Corporate and Financial Planning Law

Curriculum guideline

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Course
BLAW 3730
Discontinued
No
Course code
BLAW 3730
Descriptive
Corporate and Financial Planning Law
Department
Business Law
Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Credits
3.00
Start date
End term
Not Specified
PLAR
No
Semester length
15 Weeks
Max class size
35
Course designation
None
Industry designation
None
Contact hours

Lecture: 3 hours/week

and

Seminar: 1 hour/week

Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Learning activities

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

Course description
This course will build upon the business law foundation provided in the pre-requisite course, BLAW 1320. 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 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.
Means of assessment

Assessment will be in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy.

Term Examination(s) 30 - 50%*
Final Examination 25 - 40%
Assignment(s) 10 - 30%
Participation 0 - 5%
Total:  100%

NOTES:

  1. *No one examination may be worth more than 40%.
  2. Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in the course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.
  3. Students may conduct research as part of their course work 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.
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. 

Prerequisites

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

  • PDD Financial Planning
  • PDD Financial Analysis or
  • PDD Business Law

 

Corequisites

None

Equivalencies

BUSN 3730

Which prerequisite

Nil