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Company Law: Further Issues

Module description

Having previously gained key knowledge and understanding of company law (Company Law Foundations is a pre-requisite for this module), on this module you will explore further aspects of how companies interrelate to third parties and wider society, including consideration of how companies contract and raise capital, corporate responsibility for civil and criminal wrongs, and the ever-relevant area of corporate insolvency.

These topics enable you to develop your understanding of further aspects of company law, engaging with complex legal regimes that govern the company, its relationships, and the mechanisms for managing financial difficulties and the demise of a company. The module includes substantive and theoretical legal study, combined with practical insights into real-world scenarios.

This module is open to undergraduate students with experience of studying law in England and Wales.

Pre-requisite: LAW3083 Company Law Foundations.

Please note that you cannot choose to take BEA3015 ‘Corporate Law’ in conjunction with this module.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aim of this module is to build on your existing knowledge of Company Law and deal with some further issues of relevance to the company and its legal regulation. This module will allow you to draw on your prior learning on the law programme, looking in detail at some further areas of interest to the functioning of the company and company law.

Having completed the module you should have gained appreciation of the legal regulation and consequences of relationships between the company and those beyond it. You should be able to recognise how contract, tort and criminal law relate to the company and its relationships; understand some of the key issues and challenges when a company becomes insolvent; and appreciate the underlying financial structure of a company through concepts such as share capital, capital maintenance, and loan capital.

You will have built further on the knowledge and skills developed in Company Law Foundations to identify legal issues and problems arising in company law within the context of the topics studied, being able to critically analyse and apply the law in these fascinating areas of study.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. demonstrate knowledge and understanding and be able to analyse companies’ relationships with the outside world along with some of the potential liability that may arise from these dealings.
• 2. demonstrate knowledge and understanding and be able to analyse corporate insolvency law including, the winding up of companies and liability of directors.
• 3. identify, explain, assess and analyse issues and problems of differing levels of complexity arising in the areas of company law considered in the module and identify and apply relevant legal rules to those issues and problems and reach appropriate conclusions
• 4. understand and access a range of different sources of company law and use them appropriately to explain issues, reach conclusions and critique arguments and problems in the areas of company law considered in the module.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. apply legal knowledge to a problem/ case study and to propose a reasoned conclusion supported by relevant arguments.
• 6. select, integrate and present coherently and reflectively, relevant law and legal/theoretical arguments.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. manage relevant learning resources/ information/ learning strategies and develop own arguments and opinions with minimum guidance.
• 8. communicate and engage in discussion effectively and accurately in a manner appropriate to the discipline/ different contexts.
• 9. work independently, within a limited time frame, with access to external sources, to complete a specified task.

Syllabus plan

It is envisaged that the syllabus will include some or all of the following topics (note that precise content and order of delivery may vary):

• Corporate contracts and associated liability.
• Corporate torts and criminal responsibility.
• Capital and finance: share capital, capital maintenance, loan capital.
• Corporate insolvency and corporate rescue; winding up of companies.
• Liability of directors on insolvent liquidation. 

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to redo the assessment(s) as defined above. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Mayson, French and Ryan on Company Law (Blackstone Press) latest edition.

• Hannigan, B., Company Law (OUP) latest edition.

Key words search

law, company, company law, corporate law, companies, corporations, business, enterprise, structure, governance, shareholder, director