Studying our Law with Financial Management LLB (Hons) course will equip you with the knowledge and skills in the combined areas of law, accounting and finance. In core areas of study, you will be introduced to the criminal process in England and Wales as well as explore categories of criminal behaviour in our Criminal Law unit. You will explore circumstances in which individuals may be prosecuted or plead defences, examine elements of different crimes and learn the principles, norms and social functions of criminal law. In other areas of study, you will be introduced to Contract Law where you will learn how contracts are formed and regulated, as well as the legal issues that arise when contractual relationships break down. If you have an interest in business, you will be able to build on your knowledge on the nature of companies and business functions in our Company Law unit in the context of the legal framework in which they are regulated.

In addition, you will explore the nature of property and ownership rights in relation to land in our Land Law unit. This involves discussing how these rights are created and transferred, investigating registered and unregistered land, and looking beyond the physicality of land through examining invisible rights such as mortgages and leases. In civil law, our Law of Tort unit will allow you to explore the role of Tort in a societal context through engaging with common law principles while also critically analysing and evaluating case law. To add to the foundations of your law study, you will be introduced to Constitutional and Administrative Law where you will learn of the UK’s constitution and the impact that the European Union and Council of Europe has on this. Another important area of study is our Fundamentals of EU Law unit, and this will equip you with a solid understanding of EU law and politics and its role within the international community, which is crucial for future lawyers who may deal with legal issues raised by Brexit. To add to this, you will also be introduced to the nature, creation, purpose and enforcement of trusts in our Equity and Trusts unit.

With a specialised focus on finance, you will be given an Introduction to Economics and Finance that will expose you to basic economic theories and policies underpinned by finance concepts and techniques. Building on this, our Financial Theory and Practice unit will discuss core finance theories for you to analyse financial statements and identify revenues and costs for management solutions and decision making. Similarly, our Financial Management will provide you with the specialist knowledge required for financial and investment decision making based on long-term business objectives.

To assist you in practice, you will be provided with a solid understanding of the English Legal System while developing your professional legal skills in our Academic and Legal Skills unit. This is crucial in supporting your ability to find and use legal sources, process this information, prepare and apply legal materials and to identify, read and present legal cases. Finally, you will complete a Dissertation into an area of public interest by analysing and evaluating a range of legal research under the guidance of a supervisor.

English Language Foundation

This unit focuses on your ability to understand and use the English language accurately when you read, speak, listen and write. We will concentrate on the English you need for undergraduate level study in your chosen subject area, covering grammar, subject area vocabulary and the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

A key element of the unit is the grammar of the language, and particularly the verb tense system in English, because your ability to use the verb tense system accurately will be extremely important when you come to write essays and reports. This unit will focus in particular on the grammar of the language.

We will also focus on reading, listening and speaking skills in the context of your chosen subject area. Beginning with short texts, we will practise each skill and practise it again, so that gradually you will see, hear and feel that your command of the language is improving. 

A recurring focus of the unit will be your acquisition of 'learner autonomy'. This means your ability to acquire the language yourself, without needing a teacher's help. This is important because from next year you will not have an English teacher to help you. So we will consider and practise strategies to help you gain confidence in your own ability to increase your knowledge of and ability to use the language, including for instance guessing meaning of difficult words, deciding which words are important in a text, recognising differences between formal and informal language, and other strategies, so that as the first semester continues, you begin to feel more confident in your use and experience with the English Language.

Academic Skills Foundation

When you begin your undergraduate level studies, you will be expected to have knowledge of and ability to use a large range of 'study skills'. You will also be expected to have some knowledge of the subject area you will  be studying. This unit deals with both of these aspects of your preparation for undergraduate level study. 

All of the academic skills are practised in English, so you will use your developing acquisition of the language from the partner unit 'English Language Foundation' to practise and gain mastery of these skills. You will also use your language and study skills as you learn the foundation of your subject area, putting the skills into practice as you learn.

Developing English Language Skills

This unit builds on the progress you made during its partner semester 1 unit 'English Language Foundation' and increasing your level from that which you had achieved by the end of semester 1. 

We will recycle the tense system in English and other elements of the grammar system, but you will  now learn how to use other aspects of the grammar, including the passive voice, as well as linking words and phrases and devices which enable you to write longer sentences but retain grammatical accuracy. 

You will notice that we gradually introduce more specialist language that you need in preparation for your degree and we will expect you to use and develop the skills that you gained in the previous units so that you are able to work more independently.

Academic Skills Development

This unit builds on the skills learnt and practised in its partner semester 1 unit 'Foundation Academic Skills'. We will add more skills to the list, including summarizing and synthesising, argumentation, critical thinking and referencing and citation skills, as well as several others and practise and test them in the same way as with the semester 1 unit.

We will also investigate the research skill and you will learn how to prepare a research proposal and conduct a literature review, and how to plan a research project, learning about the research tools available and how they can be used to conduct research in your chosen field. 

You will continue to broaden your knowledge of key current issues and theory in your chosen subject area, and apply the critical thinking and argumentation skills you acquire in this unit to argue for and against propositions you have studied in the form of in both essays and presentations and in seminar situations, ensuring that you are ready to step up to your chosen undergraduate course with a base level of subject area knowledge from which to continue your academic development as you progress to level 4 study.

Criminal Law

Criminal Law is a core subject for the Qualifying Law Degree. Criminal Law identifies and analyses the circumstances in which individuals can be prosecuted and sanctioned for behaviour that is considered harmful to society, as well as circumstances in which these persons can plead particular defences that either excuse this criminal responsibility, or reduce it.

This unit provides you with an overview of the criminal process in England and Wales, the sources of criminal law, and provides you with a detailed understanding of the component elements of different crimes and the rules or principles that govern criminal liability of individuals and corporate entities. Throughout the unit, you will be exploring what forms of behaviour are to be determined as criminal, i.e. conduct that is subject to prosecution and sanction by the law, and the reasons for the legislature or criminal courts labelling this form of behaviour as “criminal.” These areas of inquiry are relevant as they allow you to understand the underpinning principles, core norms and social function of the criminal law, and to further situate this subject-specific knowledge into the wider social context by critically evaluating the wider influences shaping and developing the criminal law including the role of the legislature, judges and judicial policy. The unit maintains social currency as it enables you to gain practical insight into issues that relate the different areas of inquiry on this course to wider social concerns for maintenance of a rule of law that is fair to all who come before Criminal Courts.

English Legal System

This unit aims to:

1.       Provide students with a solid understanding of the working of the English Legal System, the concepts of statutory interpretation and judicial precedent and the roles of those who play a part in the legal system.

2.       Provide students with the ability to use primary and secondary legal sources, including some electronic retrieval systems.

3.       Provide students with the ability to evaluate the law whilst developing their skills of legal research, oral and written communication, group work, statistical analysis, reflective learning and study skills. 

4.       Students should also acquire a willingness to accept responsibility for their own learning and enable them to learn independently using their initiative and self-discipline.

Academic And Legal Skills

This unit aims to help students to develop: 

• Academic skills, including in particular the ability to process information from a range of sources and to communicate clearly and effectively both orally and in writing;
• Professional legal skills, including the ability to find and use appropriate legal sources, to identify, read and re-present legal cases; and prepare and apply legal materials within a variety of professional and specific legal contexts;
  digital skills, in particular those required in the legal sector;
• Professional awareness and the ability to reflect on their own practice and skills and identify strengths as well as areas for improvement. 

Constitutional And Administrative Law

Constitutional and Administrative Law is a core subject for the Qualifying Law Degree.

Constitutional law relates to the legal and political framework that establishes the state’s principal institutions responsible for running the country and defines the powers of these institutions. Administrative law refers to the legal powers and duties of public bodies, including the lawfulness of decisions made by public bodies about the rights and entitlements of individuals. Thus, as Webley and Samuels summarise, “constitutional law is the law that establishes the state and its institutions; administrative law is the law that these institutions use to run the country.”

The Constitutional and Administrative Law unit will provide you with a thorough grounding in both constitutional and administrative dimensions of Public Law. Under the constitutional law dimension of the topic, you will be introduced to constitutional principles and theories, the special nature of the UK constitution and the historical development that gives understanding to the UK’s constitution. The structure of government will be considered and the judicial system set out. The unit will also show how membership of the European Union and the Council of Europe impact on the UK’s constitution. Human rights and their relationship to the constitution will also be covered. Under the administrative law dimension, students will learn about the process of judicial review, the roles of administrative tribunals, inquiries, ombudsmen, and the way that human rights relates to administrative law. Throughout the study, relevant case law will be drawn on.

The unit aims to introduce you to the fundamental principles necessary to understand the foundations of Constitutional and Administrative Law at the theoretical level and bring that into today’s context. Historical, philosophical and political developments will be drawn on to this end. From this basic foundational platform, the unit will shift to the application of key Constitutional Law principles within the UK. The largest part of this unit will focus on the practical application of administrative law and its interaction with human rights law.

This unit will provide opportunities for you to both explore and engage with the norms and principles of Constitutional and Administrative Law as they apply to contemporary practical scenarios, and to develop a number of skills relevant to your future employability in the legal professions.

Intellectual Property Law

Information is an increasingly important source of commercial value within the modern economy, particularly for the entertainment and media sectors and science-based industries. Intellectual Property Law (IP Law) is concerned with the rules which determine when and how information produced either by an individual or a corporation can be protected against infringement by others who may wish to make use of this information and ideas for their own purposes.

This unit provides students with an overview of the intellectual property law of England and Wales but will also include comparative study of IP law in other jurisdictions. Students will be introduced to the concept of intangible property and the nature of intellectual property rights and obligations before considering issues surrounding the exploitation of intellectual property and the availability of remedies for the infringement of intellectual properties.

The unit will introduce the social, political and most importantly the economic dimensions and their influence on the development of IP rights. In this respect, there is the international dimension of the internet and its impact on protection of rights. The fast-changing nature of the topic will introduce students to contemporary legal issues and academic debates concerning the direction of IP rights and whether the current protections can be described as ‘fit for purpose’, i.e. internet and multimedia infringement of existing copyright law.

Fundamentals Of Eu Law

This unit aims to:

• Provide students with a detailed and coherent understanding of the main foundational legal principles pertaining to the law of the European Union and its impact;
• Familiarise students with the institutions, terminology, and fundamental ideas behind the EU project and encourage a critical reflection on the role of the EU in the wider political and socio-economic context.
• Provide students with a systematic understanding of the nature of the relationship between EU law and domestic law (including UK domestic law) and between the European Court of Justice and national courts.
• Introduce students to major areas of substantive EU law and fundamental rights.