Complete the text with the appropriate contractual phrases from the previous 2 posts:

1. You may not sublicense, assign or transfer the license or any programs ………….. Any attempt to otherwise sublicense, assign, or transfer any of the rights, duties or obligations hereunder is null and void.
2. If an offender is charged with a criminal offence and the court has reason to believe that drug or alcohol usage by the offender was a factor leading to the offender’s criminal behaviour, the court may accept, prior to the entry of a guilty plea, the offender’s request for intervention …………. of conviction.
3. The High Court has ruled that where a contract is expressed to be governed by English Law, the contract must be …………. English law principles of contract construction despite the contract being in US form.
4. In …………., there is the case of certain manufactured products, where there is no need to prove negligence but the injured party must prove that the product was defective.
5. Auditors from Deloitte have issued a …………. warning on the accounts of Hull City, the embattled Premier League Club facing relegation that this week sacked its manager.
6. Copying, dissemination or other publication of this article or parts thereof without the …………. of ČTK is expressly forbidden.
7. The third report of the independent reviewer …………. section 14(3) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.
8. If the …………. of qualified mortgage credit certificates (as defined in paragraph (b)) issued by an issuer under a qualified mortgage credit certificate program exceeds 20 percent of the nonissued bond amount (as defined in paragraph (c)), the provisions of paragraph (d) shall apply.
9. Collateral will be released upon the receipt of a Release of Liability and ………… by the Obligee, or a replacement bond containing language releasing Amwest Surety Insurance Company of any and all obligations, subject to the approval of the Liquidator or his representatives.
10. When running a business both you and your staff will …………. that are on behalf of the business.

Answers:1)…except as expressly provided in this Agreement 2)…in lieu 3)…construed in accordance with 4)…matters of a product liability nature 5)…going concern 6)…prior written consent 7)…pursuant to 8)…aggregate amount 9)…Discharge of Liability 10)…incur expenses

Every English law student will be familiar with the famous case of Donoghue v Stevenson. On August 26, 1928, Mrs May Donoghue sat in the Wellmeadow Café in Paisley and drank a ginger beer. The bottle contained the decomposed remains of a snail. Mrs Donoghue (1)…………. from shock and severe gastro-enteritis. She (2)…………. the manufacturer for negligence. Lord Atkin (3)………… that, “You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour”. Her case was settled for £200. Many claimants have since won similar cases, although others have lost.

Now here is a modern-day case. A dead fly was at the bottom of a drinking water bottle in a kitchen in Windsor, Ontario, when it was seen by Martin Mustapha and his wife. He became obsessed with the event and its implications for the health of his family. Then he (4)…………. a major depressive disorder, phobia and anxiety that (5)…………. his sleep, sex life, business and willingness to take showers. He sued Culligan, the Canadian company that .(6)………… the water bottle, for $341,000 for psychiatric injury. The trial judge (7)…………. him damages but the Canadian Supreme Court has just rejected his claim.

Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin states in the unanimous ruling that the injuries were not “reasonably foreseeable” by ordinary standards. She said Mustapha (8)…………. to show that it was foreseeable that “a person of ordinary fortitude” (9)…………. serious injury from seeing the fly in the bottle of water.

Mustapha (10)…………. the case cost him $500,000 as the result of therapy and legal fees. The case has buzzed in the heads of all the lawyers, doctors, and company directors for six years, and has now had the attention of 12 senior Canadian judges. The total cost is over $1 million and has taken over 50,000 person-at-work hours if you include all the court officials and administrative staff. Don’t underestimate the impact a fly or a snail can make on the world!

Answers: 1) …suffered 2) …sued 3) …stated 4) …developed 5) …affected 6) …supplied 7) …awarded …failed 9) …would suffer 10) …claims

There are many thousands of phrasal verbs and we will already know quite a few. We must try to focus on the phrasal verbs which we are likely to use in our work and then try to learn a few as often as we can.

Match the following phrasal verbs with the correct definition:

1. To exclude, eliminate or make impossible ………….
2. To give the details of something or to explain it, especially in writing, in a clear, organised way………….
3. If a company or business does this, it fails financially………….
4. To do or complete something, especially something important………….
5. If someone does this somewhere, they arrive at that place ………….

Complete the sentences with the phrasal verbs so that they make sense:

1. The company’s Articles of Association ………….  the duties expected of its directors.
2. Only a handful of shareholders bothered to …………. for the Extraordinary General Meeting.
3. The recent amendments to The Companies Act (1985) …………. many tax concessions previously available to businesses.
4. Enron and World.com …………. in the summer of 2003 amidst widespread scandal.
5. Before their collapses, Enron’s and World.com’s annual audits …………. by Arthur Anderson.

Answers: 1) rule out 2) set out 3) go under 4) carry out 5) turn up

1) …sets out 2) …to turn up 3) …rule out 4) …went under 5) …had been carried out

Gresham College lectures

Gresham College, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1597, is an independently funded educational institution based in Barnard’s Inn, Holborn, in the centre of London. It provides free public lectures by its eight professors and holds other events. The college does not award degrees or teach courses.
The lectures which are naturally a high level, are usually available in streaming audio and video and downloadable audio and video, ± 60 min. –  transcripts are available

We are living in an age of remarkable intellectual property appropriation – copyright, trademarks, patents and commercial secrets grow at an unprecedented rate. However, is this right or appropriate? Do the new owners deserve these rights, what might it mean for society, are there alternative ways of governing intellectual property – who wins and who loses? This lecture will explore one of the thorniest areas of the modern economy and question whether global advancement needs ‘closed source’, or should go increasingly ‘open source’.

• LINK to Lecture and Transcript

Complete the sentences with the correct preposition:

into             by             on             against             for

1) After the investigation, the three managers were arrested ……. fraud.

2) The downturn in the economy had an adverse effect  ……. the M&A business last year.

3) An action was brought ……. them in the civil court.

4) Commercial law in this area is governed ……. international treaties.

5) The contract comes ……. force on the 23 July.

Answers:  1) …for 2) …on 3) …against 4) …by 5) …into

Prior written consent. Written authorisation obtained beforehand.

In lieu of. Instead of.

Matters of a product liability nature. Things related to any manufacturing defects in the products.

Going concern. An operating business whose sale would include the value of any goodwill and not just individual assets.

Pursuant to. In accordance with.

Check your knowledge with this Exercise:

This weeks audio focusses on the international legal problems faced by the many countries whose ships are being hijacked at sea by the Somalian Pirates. Many wonder why they are not just shot out of the water on sight, but in fact the merchant cargo ships, the insurers, and the many State navies are also caught in a mesh of overlapping laws of the sea. And countries like Denmark, the EU and the US are at loggerheads about how to handle it all.

• Link to TRANSCRIPT
• Link to AUDIO

1)      In US state of Alabama, it is illegal to drive a vehicle while blindfolded.

2)      In US state of Ohio, it is against the law to get a fish drunk.

3)      In London, it is illegal to try to stop a taxi if you have the plague.

4)      In France, you must never give a pig the name Napoleon.

5)      In the UK, it is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside down.

6)      In San Salvador, the punishment for drunk driving can be anything up to death by firing squad.

7)      In US state of Kentucky, it is illegal to carry a concealed weapon more than six-feet long(1.8m).

8)      It is against the law to die in the Houses of Parliament, England.

9)      Welshmen are banned from entering the English city of Chester before sunrise and from staying after sunset.

10)   In the UK city of York, it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow.