1. Natalie runs a business selling second-hand laptop computers. She knows that her friend Noura – a student who has just started her studies at the university – is interested in buying a laptop.
Natalie writes a letter to Noura telling her that she can have a laptop with a one- year warranty for £200. Noura replies by email that she is interested but will have to think about it. Natalie replies that she will consider the laptop sold to Noura unless she hears otherwise.
Noura does not say anything and Natalie does not follow up. A year passes after Natalie’s last email. In the meantime, a shortage of laptops in the market causes the average price of second-hand laptops to double.
Noura sends a letter to Natalie saying: ‘I accept your offer to buy the laptop for £200’. After the letter is posted, but before it is received, Natalie sells all of her stock to Bryan.
Advise Natalie and Noura as to the legal issues that may arise.
2. Ahmad is an accountant. Martha, who owns and runs a travel agency is one of Ahmad’s clients. Martha pays Ahmad a fee of £1,000/month for his services, according to a contract they signed a few months ago.
As a result of the COVID19 pandemic, many of Ahmad’s clients face financial difficulties, and some no longer need his services.
Martha’s business is struggling, and she is thinking of ending the contract with Ahmad because she can no longer afford it. Worried about the loss of clients which he may not be able to gain back after the pandemic is over, Ahmad promises to reduce his fee to £500/month, even though he will spend the same number of hours doing Martha’s accounts.
As a result, Martha keeps the contract with Ahmad. After a vaccine is discovered, Martha’s sales go back to their pre-pandemic levels. Yet, she rejected Ahmad’s notice to go back to the £1,000/month rate, saying that he has promised to accept £500. Two months after the notice, Ahmad decides that it is enough, and he wants to bring a claim against Martha demanding the payment of his full fees since the pandemic started.
Advise Ahmad as to the legal issues that may arise.
(There are 2 questions and each question need to be answered with 750 words. Footnotes and bibliography are not included in the word count.)
