TASK 1 – Class Action
1/ Which of the features presented in the chapter “Relationship with consumers” (chapter 8) of the requested book are present in the film in question?
In Class action, the story takes place in America, in San Francisco. Two law firms confront one another about a conflict between a simple citizen (a consumer) against a car firm called Argo (a merchant). The consumer accuses the company of being responsible of the failure and defaults of the car. In this part of the case study, there will be the relationship between specific points of Brian L Nelson, the relation between sellers and buyers, and the movie. The first part will define the contract, which means the framework. Then it will show the different aspects of the disclosure obligations like the formal aspect, the moral aspect, the way Argo could have defend their case and the economic aspect (also known as the “counter-beans”)…
The first and main part of the film is the type of contract between both parts. The category of contract establishes and defines which laws and rules are applicable in the legal and juridical procedure. In this case, it is a contract of will, which means that the first part, the buyer, is free to choose what product he wants to buy and the contract results of his will to purchase one of the products on sale. In other words, it is a consumer transaction (“merchant-to-consumer sale of goods and services”).
From this type of contract, follows an important rule created by governments in order to protect the general market of consumers. The disclosure obligation has been created to protect the consumers against the former commercial law, which are inadequate to prevent personal interests of the consumers. The disclosure obligation is also known as “The right to know”. In Class action, the Argo company should have specified in the sale report (accessible to consumers) that the car will explode if the left-blinker is switched-on and in the same time, the car is struck