| Unit name | Corporate Law Simulation |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWD30112 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Mrs. Campbell |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
LAWD20037 Company Law |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
In an increasingly competitive global commercial environment, students are encouraged to be 'commercially focused' and 'practice ready', with the ability to apply law to current international legal, business and economic issues. This unit aims to bridge the gap between academic theory and the realities of practising law, by providing students with the unique opportunity to apply commercial legal knowledge to a hypothetical deal. The course will explore the role of the commercial lawyer in structuring and implementing deals, creating value, managing risks and delivering solutions in this complex legal and regulatory environment. Via a combination of lectures and seminars/workshops students will navigate various stages of a corporation transaction; from receiving client instructions, to drafting and negotiating contracts, assessing risks, advising clients and guiding the transaction through to completion. Along the way a variety of contemporary issues in commercial law will be addressed, for example those relating to the transfer of employees, assignments of property and intellectual property rights. Academic knowledge, theory and critical analysis will therefore be applied in a practical setting. Whilst the particular transaction may vary from year to year, it is anticipated that these will focus primarily on business and asset acquisitions, share sale agreements and restructuring transactions.
Students will also have the opportunity to learn from experienced lawyers and Alumni guest lecturers, who will play an active role in the unit; delivering lectures, providing key instructions to students at various stages of the transaction and helping to bring the course together by reflecting on their own experiences of similar transactions including the pitfalls and traps that they encountered. By drawing on the wealth of experience of our Alumni and local legal practitioners, students are offered an exciting perspective to their education in addition to invaluable networking opportunities.
Unit aims:
• To enable students to develop commercial legal knowledge that will assist them in the practice of law;
• To provide students with hands-on experience of a corporate law simulation, including drafting contracts to reflect client instructions, negotiating and reviewing key commercial issues and guiding the deal through to completion;
• To encourage students to consider the differences between the academic theory of law and the realities of commercial legal practice.
By the end of this unit a successful student will be able to:
Teaching will be delivered through a variety of asynchronous and synchronous activities
1 x summative assessment: coursework with a specified word count (100%)
The assessment will assess all of the intended learning outcomes for this unit.
There is no core textbook for this unit. Instead, students will be expected to read a selection of materials detailed in the reading lists for each seminar. These materials are a combination of articles, practice notes, precedent agreements/clauses and, on occasion, selected chapters from various textbooks.
Whilst there is no single textbook to cover all aspects of this unit, students will prepare some introductory readings from Andrew Stilton’s Sale of Shares and Businesses, 4th Edition, Sweet & Maxwell. This book is available for free online on Westlaw books and there is no need for any students to purchase the textbook for use on the unit. In addition to this book, students have access to Practical Law Online (Plc Online), which hosts a wealth of useful information including practice notes, articles, precedent documents and clauses etc. Plc Online is one of the main databases used by law firms and therefore students will find this to be an invaluable resource.
