Capstone

Capstone: the Thornfield Dairy claim

Harrow & Penn is an invented law firm. Its client Thornfield Dairy, an invented family business, has been pursuing a claim for about 90,000 against a feed supplier whose delivery, it says, poisoned part of a herd. On Monday morning the court strikes out the claim, because a document that was due the previous Thursday was filed on the Friday. The document was prepared by a junior associate, Ms Reyes, and checked by you, the supervising lawyer, who diarised the date as the Friday by mistake. Nobody at the client knows yet. Thornfield is run by Mr Whitlock, a stern, practical man in his sixties whose daughter, Ms Whitlock, handles the finances and is expecting a decision on whether the business can survive another season without the money. The time limit for an application to set the strike-out aside is fourteen days. Ms Reyes has realised what happened and is in tears in the corridor. The firm’s risk partner, Mr Adeyemi, is in the building. Everything here is invented. Use the tools of the course to plan the week, and write a short plan for what the firm will do differently.

General education on giving bad news and handling difficult conversations, using invented people, firms and matters. It is not legal advice, and it does not state the professional rules, employment law or insurance requirements of any country. Those differ and change: check the rules that apply to you and take advice.