MGMT 108 – Spring 2007 – Prof. Freixes
BUSINESS LAW
Legal Research Assignment – (Due: 6/5/07)
One of the following research problems has been assigned to you. Your
assignment is to conduct legal research on the topic and to draft a legal memorandum of
no less than 9 pages and no more than 15 pages addressing the question(s) raised. In
your memorandum, you should cite primary or secondary sources of law to support your
analysis. To conduct your research you may use the UCLA Law Library or any other law
library at your disposal (Los Angeles County Law Library in downtown Los Angeles, the
law library at any local Superior Court building, etc.) or Weslaw online (training will be
provided 3rd week of class and is available now through the Rosenfeld Library).
Legal Research Problems
PROBLEM NO. 1: Your company owns and operates 5 retail stores in the Los Angeles
area selling sportswear and sporting goods. Its top selling merchandise is a line of
sportswear under the name of “On The Go”. The sportswear features a unique logo
depicting the black silhouette of a runner. You’ve been selling this product for ten (10)
years now and it is well known in Southern California. You have never registered your
trade name or logo with federal or state trademark agencies. Recently, a competitor has
started selling similar sportswear under the trade name “Go”, with a logo depicting the red
silhouette of a runner. You write them a letter demanding they stop using the “Go” name
and the runner logo as it infringes on your intellectual property rights. The competitor
responds with a copy of their pending federal trademark application where they seek a
trademark for the name and logo. Your intended course of action now is (1) to seek both
state and federal trademark registration of your trade name and logo and (2) to prevent the
competitor from continuing to use its similar trade name and logo. Discuss what your
common law and statutory rights are with respect to the apparent infringement of your
trade name and logo. Are you likely to prevail if you bring an infringement action (since
you’ve never registered) and what will your likely damages or remedies be if you win?
Additionally, what process must you follow to register your trade name and logo with
federal and State of California agencies, and what can you do to prevent the approval of
your competitor’s federal application?
PROBLEM NO. 2: Your company has been sued by a former employee for damages
arising from sexual harassment she suffered at the hands of her division manager. The
California Superior Court lawsuit alleges violation of federal and California statutory
discrimination statutes, as well as common law remedies. The plaintiff alleges that the
manager propositioned her for sexual favors on at least 5 occasions and, on one occasion,
grabbed her in the chest. On two occasions, he also circulated several sexually explicit
jokes via e-mail to department staff (including plaintiff). She reported the incidents to the
Human Resources Manager, then abruptly quit the company one month later. Your
company has strict rules forbidding sexual harassment and all management level
employees are required to undergo training on how to avoid discrimination in the work
place (including sexual harassment). The manager had no history of ever having sexually
harassed a worker and was previously a model employee. In your legal memorandum,
please discuss the federal and California state statutory and common law remedies
available in such suits. Additionally, address the issue of whether the company is liable for
the acts of its employee if the company had no prior knowledge of the manager’s abusive
tendencies (under both California and federal law). Also discuss the likely damages the
plaintiff may recover against the company if the company is held legally liable for the
manager’s conduct
PROBLEM NO. 3 Your company is about to purchase a 4-story office building in the Los
Angles area. You’ve agreed to pay $ 5 million, with a 20% down payment and a mortgage
financing of the balance. The sellers have agreed to finance the remaining balance with a
mortgage at 7.5% interest, amortized over 30 years, with a balloon payment in 5 years.
You can probably get a better interest rate with a commercial lender. You intend to sell the
building in 2 years and your biggest concern is whether the mortgage can be assigned to
the buyer when you sell. Discuss California law on the assignment of mortgages.
Furthermore, discuss what responsibilities you and the future buyer will have in connection
with the transfer or assignment of the mortgage when you sell the building. In your
discussion, discuss the assignment of both commercial and residential mortgages. In
addition, the seller of the building owns the adjoining property and has requested, as part
of the deal for the 4-story building, that your company provide a right of use for vehicles
visiting the seller’s adjacent property. The adjacent property has limited area for parking
and the building your company is purchasing has ample parking areas. Under the
proposal, the sellers (and any subsequent owners of the adjacent property) would pay a
monthly fee for a permanent right of use to access 20% of the spaces in the parking area
of the 4-story building. Discuss what legal arrangement and property rights are involved in
this arrangement.
PROBLEM NO. 4: Your company is considering pursuit of a Limited Public or Private
Offering of its stock in order to finance its expansion. They expect to receive financing of
between $ 3,000,000 and $6,000,000. The company incorporated and is based in
California. They wish to avoid the registration requirements of California and Federal
Securities laws. Please discuss what those registration requirements would be and
summarize how they can structure their offering to qualify under the various exemptions
that might apply to their offering (and thereby avoid the necessity of registration).
ALTERNATE PROBLEM: In lieu of choosing one of the above problems, you may draft
your own “imaginary legal problem” and conduct legal research on your chosen topic
instead. However, you must submit the proposed topic/issue to Prof. Freixes for approval
prior to commencing work on the project. The request should be submitted for approval to
Prof. Freixes no later than our 3rd class session.
Your legal memorandum will count for 30% of your overall course grade. The paper
should be single-spaced, and include footnotes (or citations in the body of text) referencing
the legal authorities that support your findings or discussion. If you wish you may pair up
with one other student and submit a joint paper (both students will then receive the same
grade). During the first three weeks of class, we will incorporate some training on legal
research to assist you in this endeavor. The assignment must be turned in no later than
Tuesday, June 5, 2007.