LAW41400 Transactions: Construction, Critique and Contestation

Academic Year 2021/2022

An important part of the work of lawyers in corporate/commercial law firms, or in-house legal departments, is the crafting of contracts. Lawyers’ roles in this work are varied with lawyers variously having been described as value creators, legal engineers and legal architects. Such contracts could, for example, include purchase-sell agreements, joint ventures, leases, or even private-public partnerships. Many of such contracts require the construction of elaborate and complex documentation in order to cover known (and unknown) contingencies, as well as the procedures and remedies for any breakdown in the relationship between the contracting parties. This module facilitates a detailed examination of the contracting process including: pre-contractual liability stemming from negotiations; contract formation; differences between the law in theory and the law in practice; key terms in contractual drafting including for example, force majeure clauses; interpretation; and remedies/dispute resolution. The module will be supported by various case studies presented by, for example, practising lawyers (in previous years this has included presentations on joint venture transactions and share purchase transactions).
This is a core module for students on the MSc in International Law and Business.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this module students should be able to:
* critically discuss (with reference to case studies as appropriate) differences between the law in theory and the law in practice in relation to the contractual process;
* critically discuss (with reference to case studies as appropriate) issues of pre-contractual liability stemming from contractual negotiations;
* critically discuss (with reference to case studies as appropriate) key contractual clauses and the principles of interpretation;
* critically discuss (with reference to case studies as appropriate) contractual remedies and dispute resolution.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Seminar (or Webinar)

21

Autonomous Student Learning

180

Total

201

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The module is primarily taught by interactive seminars, which will build upon guided independent study. Full details are given in module handbook.


 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Group Project: Group presentation Varies over the Trimester n/a Graded No

10

Presentation: Individual presentation Varies over the Trimester n/a Graded No

10

Portfolio: Based on seminar discussions Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

80


Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

The major component of assessment in this module is an end of module portfolio which is directly based on the seminars throughout the module. This allows module members to gain continuous feedback on the issues central to the portfolio through seminar discussions. In addition, prior to the submission deadline for the portfolio, module members have the opportunity to submit a draft portfolio for review and feedback. Seminar discussions also form the basis of the two other components of assessment (the individual presentation and the group presentation) which take place earlier in the module. This allows module members to gain feedback on presentation topics, which also feed into the portfolio. Prior to the presentations, module members are given the opportunity to receive feedback and advice on presentation plans. After all assessments, students receive detailed written feedback.

Name Role
Mr Brian Hutchinson Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Professor Colin Scott Lecturer / Co-Lecturer