Project 1: Introduction to the Legal Environment of Business
Step 4: Gather and Analyze Information
As you read through the materials, try to begin answering the questions Vice President Dodger asked you. You will likely encounter many new legal concepts, so take notes about which sections apply to this case so that you can easily refer back to them when you begin to write your presentation. The VP’s precise questions about the legal issues are as follows:
• Can Colossal Corporation terminate Alex without any notice or a hearing? Why or why not? This question relates to employment-at-will.
• Did Alex, Nick, Bill, or Juanita commit any crimes and, if so, which crimes did each person commit? Fully explain your answer for each person as you explore the subject of business criminal law.
• What defenses, if any, might the relevant persons allege in response to the crimes you identified? Fully explain your answer for each person.
• Did Alex, Nick, Bill, or Juanita commit any intentional torts and, if so, which intentional torts did each person commit? Read about the law of tortsin order to make your determinations.
• What defenses, if any, might the relevant persons allege in response to the intentional torts you identified? Fully explain your answer for each person.
• Can anyone collect damages for the intentional torts? Who can collect and whom would they sue? Detail the specific damages that may be available to potential plaintiffs as you read about tort damages.
In the next step, you will formalize your thoughts so that they are ready to put into your presentation.
Project 1: Introduction to the Legal Environment of Business
Step 5: Focus on Your Rationale and Conclusions: Create Your Outline
You’ve finished your research. You’ve reflected on how the facts and the law come together in this situation. You’ve analyzed the possible arguments and determined which seem most reasonable. Now it is time to formulate these arguments, addressing all the issues raised by the narrative in the Blue Mood Clothing, Inc. case file Vice President Dodger gave you.
Outline your presentation to the leadership team, either on paper or in a Word document; don’t make the PowerPoint yet. Review your outline to make certain it covers all relevant points and progresses in a logical order. Identify the major bullet points that you will highlight on your slides, and allocate the appropriate supporting information to each bullet point—make sure that you have adequately covered all the relevant arguments or reasons needed to support them. In the next step, you’ll use your outline to create the PowerPoint presentation for the VP.
