Legal & Ethical Scenarios

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Project – Legal & Ethical Scenarios

Legal and Ethical Scenarios

Select two of the scenarios provided below. Analyze the facts in the scenarios and develop appropriate arguments and recommendations using case law and scholarly sources. Do not copy the case studies into the paper. Cite your sources in APA format on a separate page.

Scenario 1—Bankruptcy

Kitty, a bookkeeper for Jabil Circuit, filed a petition in bankruptcy under Chapter 7, seeking to discharge $65,000 in credit-card debts and $45,000 in student loans.  Kitty’s husband died and left her with two children, Daniel, who attended college, and Darius, who was 14 years old.  According to Kitty, Darius was a star football player who practiced ten to fifteen hours a week and made all-star for two years.  Kitty’s petition showed monthly income of $4840 and expenses of $5,050.  The expenses included annual football expenses of $6,500.  The expenses did not include college costs for Daniel, or airfare for his upcoming summer trip to Budapest, and other items.  The trustee allowed monthly expenses of $4,200, with nothing allocated for football expenses and requested that the court dismiss the petition.

  • If Kitty qualified for Chapter 7, which debts would be discharged?  Which debts would not be discharged?  Why?
  • Using the median income from your state, does Kitty qualify for Chapter 7?  Remember to count the number of people in the household.
  • If Kitty earns too much money, what are the next steps?
  • Should the court grant the trustee’s request?  Does Kitty have other options if the Chapter 7 petition is dismissed?
  • Explain your answers and support them with relevant scholarly sources.

Scenario 2: Real Property

Karl purchased 10 acres of land with a log cabin home in the Smoky Mountains from Rufus, but never recorded the deed.  Rufus stayed on the property as a tenant for two (2) years.  Near the end of the two years, Rufus learned that Karl never recorded the deed.  Rufus advertised the 10 acres for sale and Devon negotiated with Rufus thinking that Rufus was the owner.  Finally, Devon checked the records at the recording office and, finding no reason to question Rufus’s ownership of the property, purchased the 10 acres from Rufus.  Devon recorded the deed and Rufus took the proceeds and moved to Florida.  Meanwhile, Karl failed to pay the real estate taxes on the property for the two (2) years in question thinking it Rufus’s responsibility as the tenant.  When Devon started to build a barn on the property, Devon and Karl argued over the ownership of the property.  Decide the case between Devon and Karl.

  • Decide whether Karl is responsible for the two (2) years of real estate taxes assessed while Rufus occupied the property as a tenant. 
  • Discuss Rufus’s liability to the parties. 
  • Support your answer with information from the textbook and other scholarly sources.

Scenario 3 – Bankruptcy

Locate one of the following scholarly articles about bankruptcy in the SUO Online Library.  Summarize the article in your own words.  Identify and discuss the most important aspect of the article, as well as any ethical issues.  You may select an article not on list, but you must request approval from your instructor to use the article 48 hours prior to the assignment due date.

Beckett, A. A. (2009).  Last in line.  American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, 28(3), 24-73.

Boettcher, J., Cavanagh, G., & Xu, M. (2014).  Ethical Issues that arise in Bankruptcy. Business & Society Review (00453609), 119(4), 473-496. doi:10.1111/basr.12042

Grote, K. R., & Matheson, V. A. (2014).  The Impact of State Lotteries and Casinos on State Bankruptcy Filings. Growth & Change, 45(1), 121-135. doi:10.1111/grow.12030

Joseph, M. B. (2016).  Consumer pro se bankruptcy: Finding hope in hopelessness. American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, 35(5), 32-33.

Labatt, J., Forrest, M., & Swartz, R. (2016). Discharging student loans in bankruptcy: Good luck with that. Proceedings of the Allied Academies International Conference. International Academy for Case Studies, 23(1) 8-11.

Landry, R. J. (2012).  Ethical considerations in filing personal bankruptcy: A hypothetical case study.  Journal Of Legal Studies Education, 29(1), 59-93.  doi:10.1111/j.1744-1722.2011.01099.x

Landry, R.J. (2016).  Ten years after consumer bankruptcy reform in the United States: A decade of diminishing hope and fairness.  Catholic University Law Review, 65(4), 693 – 712.  (Locate on Westlaw Campus Research)

McQuade, A. (2016).  The antidote to zombie foreclosures: How bankruptcy courts should address the zombie foreclosure crisis. Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal, 32(2), 507-535.

Pardo, R. I. (2016). Taking bankruptcy rights seriously.  Washington Law Review, 91(3), 1115-1191.

Platt, H. D., Mirick, C. R., & Platt, M. A. (2013).  Timing the bankruptcy decision: A behavioral view in the post-BAPCPA era.  Pratt’s Journal Of Bankruptcy Law, 9(1), 62-80.

Ramsey, S., Blough, D., Kirchhoff, A., Kreizenbeck, K., Fedorenko, C., Snell, K., . . . Overstreet, K. (2013).  Washington state cancer patients found to be at greater risk for bankruptcy than people without A cancer diagnosis. Health Affairs, 32(6), 1143-52.

Sousa, M. D. (2013). Bankruptcy stigma: A socio-legal study. The American Bankruptcy Law Journal, 87(4), 435-482.

Submission Details:

Name your document SU_BUS2038_W4_LastName_FirstInitial.doc. Submit your document to the Submissions Area by the due date assigned.