Posted: November 16th, 2022

PRLG 103: ASSIGNMENT #3 (FALL 2022)

PRLG 103: ASSIGNMENT #3 (FALL 2022)
Case Briefs Assignment
TOTAL MARKS: 60 – WEIGHT: 20%
DUE DATE: November 16, 2022, at 11:59 PM
(Submit in assignment folder on eCentennial)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. You may work alone, with a partner (or in a group of 3) in completing this assignment.
One member (on behalf of the group) must submit the assignment on eCentennial. Please
have each member join a group under “groups” and make sure to scroll down to
“Assignment #3 and #4.” You will use the same groups on the final assignment.
2. Use proper McGill Guide citations throughout the assignment.
3. Use the following settings in Word:
• font: Calibri, Arial or Times New Roman
• font size: 12
• double-spaced
• 1” margins (top, bottom, left and right)
4. Include a completed Centennial Business School cover page in the form provided
Important:
• Citation style: McGill Guide to Legal Citation (available on WestlawNext.Canada)
• Marks will be deducted for spelling and grammar errors, incorrect citations, and for failure
to follow instructions.
• Centennial’s Policies on Academic Dishonesty will be enforced
Instructions:
It is November 2, 2022, and you are just settling in as a paralegal internship student at the law
firm of (create name of a law firm you would like to work for). You are being supervised by (create
name of lawyer/paralegal at that firm) and they were very impressed by your work on finding
statutory and case law already. This week, they want to start the month off right and want to
start you with some more substantive legal work. Your supervisor sees a pile of five matters that
the firm is currently working on and advises you to look through them and pick one of them to
do some legal research for it. The supervisor also informs you that if none of those are interesting
to you, there is a new client coming in later today and their matter may be more interesting to
you instead. You will later need to look at statutory law, other case law, and will write a legal
memorandum, but for now, you will need to find three related cases and do a case brief on each,
including a proper citation, facts, issues, decision, reasons for the decision and of course, the
ratio.
The Files
1. The first file is a criminal one and is very interesting. The firm’s client was charged with
trafficking cocaine. They were under suspicion for some time by the police and panicking,
discarded their drugs, paraphernalia, and cell phones into the garbage and placed it on
the curb for collection. On garbage day, unbeknownst to your client, the police picked up
the trash, which they used to collect incriminating evidence against your client, leading
to his charges. Your firm needs to research whether this evidence is likely to be excluded
for violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
2. The second file is a Highway Traffic Act one. Your client’s cell phone had died and was
sitting on the passenger seat. Your client has a handsfree-device and mount in his car but
had to remove the cell phone from there to plug it into the charger while at a red light.
While he was in the two-second process of doing this, a police officer happened to stop
next to him, and ended up charging him under section 78.1 (1). Your firm needs to
research whether this two second touching of the phone breaches this section.
3. The third file is a Small Claims Court matter. Your client is a contractor and did a lot of
home renovation work. They had completed a job in November 2019 and when they
deposited the final payment, the cheque for $20,000 from the homeowner bounced. They
told the homeowner in February 2020 about the bounced cheque and send a new invoice
with a late penalty and the NSF charged added on. They forgot all about this and they just
came to the firm today (January 2, 2022) wondering if they are out of options because of
an expired limitation period. Your firm needs to research what the limitation period is,
and does it expire from the end of the renovation job, when the cheque bounced, or from
the last invoice.
4. The fourth file is an immigration matter, at the Refugee Protection Division. Your client
filled out a Basis of Claim form at the border upon arriving by plane (borders have opened
up again in 2022!) from China. He explains that he is being persecuted because he is a
supporter of the Falun Gong. He says that he has had an interesting life on airplanes, as
he was born in India, while his parents were travelling there from China. After just a week
in India, not even time to register the birth there, he was on a plane at just six days old,
returning back to China. He is hopeful of a successful refugee decision but is unsure if his
brief time in India will affect his chances. Your firm needs to research whether having
potential citizenship in a country you have zero connection with would make the client
unlikely to be successful on a refugee claim in Canada.
5. Finally, the fifth file is an employment matter at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.
Your client was working at a law firm for ten years. She got married to Mike Tyson and to
celebrate her marriage, got a giant matching face tattoo. When she returned to work
following her honeymoon, she was immediately fired (and given proper notice and
everything) because the senior partner hated the tattoo. Your firm needs to research if
being fired for a tattoo is grounds for discrimination under the Human Rights Code.
Remember, if you do not like any of these files, you can create your own fact situation based on
a current case in the news, to research three related cases instead. Please discuss with me if you
are selecting this option!
Please review the slides on “How to Write a Case Brief” as well as the resources provided from
OJEN on the same topic. Please ensure that one of your case briefs is from 2022 (or as recent as
you can find) as well as one being from the Supreme Court of Canada (or as high a level of court
as you can find).
Please feel free to send a draft to me for feedback before class on November 14, 2022.
Rubric:
The assignment should be written in 3-5 pages, double-spaced, (for all 3 case briefs total)
ensuring that everything below is covered in a proper case brief format. Each brief is out of 20
marks for a total of 60 marks.
Mark Value To Receive Full Marks
Facts and Issues (5 marks) – Students have summarized the main
facts from the case and have
formulated the issues from that case
Decision and Reasons for Decision (5 marks) – Students have communicated what
was the decision in the case as well as
the reasons for that decision
Ratio (5 Marks) – Students have correctly identified
what the ratio decidendi was from
the case and explained it.
Citation & Formatting (5 Marks): – Student ensures that the case brief is
properly formatted with a proper
heading which is the case citation,
citing the case according to the McGill
Guide.
– Student ensures that the memo is
written with proper spelling and
grammar.
Total: /60

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