76086 Advanced Commercial Transactions
Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a
particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2017 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): 70327 Commercial Law AND 70417 Corporate Law AND 70517 Equity and Trusts
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
This subject examines the broad range of legal issues that may arise when setting up and expanding a business. It builds upon the material covered in 70327 Commercial Law by applying advanced principles of commercial legal structures to common commercial transactions, including licensing, distribution, franchising and agency relationships. The subject considers the use of common business structures, particularly trading and investment trusts and joint ventures and limited partnerships, as well as the legal liability issues that may arise with these structures. The use of franchise systems is a particular focus as these draw together legal issues arising under contract, fiduciary law, corporate law and general commercial law. This is a broad-based advanced commercial law subject that assists with students wishing to pursue legal practice in general commercial, corporate and banking and finance areas.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | To identify and apply relevant principles of commercial law to a range of common business-to-business transactions |
|---|---|
| 2. | To understand and critically assess the range of commercial and legal issues that arise during common business transactions |
| 3. | To demonstrate effective legal arguments and high quality written and oral communication when applying relevant legal principles to common business transactions |
Teaching and learning strategies
Strategy 1 Small and large group class discussion
Each class will involve small group activities involving discussion questions and hypothetical problem questions to allow students to apply their understanding of material prepared before class. The classes will also involve large group discussions based on pre-determined questions that foster debate and individual reflection.
Strategy 2 Short podcast lectures on key concepts
There will no formal lecture component within the class. Rather a series of concise conceptual podcasts will be developed to explain key concepts underpinning each week’s class. The podcasts (usually 10-15 minutes each) will include slides and targeted reading material.
Strategy 3 Student mooting
This subject will include a student moot as a major group assessment item.
Strategy 4 Participation in online activities
UTSonline will be used for this subject and will include a range of discussion threads and short answer conceptual questions that students will need to complete as part of their assessment.
Strategy 5 Guest speaker presentations
A small number of practitioners will be invited in to give practical guest talks on particular aspects of commercial law practice (for example, legal and commercial issues when setting up a trading trust)
Required texts
There is no prescribed text for this subject as the topics included cover a number of legal areas. Relevant readings will be placed on UTSonline.
The Franchising topic will be using Jenny Buchan, Franchisees as consumers benchmarks, perspectives and consequences, 2013, Springer. This is available as an online book through the UTS library catalogue.
Recommended texts
Austin and Ramsay, Ford’s Principles of Corporate Law, 15th ed, 2013, LexisNexis Butterworths
Corones, The Australian Consumer Law, 2nd ed, 2013, Thomsonreuters
N. D'Angelo, Commercial Trusts, 2014, LexisNexis
Dal Pont, Equity and Trusts, 5th ed, 2011, Thomsonreuters
Dal Pont, The Law of Agency, 3rd ed, 2013, LexisNexis
Giles, Redfern and Terry, Franchising Law & Practice, LexisNexis AU (online)
Lee, Bryan and Glover, Ford and Lee on Trusts, Westlaw AU (online)
Lindgren and Taylor, Business Law of Australia, LexisNexis AU (online)
McKendrick, Goode on Commercial Law, 4th ed, 2010 Penguin Books
Travers, Commercial Law, 3rd ed, 2014 LexisNexis Butterworths
The Tax Institute, The Trust Structures Guide, 10th ed, 2013
Other resources
Australian Business Law Review
Business Lawyer (US law)
Company and Securities Law Journal
Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly (UK law)
The Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice
The Journal of Business Law (UK law)
The Journal of Contract Law
The Journal of Equity
