LW6020 - Company Law

You will learn through lectures, workshops and independent learning. The lectures will cover theories and concepts that will enable you to prepare for the seminar sessions and tackle guided exercises within these sessions.

Directed learning will centre on lectures supported by detailed learning materials which will be made available via the module dedicated e-Learning (elp) site and will include guided reading using electronic reading lists. There will also be opportunities to engage with your tutor and fellow students in seminars. For one of the seminars you will have to work with other students in your seminar group in order to prepare and deliver a short presentation on a company law topic.

Independent learning will centre on you identifying further reading and research to provide deeper/broader knowledge and understanding of company law.

The University is well-placed to support you in learning and research and has an extensive range of company law materials including books, journal articles and case materials. Many of these materials are available electronically and you will have access to on-line legal databases.

This module is designed and managed by your designated Module Tutor who will be responsible for guiding you in your engagement and learning on the module. All relevant materials and instructions will be accessible on-line through the module eLP site, maintained by your Module Tutor, who will also provide updates on issues of current significance to the area of company law. Extensive use is therefore made of the eLP at module level to facilitate discussions between you and your Module Tutor, to provide materials, make announcements and highlight recent developments in company law. You may communicate with the tutors of this module in person or by email. Where questions are raised by students that may be of interest to the whole cohort, the tutors may respond to questions via the module discussion board on the eLP site.

You will have the opportunity to undertake a piece of mock coursework. You will then be provided with an answer guide so you can compare your answer to the answer guide and identify areas for improvement before you submit your final assessed piece of coursework. Support will include feedback from tutors during small-group seminars. Oral feedback will be provided on the group presentation you will give in one of the seminars.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
By the end of the module you will have:

• Developed a systematic and in depth knowledge and understanding of key aspects of company law and will be able to demonstrate detailed and coherent understanding in this area

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
By the end of the module you will be able to:

• Conduct self-directed research into company law issues including identification of issues which require researching, retrieval and evaluation of accurate, current and primary sources of company law.

Formative assessment (i.e. feedback and preparing you for the summative assessment) will be achieved in a number of ways. The seminar exercises, feedback in these small-group seminars and informal peer assessment will help to prepare you for the assessment.

You will have the opportunity to undertake a piece of mock coursework and will be provided with an answer guide so you can compare your answer and identify areas for improvement before you submit your final assessed piece of coursework.

Oral feedback will also be provided on the group presentation you will give in one of the seminars.

Summative assessment for this module will take the form of a coursework assignment which constitutes 100% of the marks for this module.

This assignment aims to encourage a deep and critical approach to learning, developing your ability to think widely about the issues explored in the module. The specific nature of the assignment may vary but will likely include a problem style question.

Assessment criteria will be provided to enable you to understand what is expected from you and how we will judge your performance.

You will be provided with appropriate written feedback on your coursework. Whilst this feedback is provided to help you understand the mark you have been awarded, another aim of such feedback is to help you to do better in future assessments.

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Companies are involved in nearly every aspect of our daily lives. We buy our food, clothes and petrol from them and they provide us with transport, entertainment and many other goods and services we take for granted. ‘Company Law’ will examine the laws governing private and public companies in England and Wales and you will develop an in depth knowledge and understanding of key aspects of company law.

You will also develop a critical awareness of current issues and an understanding of the perspectives and wider debates about the nature of company law. The global financial crisis highlighted the fact that companies play a significant role in shaping our society and that the failure of prominent companies can have a devastating economic and social impact. ‘Company law’ will explore and question the role of companies: are they forces for good or evil?