Business English:Murray’s Lesson 6

Spring 2015

Teacher: Murray Sherk

msherk@ustc.edu.cn

Lesson Outline

1. Analysis of Moulton Claimant Cases

2. Final Exam Grading Sheets

3. Prison Escape Exercise

Analysis of Claimant Cases

Overall, done well But many opportunities missed

Analysis of Searle Case

Searle’s second husband’s mother prevented reconciliation with Moulton. Now she’s dead so Searle was looking to befriend Moulton.

Kind of reasonable but needed to be defended better

Searle needs money and has had hard life

Emotion argument, but others need money too. Could have emphasized more that Moulton’s brother caused hardship.

will share estate with others. Plans to use estate to help battered women (like she was when married to Moulton’s brother)

Strong point. Could have been emphasized more, such as action if Smith turns out to be Moulton’s daughter and help for Brodie at school.

Analysis of Langland Case

Langland was not just nurse – also cooked, took him for walks, everything.

Cooked? Moulton Manor would have its own cook.

Langland knows how Moulton thought. Moulton regarded her as partner, “family”.

Stated, but not proven.

Household workers saw them kiss. Moulton had decided to marry Langland when he recovered from illness

Seems unlikely – hard to believe. Some support from witness (Moulton’s steward) who quoted Moulton as saying “if get well then marry Langland”. This point needed more evidence, logical explanation. (could have been linked to why Moulton had no will.)

Analysis of Brodie Case Relationship “close to father-son”. Moulton tried to adopt

Brodie but with Brodie’s mother decide to delay until “after college”.

“After college” is strange but witness (Brodie’s mother) did explain why she turned down the earlier offer – “second generation rich”. She wanted Tim to learn to make it on his own.

The adoption offer is reasonable but needed more evidence. E.g. If it was so serious, why would Moulton not write a will?

Moulton taught Brodie business stuff to prepare him for taking over the estate. Brodie wanted to study business to help Moulton.

OK point. Shows some love of Brodie for Moulton – not just Moulton gives and Brodie gets.

Missed chances to mention similar character – Moulton also had a wild streak (consider Smith’s mother and the newspaper article) so it would make sense for him to like Tim.

Analysis of Smith Case Letter verified as Moulton’s by 80% of experts. Very

reasonable to believe that Smith is Moulton’s closest blood relative. Short but good point – big difference between 50% and 80%.

Overall, the collection of evidence (letter, newspaper article, timing...) is strong enough article and timing could have been stressed more but this was used

to build a strong case and argue that the DNA test was not needed to establish the truth.

No DNA testing because of Jane’s respect for mother (who kept article and letter, indicating mother knew Jane was Moulton’s daughter) Reasonable way to defuse this issue, which is a major drawback of

the Smith case.

Smith is rich man’s daughter, yet had hard life (and grandchild will also have hard life) because Smith’s mother wanted to protect Moulton’s reputation. Emotion argument, OK. But if Moulton offered to marry mother, then

he didn’t care about reputation and newspaper already said he had bad reputation anyway.

Analysis of Orphanage Case Court’s main concern = what Moulton wanted to do, and

Moulton consistently wanted to donate to orphanage.

Good reminder of legal basis for decision. Excellent way to put Webster case in a good light.

Moulton’s money donations are crucial to the orphanage. His are the only regular (fixed) donations. Imagine what would happen if orphanage was gone.

Emotion argument based on pity is OK. It is strengthened by Moulton having this emotion too.

Moulton went beyond a sense of duty and also visited the orphans and brought toys, proving he personally loved the children and “was willing to donate”.

Donations fit the family pattern, but the wording “Moulton was willing to donate” was bad because “willing” does not indicate enthusiasm.

Should have emphasized this point more – Moulton did not just feel a sense of duty (e.g. family responsibility to keep orphanage from failing) but actively went beyond duty, showing he really loved the orphans. This glimpse into Moulton’s mind and desires is a vital point!

Overall

Use your time well. If you have 5 minutes, do not just

use 1.5 minutes. Anticipate objections Look for weak points of other cases Remember your goal and “spin”

your case so your goal = jury’s goal

Individual Grades

Claimant team grades are on the sheets.

Individual grades are taking longer than I thought to figure out.

I’ll email your individual grade to you later this week.

Assignment #3: Prezumé

You were to bring it on a USB drive to class today.

During breaks today, make sure I get your file(s) onto my computer.

By the way, oral presentation slides (PPT slide, Prezi frame) should not have paragraphs or long sentences.

Are they OK for a prezumé frame? Yes! since prezumé is a document to be

read, not part of an oral presentation.

Final Exam Procedure

Each pair (you choose partner) does a Prezi presentation 5-6 minutes long. Use classroom computer or your own

Each person does half of the talking (i.e. switch at 2.5-3.0 minutes)

After the presentation, each person will get at least one question from the judges.

Total time ~9 minutes per pair

Final Exam Judges

Lu Wei judges business merit (34%) Murray judges presentation skills

(33%) Alison judges language skills (33%)

Look at grading sheets to see what judges are looking for.

(We assume you will be quiet and polite listening to other groups too.)

Final Exam Grading Sheets

One set of 3 per registered student Auditors (just watching course):

Do NOT take a set of sheets

Fill in the top info now and give the sheets back to me today.

Copies downloadable from course website http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/~msherk

Final Exam Sessions

Tuesday, May 26 3 sessions, you just come to the one you

are scheduled in. Be there for ALL of the session!

5 or 6 pairs per session Sessions start at 2:00, ~3:00, and

~4:00. ~3:00 and ~4:00 sessions start after a

break following the previous session

Be at the room early to get your Prezumé set up. (Enter quietly.)

Final Exam

Questions?

Prison Escape!

Groups of 4 (or 5)

Discuss, Negotiate, Plan

Work together as a group to escape

Ask each other questions to refine the plan

You have until the second break to make your plan.

Everybody in your group should be able to explain the plan.

Use only English in your discussion

Missing Information?

For anything not specified on the handout sheet, you may make reasonable assumptions.

Reasonable: Assume you have a couple of friends outside the jail who are willing to help you.

NOT reasonable: Assume your friend is a PLA general who will send an army to rescue you.

Good Luck on your Exam!

But if you prepare well, you should not need luck…