the same perspective to resolve their current case. This became known as precedent and like common law, continues to be utilized in today’s court system (Siegel, et al., 2011).
To begin, common law originated in Medieval England in the time of King Henry II. The practice developed sending circuit judges from the King’s central court to travel throughout England to hear the various disputes. The aim of these courts (assizes) was to add consistency and fairness to the legal system. Alongside the traveling courts King Henry also established the jury system. Over time these judges recorded the information of each case they heard as well as the decisions and punishments that were ordered. This is known as case law or common law. This began a justice system that relied on the principle of stare decisis or “to stand by the decision”. This principle developed into the rule of precedent which was used to apply the previous decision to a case with similar circumstance. This system was used throughout the country and thus was known as common law. As the English began colonizing Canada they brought their legal systems with them, which greatly influenced today’s legal system.
Common law relies on precedents set by other courts (QuickMBA, 2010). In applying this law, judges refer to the findings and rulings of other courts (QuickMBA, 2010). This law is mostly used in state courts (QuickMBA, 2012). The origins of this practice can be traced back to the 13th century, when the royal judges began writing their decisions and the reasons that informed them (QuickMBA, 2012). The Common law is often applied in solving cases involving schools. These cases revolve around the freedom of expression.
Common law is the system of laws, which originated and were developed in England, that are “based on court decisions, on the doctrines implicit in those decisions, and on customs and usages rather than on codified written laws” (Melvin, 2011). In other words, common law is law that is made by judges not by the legislature. It is law that is based on court precedent and it evolves over time. Statutory law, which is also referred to as statute law “is written law established by enactments
The 3rd party debt collection industry is notorious for skirting the Federal Rules of Evidence and Civil Procedure from the inception of a lawsuit to the granting of a judgment. Since both of these ideas do not generally apply to small claims court, and most defendants of these lawsuits are not represented, this industry has been allowed to run roughshod over the constitutional rights of defendants and clog the small claims court system with cases that would be easily thrown out of higher courts.
This gave Rick an opportunity to take those frozen accounts and start his own collections agency with the vast amount of local and international accounts and connections that National University previously provided. This was a start to a new business altogether, and without National as an overhead, Rick was able to make substantially more profit for himself and his three co-partners that he brought in with him to Legal Recovery Law Offices. Along with his own savings, his three partners also matched his investment into the new business allowing them to support starting costs and equipment needed for the business. When Rick started the business, he said “The field was relatively new. Few rules or laws, if any, applied to us and we were able to have free reign on the industry.” He was able to partner with Capital One, Visa and MasterCard. When he started, many laws and rules that we see today in this field didn’t apply, but now the collections field has seen a vast drop in growth as more and more laws are enforced and more fees and lawsuits continue to add up for collection firms. Legal Recovery was one of California’s industry leaders and until recently, had been able to survive, but Rick stated, “The current legal measures and rules against publicly owned collections agencies is astronomical, our only option was to shut down and open a separate firm in a different direction.”
Common Law is
Common law - that part of the English law not embodied in legislation. It consists of rules of law based on common custom and usage and on judicial court decisions. English common law became the basis of law in the USA and many other English-speaking countries.