Format
Assignment files should be prepared using MS Word to allow your tutor to insert comments and feedback. If you do not have this software, contact your tutor to discuss whether other arrangements can be accommodated.
Background
Billions of contracts are continually being created online in the form of either clickwrap (clicking on “I accept” or “I agree”) or browsewrap (implied acceptance by using a website) agreements. These are standard form contracts containing boilerplate used by online vendors or service providers for customers in many countries. The legal term often used to describe them is contracts of adhesion (“take it or leave it”).
Online vendors wish to protect themselves from legal liability for claims made by their customers and include terms in the wording of such contracts to provide that protection. However, legal questions can arise whether online consumers are bound by those terms which, in many cases, they have not read.
This exercise builds on your knowledge of contract law and legal remedies related to contracts in the context of online transactions.
Instructions
Carefully read the case Pokornik v. SkipTheDishes Restaurant Services Inc. , 2022 MBKB 178 (CanLII) and this commentary, Mind the Wrapping , from the Canadian law firm Fasken and then answer the following questions. (Note: A stay of proceedings is an order of the court to halt a lawsuit, often to allow another process [in this case arbitration] to go ahead instead. It is a discretionary order granted only if certain criteria are met.)
Explain in your own words what is meant by a class action lawsuit in contract and describe the class action considered in the Pokornik case.
Explain how a class action benefits a consumer and poses a problem for a business.
Describe how arbitration differs from bringing a legal action in court and explain how it became an issue to be resolved by the court in the Pokornik case.
Explain in your own words the principle of unconscionability in contract law and describe how it relates to the Pokornik case.
Find a clickwrap or browsewrap contract that you have entered into and either attach it to your submission or include a working link to it. Choose one that appears to raise legal issues like those considered in the Pokornik case. Reference and quote a specific paragraph or section of the agreement that involves arbitration, class actions, or choice of forum (required location of any dispute proceedings).
Make an argument like those mentioned in the Pokornik case that you should not be bound by the contractual term identified above.
Use the marking rubric below to structure your assignment submission
