Assignment:
Question
Imagine you are a group of lawyers working in the legal department of a large telecommunications company called -Gateway Mobile-. Gateway Mobile sells phone plans, handsets, and phone accessories in stores all over Australia.
The CEO of Gateway Mobile is Sarah Lee. Sarah has contacted your team for advice in the following memo:
Dear Legal Department,
I am seeking your trusted guidance about a few issues that have been on my mind lately. Could you please prepare a letter of advice about the following matters?
1. I have recently read about several ethical scandals in the media that have greatly damaged the reputations of some large companies. I want to learn from their mistakes and ensure that Gateway Mobile does not get caught up in anything similar. Can you identify two ethical issues that we could potentially face in our business and how we can take steps to prevent them? Are there any legal requirements aware of that relat to these ethical issues?
2. The demographic of our customers is getting younger and younger. With the rise of social media and apps like TikTok, we are seeing more teenagers walk through the doors of our stores to sign up to phone plans with lots of data. What does the law say about entering a contract with minors? Are our contracts with teenage customers still valid?
3. As you know, we often enter contracts with other businesses to supply corporate phone plans and handsets. Most of these contracts have been in place for years. I have heard that there have been some changes to contract laws to protect small businesses, and I am worried that our contracts might now be considered -unfair-. In particular, we usually provide standard form contracts that allow us to increase our prices whenever we want, as well as automatic renewal of the contract (unless the customer gives notice to terminate). Do I have anything to worry about?
I appreciate your prompt advice about the above issues. Please make sure you reference legislation, case law and journal articles in your response so I can go back to trace the source of your advice if I need more information.
Yours sincerely,
Sarah Lee
Referencing Style: APA Referencing Style. Refer to the Australian Guide to Legal Citation for rules on how to cite legal sources.
Length of Assignment: Maximum 2000 words
Please use the following format:
• Minimum 12-point font
• Single spaced and typewritten
• Include footnotes with full citations and a bibliography (included in the word limit)