Approach for Answering Assignment 1. Identify the legal issues 2. State the law 3. Apply the law into the case 4. Make conclusion and/ or recommendation Structure of the Assignment Introduction: As a very rough guide, the introduction will represent a brief interpretation of the question and what you intend to cover in the essay. The introduction will be fairly short and simple, outlining for example the areas of law and main statutes that the question is concerned with. Body: The body of your answer, accounting for the majority of the word count, should demonstrate your understanding of the area and develop your argument. It is a good idea here to keep referring explicitly to the question asked. The body can be divided into sections and sub sections, presented clearly with the facts and the relevant cases, rules and statutes. Conclusion: The conclusion for essay style questions will represent about 10 - 15% of your word count. This must summarise your main findings and points, and usually will reach a conclusion and answer the question set, which must be consistent with your findings and arguments in the body of the essay. You should never introduce new points or material in the conclusion. For problem questions, the length of your conclusion will depend on how you have approached the question. If you have reached conclusions in the body of your answer, there is little point repeating them here and you may just end up summarising your findings. Tips for Doing Assignments Recommendations: These should: - emerge from the conclusions; - suggest what is to be done, who is to do it and how/when it is to be done; - be justified based on findings, not just on the opinion of the writer. Bibliography and/or Appendix: References, and supplementary materials that are too detailed for the main body of the assignment should be included as necessary. Example Assignment Case Sample Lam is the owner of a small supermarket on Lantau. He recently discovered that many goods have been stolen from his supermarket. He placed a notice in front of his shop last Monday which read: "I will give $10,000 to anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest of the persons who have stolen from my supermarket." Mak, a detective, saw the notice in front of the shop on Wednesday and began to investigate. By the end of the week, he had obtained the details of the suspects. He contacted Lam and provided him with the information. Lam then told Mak that he had withdrawn the reward notice the previous day and he refused to pay the reward to Mak. REQUIRED: Advise Mak on whether or not he could claim the reward from Lam. Rationale The question is designed to test students' knowledge of the elements of a valid contract with the focus on offer and acceptance. The main legal issues in this question are whether a legally binding contract exists between Lam and Mak i.e. any valid offer, any valid acceptance, and, in particular, whether Lam could successfully revoke his offer. Suggested Approach 1. Identify offer and acceptance as the main elements of a valid contract and the relevant issues of the assignment case 2. State the relevant legal rules that constitute a valid offer and acceptance with the support of relevant cases such as: - how offers be distinguished from other statements - the conditions that an offer can be revoked - methods of acceptance - communication of acceptance 3. Apply the rules to the facts of the assignment case and explain if there is any valid offer and acceptance in the process. 4. Search other relevant cases that can support your explanation. 5. In addition to the explanation of the offer and acceptance, briefly identify the other essential elements that are required for a valid contract in the case. 6. Conclude if there is any contract between the parties and thus advise if the reward can be claimed.

Assignment Question

Victoria, Michael and Eric enjoy playing badminton during leisure time. They knew each other in a badminton tournament held last year. They are also members of the 'Giant Badminton Club'. On 1 February 2020, Victoria saw an advertisement in the club's newsletter and knew that Michael wanted to sell his limited edition badminton racket for $1,200. She wanted to buy it as her daughter's birthday gift. Therefore, she called Michael and said: 'I am willing to accept it at $1,200.' Michael said there was a typo in the newsletter. The correct selling price should be $1,300. Victoria said, 'I agree to buy your badminton racket at $1,300 but you have to re-string your racket using pink string because my daughter likes this color.' Michael replied, 'It should be no problem but I need to think about it.' Victoria said: 'I will assume that you agree to it, unless you tell me otherwise by 5 February 2020.' On 6 February 2020, Eric met Victoria and told her that Michael had just agreed to sell his limited edition badminton racket to him for $1,400. After knowing that, Victoria was very angry because she thought agreement had been formed on 5 February 2020 since she did not receive any rejection message from Michael. She insisted that Michael was bound to sell his re-stringed racket to her at $1,300. REQUIRED: In relation to the law of contract, advise Victoria as to her legal relation with Michael from the perspectives of 'offer' and 'acceptance'.