LPP114 Commercial

Unit Outline: Flexible Period - 10A 2024, Gardens Point, Internal (Start Date: 19 Aug 2024)

Overview

This unit provides you with opportunities to develop and demonstrate competence in the area of corporate and commercial practice as described in the Australasian Professional Legal Education Council's (APLEC) and the Law Admissions Consultative Committee's (LACC) standards for the pre-admission practical training of Australian legal practitioners. Those standards have been adopted in Queensland as part of the admission rules for the legal profession. In this unit you will advise a client on aspects of setting up a proprietary company, draft conditions for a contract for the sale of a business and advised on due diligence and take other steps on behalf of a buyer of a business.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Apply appropriate legal and procedural knowledge, skills, values and creative thinking to the conduct of select commercial transactions (Course Learning Outcomes 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3)
2. Communicate your advice on the legal, revenue and other aspects of proposed commercial transactions in language appropriate to clients and other legal professionals (depending on the situation) (CLOs 3.1, 3.2)
3. Draft contract clauses (CLOs 1.1,1.2, 2.2, 4.4)

Content

Learning Approaches

This unit engages you in your learning through a problem-based learning approach. The unit's content and its organisation are designed to facilitate your acquisition of relevant knowledge, skills and values in commercial law for professional admission.

The unit adopts a blended learning approach, which includes a fortnightly briefing or online briefing note and online problem solving activities for you to work on supported by online resources and 'authentic' problem materials. Such authentic tasks position the student in the role of the lawyer who advises the client. You will also have face-to-face or online access to peers and lectures to support you when working with problem material. The unit is conducted within the bounds of Laudrillard's conversational framework, utilising real-world assessment.

Specifically, the assessment tasks guide you through the major steps in a company formation and the sale and purchase of a business.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Feedback in this unit is provided to you in the following ways:

• You will find guidance for completing problems in the hints for the task. Some hints provide formative feedback in that they anticipate questions and responses that you may have or make in completing the problem.
• You can seek advice and assistance from staff during briefing sessions or online.
• You will receive progressive feedback on work as it is submitted. Some of this feedback will be formative as it will assist you to prepare subsequent related items of work.
• You may receive some generic comments back to the cohort via QUT Canvas.

Assessment

Overview

To pass this unit you must complete all assessment items to either a passing standard (for graded assessment items) or a satisfactory standard (for satisfactory/not satisfactory assessment items) in accordance with the relevant Criterion Referenced Assessment (CRA) rubric. 

All assessment items are in the form of a practical task that a lawyer is likely to encounter in practice. The assessment items enable you to demonstrate competence in practice areas, skills and values relevant to professional admission.  Assessment items will require you to synthesise and apply a range of knowledge, lawyering skills, values and thinking skills.

Some assessment items are assessed on a 'satisfactory/not satisfactory' scale. You must complete all those items to a satisfactory standard with reference to the relevant CRA rubric. If you do not complete an item to a satisfactory standard on your first attempt, you will be asked to do further work on the item to demonstrate you can complete the work to a satisfactory standard for professional admission purposes.

Some assessment items are assessed against criteria that will provide you with a mark for the assessment item.  The marks that you receive on your first attempt for all assessment items will determine your overall grade for the unit.  Marks will be awarded according to the relevant CRA rubric.  If your attempt at such an assessment item (or any part thereof) is assessed at less than a grade of 4 on any criterion on the relevant CRA rubric, you may be asked to do further work on the item to demonstrate you can complete the work to a satisfactory standard for professional admission purposes.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Problem Solving Task

In this task you will provide advice to a client on the use of a company in a particular commercial transaction and you will draft selected documents that are required to carry out client instructions. This task has these elements:
' Advice letter (20%) Approximately 2000 words
' Incorporation application (Satisfactory/Not satisfactory).

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Threshold Assessment:

You must complete this assessment item to a satisfactory standard to demonstrate competence in these tasks as described in the Law Admissions Consultative Committee's (LACC) standards for the pre-admission practical training of Australian legal practitioners.

Assessment: Portfolio

In this task you will apply your legal and procedural knowledge and your letter writing and drafting skills to completing a series of steps required in a complex commercial transaction for a client. This task has these elements:

• draft contract provisions (30%)
• draft a disclosure statement (Satisfactory/Not satisfactory)
• identify due diligence inquires (Satisfactory/Not satisfactory)
• deed of assignment (Satisfactory/Not satisfactory)
• advice to the client on search results and their implications (20%)
• settlement figures(10%)
• duty calculation (Satisfactory/Not satisfactory).

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Threshold Assessment:

You must complete all the tasks in this portfolio to a satisfactory standard to demonstrate competence in these tasks as described in the Law Admissions Consultative Committee's (LACC) standards for the pre-admission practical training of Australian legal practitioners.

Assessment: Problem Solving Task

This task provide you with an opportunity to analyse critically a potential business transaction for a client and provide the client with advice on multiple aspects of the matter including use of different entities, restrictive trade practices and revenue considerations.  In this task you further develop your ability to communicate complex legal matters in a way that is accessible to your client.  Approximately 1500 to 2000 words.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Threshold Assessment:

You must complete this assessment item to a satisfactory standard to demonstrate competence in these tasks as described in the Law Admissions Consultative Committee's (LACC) standards for the pre-admission practical training of Australian legal practitioners.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no unusual risks associated with this unit.

Course Learning Outcomes

LP41 Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice

1. Identify and apply relevant legal principles in the areas of practice that are required for admission to the Australian legal profession
   Relates to: ULO3, Portfolio
2. Apply the rules of practice and procedure in the areas of practice required for admission
   Relates to: ULO1, ULO3, Problem Solving Task, Portfolio, Problem Solving Task
3. Analyse client problems to identify relevant legal, factual and contextual issues
   Relates to: ULO1, Problem Solving Task, Portfolio, Problem Solving Task
4. Apply legal research skills to identify the relevant legal principles and arguments
   Relates to: ULO1, ULO3, Problem Solving Task, Portfolio, Problem Solving Task
5. Use critical and creative thinking to identify and evaluate possible solutions to practical legal problems
   Relates to: ULO1, Problem Solving Task, Portfolio, Problem Solving Task
6. Communicate complex legal concepts to clients and fellow practitioners in written and oral modes
   Relates to: ULO2, Problem Solving Task, Portfolio, Problem Solving Task
7. Assist clients to understand their options in complex legal matters in written and oral communications
   Relates to: ULO2, Problem Solving Task, Portfolio, Problem Solving Task
8. Manage client work in a professional manner including risk management
   Relates to: ULO3, Portfolio