The module covers those aspects of law that as a commercial practitioner you could expect to encounter on a regular basis, including:

• contract law e.g. Analysis of whether commercial parties have formed a contract, with an opportunity to look at how the law is applied to attempts to form contracts via electronic means and an emphasis on the way in which commercial parties transact business. Development of a familiarity with the remedies available for breach of contract as well as the ability to critically analyse the use of exclusion clauses and proposed reforms in the law relating to unfair contract terms. 
• sale of goods e.g. Consideration of aspects of sale of goods law; namely delivery, passing of title (including in depth coverage of retention of title) and the statutory implied terms as to quality.
• e-commerce e.g. Study of some fundamental developments in the law to deal with technology, including data protection, electronic commerce and liability of internet service providers. 
• agency e.g. Categorization of an agency arrangement and consequent authority of the agent, together with a thorough analysis of the background to and main provisions of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993.

Within these parameters, the module provides both an in-depth study of settled law and also explores some of the developing areas and other related matters of interest.

Knowledge of contract and sale of goods is central to understanding the legal rights and obligations that all businesses will acquire through its relationships with customers. The module is uniquely structured to reflect practical commercial practices. An understanding of the law included within this module combined with the use of real-life scenarios to provide commercial context will develop your ability to comprehend the way that a business may behave in order to limit or (where possible) eliminate its exposure.

The objective of the module is to familiarise you with key aspects of international business law. Against a background of unprecedented globalisation of commerce and territorial expansion of law, the module will expose you to the multi-faceted nature of international legal practice. It will consider new legal developments and give you tools to navigate the many parameters involved in international business transactions. The module will permit you to develop an overall understanding of international business practice in the UK and overseas.

This module will be taught by an international lawyer who has been practising in international law firms and taught at an academic institution. In addition to this guest speakers drawn from practice and other academics will be invited to discuss specialist subjects covered by the module. They will explain how practice deals with particular issues. Throughout the module, you will be asked to research the rules of other jurisdictions and undertake comparative analysis.

List of topics:

• the different forms of international business transactions
• civil law systems in comparison with common law systems
• non-Western and emerging legal systems: An introduction to Islamic, Chinese and Russian law
• comparative analysis of company law
• international business financing
• financial markets – International overview and comparison of main financial markets
• advanced corporate governance issues
• employment – international perspective
• international competition
• commercial dispute resolution – The settlement of international disputes

The module allows you to widen and deepen your knowledge in an area of law that relates directly to the study of Commercial Law or International Business Law. It provides you with the freedom to choose your own title and develop your learning in an area that particularly interests and inspires you. The dissertation process develops specific knowledge in a cutting-edge area of law, as well as developing key professional and transferable skills attitudes. These include:

• research skills
• independent learning
• forward planning

The module is designed to develop research capabilities to master's level. This allows you to both pursue an inspiring area of Commercial Law or International Business, with the ability to consider the very latest developments in your chosen area. This also allows you to focus on a specific area that would not be covered on a taught law module, or at least not covered in the same detail or from the perspective that you may adopt. The module is different from dissertation modules found in university law schools in its focus on taking practical and theoretical research methodologies out of the area of the purely academic and into the arena of business and commercial transactions: it is concerned with how completing a dissertation can help equip you for practice and further study.

Basic list of topics to be considered:

• the objectives of the dissertation module
• theoretical approaches to legal research
• practical usages of legal research
• research in legal practice
• research on comparative law and systems
• conceiving research questions
• ethical issues in research
• how to use a supervisor
• drafting a research proposal
• drafting a supervision agreement

This module will provide you with an advanced appreciation of UK employment law and will seek to grapple with some of the most difficult issues within the subject area. Once you have completed this module you will be well equipped to undertake further research in this area and/or to practise employment law in the UK.

This module will be taught by a practising barrister who specialises in employment law and a substantial part of the module will deal with the practical application of employment law concepts. In addition to this the delivery of the module will be enriched by a host of visiting lecturers drawn from the Bar and leading solicitors firms.

List of topics:

• sources of employment law
• tribunal procedure
• contracts of employment
• wages and hours
• maternity and paternal rights
• discrimination in employment
• TUPE
• trade unions and industrial action

This module which is taught by practitioners and academics of international standing in the area examines the character of economically motivated and related crime and in particular its impact on the proper operation and stability of financial institutions. It focuses on the relationship of financial crime in its exploitative and facilitative forms to organised crime and corporate misconduct. Fraud, market abuse, money laundering and corruption are specifically addressed in terms of prevention and control. The nature of enforcement, civil, regulatory and criminal is considered from a practical standpoint as is compliance and risk control. The significance of jurisdictional and international issues is considered both in substantive and comparative terms.

Fraud and financial crime represents a risk not just in terms of the direct loss and damage it causes to financial institutions but indirectly as a result of the response of the justice system. The impact on the way in which business is actually done of such laws as those relating to the control of money laundering, market abuse and fraud is significant. The impact of systems designed to address and control risk by facilitating compliance have a similar impact. Consequently the risk of crime and the risk of exposure to the civil, regulatory and criminal law as a result of the risk of criminal and abusive activity constitute major commercial, financial and legal risks for those engaged in business or advising business.

Few degree programmes address even the risk of crime let alone the more practical and significant risks of compliance and control. This module is therefore unique in blending both the legal and compliance issues into a practitioner orientated programme.

Banking law is a subject of prime importance. A set of banking laws combining contractual certainty and robust regulation with the ability to keep pace with financial innovation is essential not only for the health of the financial system, but of the economy as a whole. 

The subject of this module is therefore not a single body of law, but the diverse range of legal considerations which affect modern banks. These considerations have been shaped by the peculiar nature of banking business. By the end of this module, you should understand how the law has developed in response to the changing nature of banking business, and how it may need to develop in the future.

The module takes a firmly practical view of this very important area of law, focusing on the current practice of banks in the City of London and beyond.

Topics to be considered:

• the business of banking
• the bank-customer relationship
• bank regulation
• syndicated lending
• debt capital markets and derivatives
• insolvency
• clearing, settlement and netting
• security
• finance and international development
• competition and trade law
• islamic finance

The rationale for the module is to provide you with knowledge and skills needed by lawyers working in corporate finance law, banking and finance. All companies need to raise money in order to function successfully and as such financial matters are at the heart of corporate law. The module will expose you to market practice – to the techniques used by companies to raise funds and make investments. Through this module, you will be able to understand the legal, regulatory and financial context of corporate finance law.

The module aims to provide both an in depth study of settled law and also explore developing areas and other related matters of interest in the field of corporate finance law. This module will combine the use of real-life scenarios to provide commercial context, lectures by an LLM lecturer or an academic, and discussion with experts or practitioners. For instance guest speakers will share their experience in a seminar and promote discussion on a specific topic. This will encourage legal analysis and reflect current practice in specialist areas.

List of topics:

• types of finance
• corporate share markets
• corporate debt capital
• securitisation
• hybrids
• corporate governance
• substantial corporate transactions
• project financing
• taxation
• conflict issues

The objective of the module is to introduce you to the world of transnational corporations and corporate social responsibility. The module will look at the way these corporations operate externally – legal, social and environmental impact of their activities – and internally – accountability to shareholders, control of management and employee relations. After this module, you should emerge with a better understanding of the goals that these corporations are pursuing and the environment in which they operate.

Throughout the module, guest lecturers – academics, practitioners or experts -- will be invited to provide a business insight into some of the more difficult areas of legal interpretation and practice.  This will help ensure that you are aware of issues at the cutting edge of legal practice for transnational corporations.

List of topics:

• transnational corporations and globalisation
• stakeholders in transnational corporations and their interests
• control of management: Corporate governance
• corporate social responsibility (CSR) and codes of conduct
• initiatives at the State and international level to encourage responsible corporations
• measuring CSR – New indexes
• CSR and the workplace
• CSR and the market place
• corporate responsibility and accountability
• corporate liability for human rights abuse

Businesses face considerable commercial risk in the research and development of new products, and in building brand recognition and reputation. Intellectual property regimes allow businesses to protect their products and reputation with a range of monopolies, and thereby manage the risk. The potential of intellectual property rights is a critical factor in the decision making process of whether or not to invest in the research, development and exploitation of new products. Intellectual property law is transactional in that it deals with the sale and purchase of intellectual property rights.

Intellectual property dependent businesses frequently find themselves in the position of being both intellectual property creator/owner, and intellectual property user. This module will equip you with an understanding of the legal rights and obligations arising under the statutory regimes, allowing you to advise both owners and users in the commercial exploitation and protection of intellectual property rights.

The module will explore the limitations on the monopolies i.e. exactly what is protected, why and how; the types of contracts that can be created; and therefore the controls and limitations on commercial activity in this area. 

This module does not simply concentrate on the various intellectual property regimes. Instead, it is thoroughly grounded in the commercial context, and the socio-economic and international dimensions are explored regularly throughout the module. Industry professionals will deliver a number of the sessions, and their seminars will be a part of the syllabus. You will work with business packs and complex live data, rather than traditional academic questions, and the assessment regime is more practically oriented than traditional essay-based examinations. 

The module will focus on the three key statutory regimes of copyright, trade marks and patents. Throughout the module there will be a strong emphasis on the business and socio-economic context and the international dimension of intellectual property law.

The Business Organisations module provides an in-depth coverage of the principles relating to sole traders, partnerships and, in particular, companies in modern English law. As well as dealing with the relevant legislation and case law itself, it will consider the problems that have arisen in the area of corporate governance and the recommendations that have been made to address these.

The module cannot be considered to be a simple programme in company law, comparable with those found in any law school of standard. It is distinguished by its breadth of coverage, but, even more significantly, by the perspective behind its teaching. It will be taught from very much a practical perspective – how the principles translate into the real world of business. It will also include reference to the measures taken to combat corporate financial crime, often an area only taught on specialist securities law programmes.

The topics covered in the module will include:

• liability of partners
• sources of company law
• corporate personality and limited liability
• company constitution
• directors’ powers and duties
• corporate governance
• capital and the maintenance of capital rules
• company borrowing
• regulation of company takeovers and minority shareholder protection
• prevention and control of insider dealing