HH not guaranteed
Exam season is fast approaching. Once you’re done polishing your maps and outlines, make sure you try some of our totally real practice questions. Good luck!
Contract Law
Philip Benson is a world-class equestrian. His collection of horses is vast and varied, although his favourite is the beloved Rose 2d of Flavelle. While he believes her to be old and slow, and certainly not fit for racing, she is nonetheless Benson’s favourite horse as she was gifted to him by his mother when he was young.
Benson is now retired from his racing career and is looking forward to a long and well-deserved retirement. He no longer needs an army of horses at his disposal. He tells his sister, Larissa, to “sell all the racing horses” by the time he comes back from his vacation. If she manages to do so, he promises her that he’ll stop complaining forever, a horrible trait he inherited from his mother.
Larissa would do anything for Benson to stop complaining. The day after Benson’s flight, she puts an ad up on Facebook Marketplace: “SELLING: Philip Benson’s horse collection! Valued at $1,000,000! Selling for $500,000. Will sell to the first person who comments on this post and DMs me.”
Billy Chapman, Benson’s longtime rival and fellow horse aficionado, comments on the post within seconds, “Mine!” He messages Larissa that he is ready to purchase Benson’s horse collection, and just needs a few days to get the money in order. Larissa edits her post on Facebook to indicate the collection as SOLD.
Benson comes back early from his vacation distraught. The so-called luxury music festival he attended had no luxury villas, no live music, and worst of all, no nice Swiss cakes! He went back home, ready to complain to Larissa, but she tells him that he can’t complain since she sold his horses for him.
When Benson learns that Chapman is the one who purchased his beloved horses, he is outraged. “The deal is off!” he yells when Chapman arrives at his door, ready to collect with a cheque in hand. That night, Chapman breaks into Benson’s stable and takes all 101 horses, leaving a cheque on the ground.
Benson discovers that his horses are missing the next morning. While he doesn’t care about the other horses, he’s heartbroken that Rose 2d of Flavelle is gone. He calls Chapman in tears, telling him, “I promise you can keep all the other horses, just give me my precious Rose back.” But Chapman had already sold Rose to his friend, Paul Macklem, who gave Rose to his daughter. “I’m not giving her back,” said Macklem. “It’s unconstitutional.”
What should Benson do? You may ignore any constitutional issues (hint: there are none).
Property Law
Charles Essert is an internationally famous singer and songwriter. He often visits the popular Victoria Park Cafe, owned by Alex Drassinower. One day at the busy cafe, Essert overhears Drassinower humming while making his latte. He’s blown away. Fueled by a sudden burst of inspiration, he writes what he considers to be his greatest masterpiece of all time on the back of a napkin. But just when he goes to put the napkin in his back pocket, another customer bumps into him, spilling his drink all over his white shirt. The napkin forgotten, he rushes out of the cafe before anyone can snap a picture of him.
While closing the shop, Drassinower finds the napkin on the ground. Recognizing the literary genius, he quickly pockets the napkin. The next day, Essert returns to the cafe, looking for the napkin. He asks Drassinower, who responds, “the napkins belong to me.” Annoyed, Essert storms out.
A month later, a customer asks Drassinower, “Was that you in Charles’ new song?” Confused, Drassinower listens to Essert’s new single, “Nobody Good in a Good Man’s Cafe” and recognizes his humming in the background. He tries calling Essert’s studio for days but nobody responds.
In retaliation, Drassinower records himself singing the song from the napkin and uploads it to YouTube. In the video, he’s wearing a shirt featuring an image of Essert in a stained t-shirt from the cafe’s CCTV footage. It’s a hit. People from all over the world are listening to the track, and he’s received multiple record deals. He’s enjoying the fame when Essert finally comes back to the cafe, demanding that Drassinower take down the video and credit him. He claims the song is his. He’s also upset by the video; the photo of him with the stained shirt has become a meme on social media. Drassinower refuses.
Advise all parties.
