COMMLAW 2500 - Commercial Law II

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2020

This course is designed to provide students with a basic understanding of key aspects of the law relating to business structures including sole traders, partnerships, syndicates, joint ventures, trusts and corporations. The majority of this course is devoted to an examination of corporate law including the concept of corporate personality, the corporate constitution and Replaceable Rules, company contracts, management of companies, directors and other officers, directors and senior management duties, company financial reporting, members' rights and remedies, financial reporting, auditor's duties and external administration. The course aims to assist students to identify key issues in differing commercial scenarios. This will encompass both theory and practical implementation of the main concepts covered. The course also incorporates selected topics where students are required to provide a critical analysis of the law.

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Course Details

Course Code	COMMLAW 2500
Course	Commercial Law II
Coordinating Unit	Adelaide Law School
Term	Semester 2
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Incompatible	LAW 2505, LAW 2598
Assumed Knowledge	COMMLAW 1004
Restrictions	Not for LLB students
Assessment	Exam of 60%/assignments/tests/tutorial work and participation as prescribed at first lecture

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Jessica Viven-Wilksch

Course Website:

Course Coordinator: Dr Jessica Viven-Wilksch

Dr Jessica Viven-Wilksch
Adelaide Law School
Email: jessica.viven-wilksch@adelaide.edu.au
Location: Room 2.09, Ligertwood Building
Telephone: (08) 8313 4676 (work)
Course Website: www.myuni.adelaide.edu.au
Consultations: Appointments can be made by booking an appointment slot on the MyUni calendar.

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Identify fundamental legal issues in commercial scenarios and the applicable legislation and partnership law and corporate law principles.
2. Discuss fundamental legal issues in commercial scenarios and the applicable partnership and corporate legislation
3. Apply critical thinking and problem solving skills in relation to given partnership law and corporate law scenarios.
4. Communicate information and ideas effectively using academically and professionally relevant language.
5. Apply commercial law concepts to authentic and relevant scenarios and problems.
6. Identify local legislation online.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

The continuing development of good interpersonal skills and communication skills is widely regarded as important for all graduates. This course specifically seeks to develop students’ abilities in oral and written communications. It provides opportunities for students to practice in small working groups.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1, 3, 4
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	3, 4,5
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	3,4
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	1 - 6
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	1,2, 4
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	3,4,5

Learning Resources

Required Resources

1. Students are permitted to take the below textbook(s) into the examination room:

Chapple E (2nd ed), Company Law: An Interactive Approach
Publisher: Wiley
Edition: 2020
ISBN: 9780730369332

The Lecturer and Tutors will make reference to this textbook throughout the course so each student should ensure that they have their own copy.

2. Statute/Legislation

Corporations Act 2001 (edition 2020)
Publisher: CCH, Butterworths or Thomson Lawbook

It is essential that students have access to this legislation as the subject lecturers and tutors will refer to the relevant sections during the course.

The Corporations Act 2001 is also available at

Recommended Resources

Students may find the following additional textbook helpful but are not expected to purchase it:

Lipton P, Herzberg A and Welsh, M, Understanding Company Law, 19th Edition, 2018
Publisher: Thomson Reuters
ISBN: 9780455240213

Online Learning

INTERNET SITES

Lecture slides, tutorial questions, other course materials and resources, additional web-links, assessment and important messages relating to the course will be placed on MyUni throughout the course. MyUni can be found at

Students will also find materials such as case law, legislation and other information related to the topics in the course at the following internet sites:

Australian Securities and Investments Commission:

State and Commonwealth Cases, Legislation and legal journal articles:

Learning & Teaching Modes

1. TEACHING AND LEARNING MODES

Teaching will be by way of:

(i) One two-hour lecture per week and

(ii) One one-hour tutorial each week (tutorials commencing in week 1 of semester)

2. TUTORIALS

Tutorials are a vital component in this subject. As such, it is important that students attend tutorials. The ability to recognise and discuss relevant legal issues in a commercial scenario is the primary aim of this subject.

In tutorials students are expected to engage in the learning process and actively participate in class discussions. At times in tutorials students will be divided into small groups whereby there will be presentations by students of the tutorial problems.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This means that you are expected to commit approximately 9 hours for a three-unit course of private study outside of your regular classes.

Learning Activities Summary

**WEEKLY LECTURE TOPIC GUIDE**
Week	Lecture Topic
1	Course Introduction, Administration and Assessment Business Structures Partnerships
2	Trusts Introduction to Companies
3	Introduction to the Corporations Act Incorporation
4	Company Constitution Relationship with outsiders and corporate liability
5	Company membership Members' powers Share and membership Corporate governance Meetings and company management
6	Directors' & Officers' Duties Part 1
7	Directors' & Officers' Duties Part 2
8	Members' Rights & Remedies
9	Company accounts, equity and debt finance Auditors
10	Insolvency Receivership Voluntary Administration
11	Voluntary Administration Liquidation
12	Exam Revision

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Task Type	Release Date	Due	Weighting	Length	Redeemable	Learning Outcome
Academic Honesty Quiz	Individual	2.00pm Friday 7 August 2020	2.00pm Friday 28 August 2020	5% (Compulsory)	N/A	No	4
Discussion board entries	Individual	N/A	week 2 Monday 3 August 12pm week 4 Monday 17 August 12 pm week 6 Monday 31 August 12pm week 8 Monday 14 September 12pm week 10 Monday 12 October 12pm	10% (2% each) (Compulsory)	200 word entry on discussion boards	No	1,2,3,4,6
Mid term assignment	Individual	2.00pm Friday 28 August	2.00pm Tuesday 9 September	30% (Compulsory)	2,000 words	No	1,4,5,6
Quizzes	Individual	week 2 Friday 7 August 9am week 4 Friday 21 August 9am week 6 Friday 4 September 9am week 8 Friday 18 September 9am week 10 Friday 16 October 9am	week 3 Monday 10 August 12pm week 5 Monday 24 August 12 pm week 7 Monday 7 September 12 pm week 9 Monday 5 October 12 pm week 11 Monday 19 October 12 pm	10% (2% each)(Compulsory)	5 Questions	No	1,2,3,5
Final Exam	Individual	Examination Period	Examination Period	45% (Compulsory)	130minutes	No	1,2,4,5

Assessment Related Requirements

N/A

Assessment Detail

1. ASSESSMENT DETAIL

The assessment components are as follows:

1.1 Academic Honesty Quiz (compulsory) 5%

You must complete the online quiz in the MyUni site for this course, even if you have already completed the quiz previously.

1.2 Discussion board entries (compulsory) 10%

You will need to provide an article of interest and provide a justification as to your choice and the notion of law discussed in the article. More detail on what to include in each entry will be provided in class and on MyUni.

1.3 Mid term assignment (compulsory) 30%

Date and Time Posted to MyUni site: 2.00pm Friday 27 August

Date and Time Due: 2.00 pm Tuesday 8 September

Maximum Word Length: 2,000 words

The test/assignment is an open book test/assignment.

1.4 Corporate Law Quizzes (compulsory) 10%

You must complete 5 online quizzes throughout the semester. Questions asked will cover materials seen in the previous week and the upcoming seminar. Instructions will be posted on MyUni prior to each quiz opening.

1.5 Final Exam (compulsory) 45%

This exam will be completed online. More information will be made available on MyUni.

Submission

Students must retain a copy of all assignments submitted.

The mid term assignment in this course is to be submitted electronically through Turnitin. Details for electronic submission through Turnitin will be provided with the assignment instructions. Turnitin is unable to process files in the .pages format, and Turnitin word counts are known to be inaccurate, which makes .pdf submissions undesirable (as it is harder to determine the number of words). For this reason, submissions to Turnitin are to be in Microsoft Word format (NOT in pdf).

All written work in the Law school is required to comply with the approved Law School style guide, The Australian Guide to Legal Citation.

Extensions: Requests for extensions must be made electronically according to law school policy. Extensions will be granted only for unexpected illness, hardship or on compassionate grounds in accordance with University Policy. Work commitments, travel, holidays or sporting engagements are not unexpected circumstances.

Late Submission Penalties: When an assessment is submitted after the due date, without an extension, 5% of the total mark possible will be deducted for every 24 hours or part thereof that it is late, including each day on a weekend and public holidays. For example, an essay that is submitted after the due date and time but within the first 24 hour period, and that has been graded at 63%, will have 5% deducted, for a final grade of 58%. An essay that is more than 24 hours late will lose 10%, etc.

Word Length Penalties: 5% of the total mark possible for a written assessment will be deducted for every 100 words (or part thereof) by which it exceeds a stipulated word limit. For example, a 3,000 word essay graded at 63% will have 5% deducted if it is between 3,001 and 3,100 words long for a final mark of 58%. If the essay is between 3,101 and 3,200 words long, 10% will be deducted for a
final mark of 53%, etc. Word limits include all words in the text, in headings, in quotations, but exclude citations in footnotes. Any separate cover page, table of contents, bibliography or list of sources is excluded from the word limit. If the word limit is misstated, this may be regarded as academic dishonesty.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through .

Finality of Assessment Grades

Students are advised that Course Coordinators will not enter into negotiations of any kind with any student regarding changes to their grades. It is irrelevant, in any given circumstance, that only a minimal number of additional marks are required to inflate a student’s grade for any individual assessment item or course as a whole. Pursuant to the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policyand the Adelaide Law School Assessment Policies and Procedures, grades may only be varied through the appropriate channels for academic review (such as an official re-mark).

Moderation

In accordance with the University’s Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, course coordinators ‘ensure that appropriate marking guidelines and cross-marking moderation processes across markers are in place’ in each course. Procedures adopted by Adelaide Law School to ensure consistency of marking in courses with multiple markers include:

assurance of the qualifications of markers, and their knowledge of the content covered in each course;
detailed marking guidelines and assessment rubrics to assist in the marking of items of assessment;
sharing of example marked assessments at various grade bands across markers;
reviewing of selected marked assessments from each marker by the course coordinator;
comparison of the marks and their distribution across markers;
automatic double-marking of all interim assessment receiving a fail grade, and of final assessments where a student’s overall result is a fail grade;
the availability of re-marking of assessments in accordance with Adelaide Law School’s Assessment Policies and Procedures.

Approval of Results by Board of Examiners

Students are reminded that all assessment results are subject to approval (and possible moderation/change) by the Law School’s Board of Examiners. Assessment results at the University are not scaled. Under the Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy, students are assessed ‘by reference to their performance against pre-determined criteria and standards … and not by ranking against the performance of the student cohort in the course’. However, under that same policy, the Board of Examiners (as the relevant Assessment Review Committee for courses at Adelaide Law School) is required to ‘ensure comparability of standards and consistency’ in assessment. On occasions, the Board of Examiners will form the view that some moderation is required to ensure the comparability of standards and consistency across courses and years, and accordingly provide fairness to all law students. All assessment results are therefore subject to approval (and possible change) until confirmed by the Board of Examiners and posted on Access Adelaide at the end of each semester.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
The provides academic learning and language development services and resources for local, international, undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students enrolled at the 成人大片.

The centre offers practical advice and strategies for students to master reading, writing, note-taking, time management, oral presentation skills, referencing techniques and exam preparation for success at university through seminars, workshops and individual consultations.

Lex Salus Program
Lex Salus (law and wellbeing) is an initiative of the Adelaide Law School aimed at destigmatising mental health issues; promoting physical, mental and emotional wellness; building a strong community of staff and students; and celebrating diversity within the school. It also seeks to promote wellness within the legal profession, through the involvement of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the Honourable Chris Kourakis, as the official Patron of the program.

Students can participate in the Lex Salus program by attending barbecue lunches, pancake breakfasts, knitting and crochet circles, seminars, guest speakers, conferences and other activities. Our , and regular all-student emails promote upcoming events, and have tips and information on wellness.

Our Lex Salus YouTube channel also includes videos on topics like managing stress, and interviews with LGBTQ lawyers and their supporters which celebrate diversity and individuality. Students who commit to 10 hours of volunteering with Lex Salus in one year can have their service recognised on their academic transcript and through a thank you morning tea with the Chief Justice and law school staff.

Student Life Counselling Support
The University’s service provides free and confidential service to all enrolled students. We encourage you to contact the Student Life Counselling Support service on 8313 5663 to make an appointment to deal with any issues that may be affecting your study and life.
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Academic Honesty
Academic dishonesty is a serious act of academic misconduct. All students must be familiar with the University’s Academic Honesty Policy.

Academic dishonesty is a serious matter and is treated as such by the Law School and the University. Academic dishonesty (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for a refusal by the Supreme Court of South Australia to admit a person to practice as a legal practitioner in South Australia.

Academic honesty is an essential aspect of ethical and honest behaviour, which is central to the practice of the law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student鈥檚 disciplinary procedures.

The 成人大片 is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The 成人大片 therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator

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