Assignment:
The short case illustrated below tell a simple story of a company that has many legal issues at the same time. Imagine that you are a legal consultant, and analyze the case in 2-3 pages explaining and addressing the fundamental legal issues.
You don't have to cite cases, nor explain the law in details. E.x, you don't have to spend half a page explaining each law, summarize it in several sentences if needed. Imagine that you were asked to write a memo about the legal status for the company in your opinion to the CEO, assuming the CEO does not really have a great deal of law background.
So, once you analyzed the case, and explained the legal issue, tie it with the applicable law and mention some of the potential consequences. and prob advise what the CEO should do. E.x you might say as the US government questioning the commission paid to the Mexican officials, there might be potential legal issues under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and I'm advising the CEO to do so and so about that.
(This case is doesn't specify the details, for example the commission amount paid to the Mexican official is not specified, also it does not specify weather the US government has evidence that there's bribery or they are just questioning, so you might explain all potential scenarios.)
This case is given to MBA student for basic International business class. Here are the laws cover in class, which might be applicable in this case:
- Sovereignty Jurisdiction
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
- Sovereign Immunity/Act of State
- Extraterritoriality
- Contracts: Model Arbitration Clause
- Sale of Goods Contracts
- Letters of Credit.
- Shipment Contract
- Trade and Arbitration
- Contracts for the International Sale of Goods
Case Scenario:
Boston Pet Food Corporation (BPF) is a global corporation headquartered in MA. Its website is accessible globally from which customers can purchase its vast selection of pet products. In addition to its global Internet sales, it has operations in Mexico and Italy.
BFP has recently established a joint venture in China that produces dog and cat food much of which is exported to the US for sale. This joint venture appears to be connect to the Chinese government. Unfortunately, there have been toxic shipment and US pet owners have filed suits against BFP and it Chinese joint venture in the US for their pets’ deaths.
These shipments from china to the US are financed by letters of credit as requiredby the Chines government. They are issued by BFP’s NY bank and payable through Hong Kong Bank. As a consequence of these events, BFP has instructed NY Bank to instruct Hong Kong Bank not to pay the letters of Credit. Meanwhile, BFP has negotiated contracts with government officials in Mexico to establish another plant just south of the border. However, the US Government has questioned the commissions paid to obtain these contracts as well as BFP’s potential market dominance in Mexico. Also, Mexican citizens are filing suits in the US for their pets’ death. BFP defends by claiming lack of jurisdiction. This is interesting since BFP is suing a website called www.bfp.com, an Internet business in Ireland that sells similar products. BFP has filed suit against www.bfp.com in federal court of MA for trademark infringement.