Question 1
It has been a bad two weeks for Peter Murphy, MD of Alpha Construction Ltd. He is very concerned about two incidents that are unconnected, but occurred on or near the company’s construction site in Bray, that could place the company in great difficulty.
Ten days ago, Kirwan Coaches’ owner Sean Kirwan sent an angry email demanding an urgent response to material damage. On a Sunday morning, a concrete slab was found embedded inside one of his vehicles. The luxury coach was parked on a public road beside the construction site. There were no eyewitnesses to the calamity, but Sean has taken photographs of a crane located on site with what appears to be broken harnessing. There were very strong winds recorded by the Met Office, over the same weekend. Sean Kirwan has indicated that he will be instructing his solicitors to sue for the damage.
Seven days ago, Paul Smith (the father of Adam Smith) has also made contact with Peter.
Paul has told Peter to ’lawyer-up’ and prepare to be sued for injuries caused to ‘young Adam’ who is only 15 years old. It would appear that Adam was assaulted by Peter Murphy’s brother David who is the site foreman in Bray. Adam apparently strayed onto the site and was practicing some ParKour/ free-running moves. David Murphy, the foreman shouted at Adam to leave the site and gave chase to him. While in pursuit, David threw a rock which hit Adam on the back of the head and caused him to stumble and fall into a four-foot hole and fracture his ankle. David Murphy then called the gardai and an ambulance.
Advise Peter Murphy as to the legal direction likely to be taken by Kirwan coaches in holding Alpha Construction liable.
Advise Peter Murphy as to the relevant legal issues that need to be considered in dealing with Adam’s claim against Alpha Construction Ltd.
Please refer to the main types of liability that the company might face and relevant legislation and precedent.
If Adam had been found with matches and flame accelerant on his person when the gardai came to help him get out of the hole, could this be a significant issue.
Please limit your answer to this question to 1,000 words maximum. 40 marks
Question 2
Pat is a self-employed construction manager who was in need of a new pc. He was very keen on buying the new ‘Surfox’brand, nicknamed the Apple-killer among many social influencers who he is greatly convinced by in terms of all high tech products.
So six weeks ago, he went to PCs-R –Us Ltd, a retail specialist close to his home. He visited the store and spoke to a sales person, and on that person’s recommendation he agreed to buy the new XTC model, just launched by Surfox. The cost was € 890 plus vat. When the salesperson went into the stockroom, she found that there were no more available on the shelf and that the next order coming in, would take several weeks to arrive, due to Brexit complications.
Pat needed one immediately. Not wishing to disappoint the customer, the salesperson offered to sell the display model. Pat looked at this item and noticed some surface scratches. The salesperson suggested that this was only a minor problem from’ a little wear and tear’ and kindly offered to reduce the price by € 190. Pat liked the deal being offered and took out his debit card as the transaction was going through, the salesperson informed him that no refunds would be given to customers purchasing display models.
Last week, the XTC collapsed (crashed) and he can’t get any response from the keyboard. When Pat took it to his friend, Vinny, who runs a mobile telephone and pc repair shop he was told the operating system was terminally damaged and is beyond repair.
Advise Pat on his predicament.
Particularly explain his rights and any appropriate remedies and the forum where he can make his complaint. Please cite sections of relevant legislation and salient case law.
Please limit your answer to 800 words maximum. 20 marks
Question 3
Heritage Homes is a successful construction company. In October 2020, it came into ownership of an old flourmill, which it planned to turn into 40 luxury apartments. It entered into a contract with X-Quizit Gardens Ltd later that month, to transform the old flourmill car park into luxurious gardens.
The time period to complete the contract was estimated was to take between three and four months. Last week, just before X-Quizit Gardens Ltd started work on the car park, a number of historical objects were discovered beneath a large paving stone in the car park. Heritage Homes contacted Fingal County Council to ask what to do. The Council immediately exercised its statutory powers and served notice on Heritage Homes and X-Quizit Gardens Ltd, making it unlawful to carry out any further work on the car park for a period of one year, while it was excavated for other historical artefacts.
Explain to X-Quizit Gardens as to their legal position and whether they can sue for this unexpected delay or loss of a contract. Please refer to any salient case law in your explanation.
Please limit your answer to 500 words maximum 10 marks
Question 4
Sarah Mooney sold her Quantity Surveying practice ( client list but not the premises) to Molly Maguire for € 120,000 in July 2020. Sarah Mooney agrees to a term in the contract of sale not to start up any new business which would compete directly or indirectly with Molly’s new ownership of the practice, for a period of twelve months.
Last week, Molly was told by a client, that he was approached by Sarah in the hope that he might be interested in her new project management services company that she had just set up in January of 2021.
Advise Molly as to her contractual position along with rights and remedies, if any. Please refer to salient case law.
Please limit your answer to 500 words maximum. 10 marks
Submission date as per agreement
Other requirements
- Times New Roman
- 1.5 spacing
- All submissions to be spell checked.
- Normal referencing method to be applied.
