02 Oct The Legal Environment of Business: Chapter 14, Agency and the Employment Relationship
Order Instructions
The Legal Environment of Business: Chapter 14, Agency and the Employment Relationship
DISCUSSION FORUM
Write briefly (a paragraph or two)
(A) John Jones is a purchasing agent for XYZ Materials, Inc. He negligently hits a pedestrian while picking up a load of supplies in XYZ’s truck. Discuss who is liable, John Jones, XYZ Materials or both of them, and why.
(B) Smith & Reese, LLC, a law office, hires a new attorney, Stevens, as an employee. Smith does all of the hiring for the firm. He interviews Stevens twice before hiring him. Smith makes sure that the LLC hires Stevens, so that the LLC, rather than Smith or Reese personally, will be the principal in any transactions initiated by Stevens.
Ten months later, Stevens commits an act of malpractice, costing a client $400,000 in losses. It is discovered that Stevens actually had dropped out of law school in his first year. This fact was never discovered by the firm, as Smith found him knowledgeable concerning the law during the two interviews and never conducted a background check.
1. Is Smith liable? Under what legal theory would Smith be liable? What about Reese?
2. Is the law firm liable?
3. If the law firm is liable, under what legal theory would the law firm be liable?
1 paragraph for (A) and 1 paragraph for (B)
