Course

Corporate and Financial Planning Law

Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Department
Business Law
Course code
BLAW 3730
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 Weeks
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This course will build upon the business law foundation provided in the pre-requisite course, BLAW 1320 (Introductory Business Law). The areas of law that will be covered in this course include business organizations (sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations), agency, corporate governance, real property mortgages, secured transactions, bankruptcy and insolvency, personal property, insurance, guarantees, trusts, wills and estates, and family law. Students who have already received credit for BUSN 3730 will not get further credit for this course.

Course content
  1. Business Organizations
    1. structure of business organizations – sole proprietorship, partnership, limited partnership, corporation
    2. features of the various types of business organizations including advantages and disadvantages of each
  2. Law of Agency
    1. creation of the agency relationship
    2. authority of the agent
    3. duties of the agent and the principal
    4. liability of the agent and the principal
    5. termination of the agency relationship
    6. general nature of a franchise relationship including its advantages and disadvantages
  3. Corporate Governance
    1. the role of officers, directors, and shareholders in the corporation
    2. the fiduciary duty and duty of care required by management
    3. situations of conflict of interest between directors/officers and the corporation
      1. competition with the corporation
      2. taking a corporate opportunity
      3. transactions with the corporation
    4. shareholders’ rights and remedies
    5. liability of directors and officers
  4. Real Property Mortgages
    1. nature of real property mortgages
    2. remedies for default
  5. Secured Transactions
    1. nature of a security interest
    2. creation of a security interest
    3. registration of a security interest and the British Columbia Personal Property Security Act
    4. determination of priority of a security interest
    5. enforcement of a security interest
  6. Bankruptcy Law
    1. the role of bankruptcy and insolvency in business
    2. the bankruptcy process under the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act
    3. filing for bankruptcy
      1. bankruptcy by assignment
      2. bankruptcy by petition
    4. creditor rights in a bankruptcy proceeding
    5. proposals in bankruptcy
  7. Law of Personal Property
    1. acquisition and loss of rights
    2. property insurance
    3. business insurance
  8. Law of Trusts
    1. general nature of a trust
    2. relationship of trustee and beneficiary
    3. inter vivos trusts
    4. testamentary trusts
  9. Family Law
    1. marriage
    2. common-law relationships
    3. separation and divorce
    4. child support
    5. spousal/common-law/partner support
  10. Wills and Estates
    1. purpose of a will
    2. types of wills
    3. duties of executor
    4. probate
    5. intestacy
  11. Power of Attorney
    1. purpose of a POA
    2. obligations of the Attorney
    3. risks associated with POAs
    4. attributes
    5. alternatives to POAs
    6. living wills
Learning activities

Lectures, videos, analysis of legal issues, discussion of legal cases, case assignments, and/or group activities.

Means of assessment
Term examinations (2-3) 55-65%*  
Class participation and/or assignments and/or quizzes     5-10%
Final examination 25-35%
Total 100%

*No one examination may be worth more than 40%

Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research.

Learning outcomes

After completing this course, successful students will be able to:

  • distinguish between the main forms of business organizations;
  • identify the important legal aspects pertaining to corporate governance including the powers, duties and liabilities of officers and directors and the rights and remedies of shareholders;
  • explain the basic features of the law of real estate mortgages, including the remedies available to a mortgagee in the context of default by the mortgagor;
  • describe the use of security interests to finance personal property and set out the legal mechanisms available to creditors to enforce their rights;
  • recognize the main requirements for a bankruptcy claim and outline the key aspects of a bankruptcy proceeding;
  • identify the main legal principles relating to insurance and guarantees;
  • recount the key features of the law of wills and estates;
  • identify fundamental aspects of family law that are relevant to providing professional financial planning advice, including the economic rights and potential liabilities of parties in the context of marital breakdown;
  • demonstrate a strong understanding of the law of trusts;
  • recognize the primary legal concepts applicable to powers of attorney;
  • apply the legal principles that are contained in this course to real world situations and cases; and
  • state the more significant provincial and federal statutes pertaining to the foregoing areas of law.
Textbook materials

McInnes, Kerr, VanDuzer and Carmody, Managing the Law: The Legal Aspects of Doing Business Latest Edition, (Toronto: Pearson Education Canada), or

Other textbook(s) approved by the Business Law Department, and

Additional cases and/or readings per the Instructor's discretion. 

Requisites

Prerequisites

BLAW 1320 (C or higher) or currently enrolled in:

PDD Financial Planning or

PDD Financial Analysis

 

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

BUSN 3730

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for BLAW 3730
Athabasca University (AU) DOUG BLAW 1320 (3) & DOUG BLAW 3730 (3) = AU LGST 2XX (3) & AU LGST 369 (3)
Athabasca University (AU) AU LGST 3XX (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU BADM 307 (3)
Coast Mountain College (CMTN) DOUG BLAW 3710 (3) & DOUG BLAW 3730 (3) = CMTN BLAW 152 (3)
College of New Caledonia (CNC) CNC LAW 2XX (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR) COTR MGMT 3XX (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU BUSI 3XXX (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU BUS 2XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU BLAW 3XXX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) DOUG BLAW 1320 (3) & DOUG BLAW 3730 (3) = TRU BLAW 2910 (3) & TRU BLAW 3XXX (3)
University Canada West (UCW) UCW BUSI 3XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO MGMT_O 3rd (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV COMM_V 3rd (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV BUS 1XX (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC COM 302 (1.5)
Vancouver Community College (VCC) No credit

Course Offerings

Winter 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
35
Remaining seats:
0
On waitlist
3
Building
Anvil Office Tower
Room
608
Times:
Start Time
9:30
-
End Time
12:20