Unit information: Company Law in 2023/24

Unit name	Company Law
Unit code	LAWDM0008
Credit points	30
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Dr. Russell
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	None
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	None
Units you may not take alongside this one	None
School/department	University of Bristol Law School
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Unit Information

This unit provides a grounding in the principles of English company law, studying those principles in a practical and theoretical context. Seminar topics include: History of company law; the company in legal and economic theory; legal personality and limited liability; lifting the corporate veil; articles of association and shareholders’ rights; directors' duties; transactions involving directors; derivative claims; minority shareholder protection; just and equitable winding up and unfair prejudice orders.

Your learning on this unit

By the end of this unit a successful student will be able to:

• Demonstrate a grounding in the substantive rules of UK Company law
• Identify the key aspects of the legal relationships between companies and shareholders, between directors and shareholders and between companies and stakeholders
• Report on the case law and statutes accurately and apply legal principles to problem case scenarios
• Challenge the prevailing orthodoxy in relation to the substantive rules of UK Company and the assumptions which underpin them
• Assess options for Company law reform and demonstrate independent critical skills

How you will learn

Teaching will be delivered through a variety of asynchronous and synchronous activities

How you will be assessed

2 x summative assessments: 1 x coursework and 1 x Timed Assessment (word length will typically be 3,000 words).

The assignments will assess ILOs 1 - 5.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LAWDM0008).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.