LAWM189: Legal Research and Writing Skills
Legal Research and Writing Skills is a module designed to equip you with academic skills relevant to the study of law at postgraduate level. You will study a range of contemporary approaches to legal research and writing, and learn about effective strategies in the use of sources. The module does not require or expect previous experience of researching and writing about law, and is suitable for all students on postgraduate programmes and pathways where there is a law element to the programme.
This module aims to provide you with a strong foundation in legal research and writing skills, including practical advice on navigating and using legal and academic resources, and opportunities for critical reflection on research methodologies. The module also aims to reinforce and embed your awareness of conventions associated with successful academic writing. You will learn about assessment criteria commonly used within postgraduate law programmes, and how to interpret those criteria to maximise your attainment. The module also aims to provide you with opportunities to evaluate your own work against accepted standards of academic writing.
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LAWM640: Dissertation
This module is compulsory for students on the LLM programmes and relevant MRes programmes. It provides a valuable opportunity for you to gain experience in legal or socio-legal research, writing a dissertation on a particular legal or socio-legal topic of interest chosen by you and approved by your programme director.
You will be assigned an academic supervisor from the expertise available in the Law School, to match the proposed dissertation topic or your areas of interest. You will be given 3 research meetings with your supervisor during which they will guide your research and writing according to an individually agreed framework, but you are largely expected to determine your own deadlines and define your own work programme in order to meet the final submission deadline set by the Law School.
The module calls for excellent legal/socio-legal writing and research skills, personal discipline, and professional communication with the academic supervisor. For those of you who have not undertaken any large-scale legal research before, an introduction to the design and methodologies of legal research will be provided in Term 2. For those of you on the MRes programme, you are expected to draw on the grounding given in your core modules and any optional module relevant to your dissertation topic.
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LAWM155: Human Rights and Digital Technologies
Digital technologies raise many legal issues for the protection of human rights. In this module you will learn how international human rights law responds to these legal issues. You will acquire and deepen your understanding of the rights to privacy, data protection, freedom of expression, non-discrimination and due process in the digital age. You will have the opportunity to critically think about how the law should evolve to better regulate these technologies. Knowledge of this area of law is a strong and desirable asset for students wishing to pursue a career in the private and public sectors alike.
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LAWM168: Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
This module will develop your understanding of key concepts and issues in company law, corporate governance, and the global shift towards corporate sustainability. The topics covered in this module are of great value to specialist corporate lawyers; and, given the importance of companies to the economy and everyday life, to anyone interested in law, business, and legal practice. The module considers the regulation and operation of companies in the age of sustainability, focusing initially on companies in England and Wales, and then moving on to consider comparative perspectives.
It is recommended, but not required, that students taking this module have an introductory background in company law.
The module aims to give you a solid background in company law and corporate governance, with an emphasis on companies registered in England and Wales. Having completed the module, you should appreciate the legal nature of a company and its role within today's changing business environment, and in wider social and environmental context. Beyond that, this module will equip you with a sophisticated understanding of how complex and cross-cutting issues in corporate law and governance are expressed in today's policy debates over corporate purpose, sustainability, and the future of the corporation. To achieve this, the module takes a comparative approach, drawing on cutting edge empirical, practice-oriented, and theoretical literature in corporate law and governance.
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LAWM170: Digital Copyright Law
In this module you will examine the legal rules and principles involved in Digital Copyright Law. In addition to analysing the substantive laws, you will consider the underlying theoretical rationale of copyright law. You will look at a number of diverse issues, from the historical technical development of copyright law through to more recent issues such as the rise of digital peer to peer file sharing. By drawing on a number of legal and non-legal materials you will explore the complex social, economic and political context in which the digital copyright regulatory system operates. The module considers both US and UK law. The module requires a sound understanding of the principles of the legal system. There are, however, no specific pre-requisite or co-requisite modules that need to be undertaken. Any student may take the module but it is best suited to those who have some degree of legal knowledge.
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LAWM171: E-Commerce and Consumers
Consumer law plays a critical role in modern economy; supplying protection to the vulnerable in society, providing a framework for business in retail transactions. Digitalisation exacerbated transactional imbalances, due to architectural asymmetric design of the Internet. In this module, you explore: How traits of online transactions impact the market, consumers? What measures regulators adopted to assure effective consumer protection, further stimulation of e-Commerce?
Module is suitable for law and non-law students. Particularly suitable if you want to specialise in commercial/contract/competition law, law and technology, or if you are interested in business, digitalisation and consumer behaviour.
The module aims to provide a critical understanding of the instruments of European and English consumer law adopted to address risks that consumers and markets face as a result of digitalisation, and the era of Big Data.
The intention is to analyse legal solutions considering societal context and findings from consumer behaviour and/or market research. The analysis will be conducted considering benefits/drawbacks of adopted legal solutions to both consumer protection and market efficiency. Students should then gain understanding of the impact of legal frameworks in this area not only on consumer protection but also on costs of conducting business.
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LAWM172: EU Competition Law
Free markets can help provide low-priced, high-quality goods and new innovative products and services. However, companies (or 'undertakings') can try to undermine the market by restricting competition. Competition law is the body of rules that are created to protect competition. This module explains those rules as they exist in the EU and (to a great extent) the UK. This module will explain the rules on agreements between undertakings and the rules on what undertakings that are dominant on the market can do. It will also consider merger regulation and how some undertakings need permission to merge.
This module aims at providing a critical understanding of the development of EU competition law and policy as a key area of EU law. It engages with some of the contemporary challenges faced by the competition regime such as the rise of global digital markets and a shifting understanding of what competition law is intended to achieve. The module aims to enable students to understand, assess and critically address the legal issues at stake in this field of law.
This module can enhance transferrable skills in terms of self-directed learning about current legal/business events and presentation skills.
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LAWM173: Financial Markets Law and Regulation
This module introduces you to key aspects of the operation of the law and regulation of financial investments with a particular emphasis on project finance and sustainable finance. You will start by exploring the role of key stakeholders that shape the financial investments such as asset owners, asset managers, and hedge funds and move to examine the regulatory structure in which these stakeholders operate at an international, EU and UK level. You will learn about the key long-term and short-term tools that investors employ to maximise their returns. You will have an opportunity to understand complex project/construction finance and reflect on the increasing role environmental considerations play in this context. You will learn about, and engage with, the Sustainable Finance, the Law and Stakeholders (SFLS) Research Network, which is collaborating with global partners to improve and transform global financial culture. This is an exciting opportunity to enhance your knowledge with regard to the role of the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund, the Financial Stability Board, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in shaping and improving financial markets law and regulation. You will also explore the role of voluntary sustainable finance mechanisms (e.g. Principles for Responsible Investment, Equator Principles, Green Bond Principles and Global Principles for Sustainable Securities Lending in the context of increasing greenwashing regulatory/litigation risk).
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LAWM174: International Arbitration
International arbitration is one of the most important methods for resolving international disputes. Disputes relating to foreign investments are often resolved by arbitration.
The module is suitable if you are interested in international commercial law and international dispute resolution. The module aims to provide you with a practical understanding of the mechanisms governing the arbitration of investment disputes and is thus particularly valuable for students considering working or pursuing further research in this area. No previous experience in the area is required/necessary.
The main aims of the module are to provide you with a solid understanding of international arbitration, its practical applications, alongside its underpinning legal principles. The module aims to provide legal insight in respect of many aspects of an international commercial arbitration agreement/procedure. This ranges from the procedural aspects of interational arbitration. These topics are the basis for critique of the resolution of disputes in the context of trade and investment.
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LAWM178: LLM Law Clinic
The Community Law Clinic is a student-led pro bono opportunity run by the Law School. This module adopts experiential learning techniques to deliver a unique clinical experience as part of your LLM.
This module focuses on access to justice for those who are ineligible for legal aid but are otherwise unable to afford private legal advice. You will have the opportunity to undertake real casework for members of the public who have found themselves in a legal dispute. This module will enable you to develop the essential skills of communication, client interviewing, research, drafting legal advice and client record keeping. In addition, you will complete core clinic workshops on client skills, access to justice and professionalism.
Through this experiential learning you will be encouraged to reflect critically on your own individual learning process and gain a broader understanding of what access to justice really means and the barriers litigants in person face. This valuable clinical experience will increase employability for those wishing to go into the legal profession or any other professional service.
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LAWM180: Principles of Company Law
Companies play a pivotal role in society, and are of particular importance to the world of business. Knowledge of company law is therefore of great benefit to a wide range of people, from lawyers, directors, shareholders and business people, to employees, creditors and political lobbyists.
In this module, you will consider the nature of companies incorporated in England and Wales and how company law operates from the perspectives of key stakeholders, such as directors, shareholders, people who do business with a company and the wider society in which a company operates. You will gain a solid understanding of the relevant law and why this legal grounding is fundamental for the operation of business.
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LAWM181: Regulating AI: Law, Policy and Ethics
Artificial intelligence has ushered in the so-called 'The Fourth Revolution'. The expected benefits from increasing use of automated systems and devices span across sectors - from healthcare and banking to law enforcement, scientific research, and legal practice. However, the use of AI raises many legal, policy, and ethical issues, giving rise to perhaps the greatest challenge -- how to regulate AI? Starting with a foundation in principles of regulation of technology, you will examine legal and policy implications of deployment of AI to increase accuracy, efficiency, and profit. The module provides you with an examination of regulatory approaches to governing the rapidly growing use of AI across sectors.
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LAWM191: Law, Digital Markets and Competition
The module focuses on studying the key elements of EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) and UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA). These rules have introduced a new regime for regulating competition in digital markets. You will learn the foundations of these two systems, the economic and commercial interests of the main stakeholders and mechanics of the legal rules underpinning the DMA and the DMCCA. You will examine the ways how the designated gatekeepers (Big Tech companies) comply with the new obligations imposed upon them by the DMCCA & DMA.
No prior knowledge of Competition Law is required for this module.
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