1. Identify, select and deploy a range of appropriate resources drawn from Law and Business.

Knowledge and understanding
Enquiry

2. Analyse and evaluate the legal, practical and commercial implications of an aspect of Law for business practices.

Analysis
Enquiry

3. Communicate your skills clearly and concisely to a prospective employer, demonstrating a good understanding of the economic and financial environment of businesses within the legal sector.

Communication, Knowledge and Understanding

The first element of the assessment is a research project. Students are introduced to various areas of business law and business principles. The students will be able to choose a particular area of law for independent research then apply that knowledge into an area of contemporary business. This assessment will improve skills such as independent research, writing for a specific audience and commercial awareness, which are embedded within the module (LOs 1-2)

The second element of the assessment is an oral presentation. The oral presentation will be in the form of an extended elevator pitch to a (simulated) prospective employer in the legal sector and will require students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the commercial context and pressures in which the business operates. Students will be given support and guidance in module sessions by the Career Connect on how to communicate their skills effectively to secure employment opportunities (LO 3).

This module introduces students to the nature of business law and commercial awareness contextualised to the professional services sector and contemporary business environments. Indicative content includes:
Nature of business organisation and structures
Management and operations of companies
Business liability and directors' duties and obligations
Professional negligence
Health and safety Law
An introduction to Employment Rights
The relevance of corporate liability for environmental harm caused by business organisations
Understanding intellectual property issues
Developing commercial awareness
Employability for the legal sector

In this module, you will explore various legal areas essential for business operations, including Employment Rights, Employers' Liabilities, Company Law, Business Structures, Intellectual Property, Health and Safety, and Professional Negligence. The primary objective is to help you link the fields of business and law, thereby enhancing your commercial awareness. Additionally, this module will enable you to develop skills to effectively promote yourself to employers, considering the financial environment in which legal businesses operate.

The learning strategy for this module is based around students committing a total of 200 hours of activities towards achieving the learning outcomes. These will be split between 39 hours of direct contact with a tutor and 161 hours of directed, guided and self-study, together with preparation and completion of the assessment. Students are encouraged to spend 6-8 hours per week on reading, preparation for workshops, independent research and consolidation of learning. The remaining non-contact hours will be spent on preparation for assessments, including undertaking a formative assessment, and responding to feedback on their draft research project and oral presentation.

Contact will include a mixture of lectures and workshops. Lectures will introduce the students to a new area of business law every week and enhance their commercial awareness, with opportunities for active student engagement with content through including questioning, quizzes and opportunities for discussion. Small groups workshops are focused on consolidation of knowledge and understanding of core content, and to provide academic support for independent research in the areas of business law. Students will be required to participate in a range of learning opportunities which promote independent research on business law, academic writing and commercial awareness. The guided learning will incorporate a mixture of activities, some of which will require group work and electronic interaction. The learning will be facilitated by use of the VLE platform and discussions/interactions between students and tutors.

Students will be expected to be familiar with contemporary discussions in this area of law, and to bring a range of ideas to bear on the discussions. Thus, although there will be a framework of knowledge and understanding, students will be actively, rather than passively, engaged in the process of both learning about, and increasing understanding of, the subject matter. The module will use a blend of teaching methods to enable different styles of learning to be facilitated. The differing methods will also be a platform for the development of essential skills such as intellectual skills, communication skills and problem solving, as well as research, teamwork, negotiation, presentation, referencing, argument, judgement and appropriate use of IT.

Working towards the assessment tasks will be a key element of the learning, and tutors will be available to guide students through the process, and to improve their ability to meet the learning outcomes to a high standard. Assessment will be an integral part of the module. There will be two assessment points and workshops focused on assessment activities will be scheduled into the timetable. Earlier tasks will be shorter and more succinct, enabling fast feedback from the tutors so that students can learn and improve for later assessment tasks. Formative feedback will be provided wherever possible.

Core-
Marson J and Ferris K, Business Law (6th edn, OUP 2020)

Recommended-
French D, Blackstone’s Statutes on Company Law (27th edn, OUP 2022)¿
French D, Mayson, French & Ryan on Company Law (38th edn, OUP 2023)
Scott Slorach and others,¿Legal Systems & Skills¿(5th edn, OUP 2023)¿

OUP Texts are available as digital textbooks on the Law Trove subscription service.

Access to appropriate primary and secondary legal resources via the library databases, such as: Westlaw; Lexis-Nexis; Practical Law Online; Law Trove; E-books and Journals¿
Computing facilities to access material available via Blackboard and the web.¿¿