International Business

1. Read the recent U.S. Supreme Court case of Daimler v. Bauman found with the Homework #3 Instructions. It is fairly lengthy, so don’t wait until the last minute. After reading, answer the following questions (14 total points):

a. Summarize what the dispute was about? (4)

b. What did the Supreme Court ultimately decide and why? (5)

c. What did you learn with regards to the principles of jurisdiction from the court’s discussion? (5)

2. Using the attached Aguinda case, answer the following questions (16 total points):

a. Discuss why the plaintiffs would not want to initially file the lawsuit in their home country and why the defendants did not want to be sued in theirs. (4)

b. In the wake of the events surrounding this litigation, Michael Goldhaber has described Chevron experiencing “forum shoppers remorse” due to the very forum they wanted to go to turning on them. Should this be a situation of “watch out what you ask for” or should Chevron be able to fight the Lago Agrio verdict legitimately? Explain your position. (4)

c. Though the doctrine of comity was not specifically mentioned in the case, where could it be seen? (4)

d. With textual support, why was the monetary judgement not able to be enforced in the U.S.? (4)

5. I’m contracting with an Australian manufacturer to supply me with $100,000 worth of new widgets. Unfortunately, after manufacturing began, the cost of one of the main materials increased dramatically, which made the present arrangement unprofitable. On what basis might they try to get out of the contract? Will they be successful? Explain. What should have been done contractually up front to address this issue? (5)

6. In contracting for the purchase of 1,000 specialized calculators needed for resale here in the United States, the Romanian manufacturer breaches the contract and does not deliver the calculators. If I pursue monetary damages, can I get consequential damages? Why/why not? Could I seek specific performance? Will I likely be successful? Explain. (5)

7. Let’s say that the calculators did arrive, but failed to power up. Assuming nothing was said in the contract about warranties, do I have any recourse under the CISG? Explain. Would it matter if I left them in storage for a couple of months before opening them up and realizing the issue? Explain (5)

8. Wiley Coyote Corp., a Chilean company, contracted with Acme, a Texas corporation, to supply rockets for their use in high speed chases. Both agreed the rockets had to be able to push the “vehicles” over 200 miles an hour. Acme subcontracted the work to Roadrunner enterprises in Hollywood, CA, who would ship the rockets to Chile. Roadrunner and Wiley never communicated with each other. Upon delivery to Wiley in Chile, the rockets failed to perform as hoped and Acme doesn’t get paid. If Wiley sues Acme, will the CISG govern the sale?

Why/why not? What about if they sue Roadrunner? (5)