This chapter studies the various forms of business organization that are available to those who trade. It focuses on the types of trading structures available, how they are established, and provides an overview of the implications of each form of business organization. It should be noted that there is no one model that will suit every individual or every business model. It is very much the decision of the individual—having assessed the business, what they wish to do with it, and how they see it continuing in the future—to determine the form of enterprise chosen. Being aware of the consequences for the business organization is crucial in making this decision.
Chapter
15. The Administration of Corporations
Chapter
2. The administration of the law
This chapter examines the administration of the law under the English legal system. It aims to clarify how, and by whom, the law is administered. It identifies the structure, jurisdiction, and composition of the various courts, and also discusses how the tribunals system fits into the administration of the law. In addition, the chapter looks at less formal approaches to dispute resolution, such as alternative dispute resolution. This chapter describes the duties and responsibilities of the different members of the legal profession including the judiciary, the law officers, barristers, solicitors, legal executives, and paralegals. It also considers the appellate procedure.
Book
James Marson and Katy Ferris
Business Law provides an introduction to the subject. Packed with up-to-date and relevant examples, it demonstrates the real applicability of the law to the business world. The book is split into eight parts. After an introduction about studying the law, Part 2 covers the English legal system, the constitution, EU law, and human rights. This comprises important issues including statutory interpretation and the legislative process, and court structures. Part 3 considers contractual obligations. Here terms such as, contractual capacity, mistake, misrepresentation, duress, contractual terms, regulations, and remedies for breach are discussed. Part 4 discusses tortious liability and describes issues of negligence, nuisance, economic loss, psychiatric injury, and statutory duties. Part 5 examines company law, including trading structures, maintenance of finance and capital, and corporate administration and management. Part 6 explores the employment relationship, the nature of which will determine many important factors for both the individual and the employer. It includes discussions on the Contract of Employment, statutory regulation of dismissals, equality in employment relationships, and Statutory and Common Law Regulation of the Conditions of Employment. Part 6 then discusses agency law and the duties and responsibilities that exist for both principal and agent. Finally, intellectual property and data protection issues are considered in Part 8.
Book
James Marson and Katy Ferris
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. Business Law Concentrate considers all the essential issues relating to business law in the English legal system, including EU law and the potential implications of Brexit. The first half of the book looks at contracts in terms of mistake, misrepresentation, duress, undue influence, contractual terms, consumer protection, and remedies for breach. The next few chapters examine employment and focus on issues including wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal, redundancy, equal pay claims, and anti-discrimination. The last part considers company law, intellectual property law, and changes to data protection. This updated edition includes important cases in contract law and torts law, employment law, and intellectual property law, including cases from the Supreme Court, The Court of Justice of the European Union, and the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Recent legislation and its effects in these jurisdictions of law are also covered in detail.
Chapter
15. Business Organizations
This chapter discusses the common types of business organizations and explains the difference between unincorporated and incorporated businesses. The three types of partnership arrangements are considered, namely a general (ordinary) partnership, a limited partnership, and a limited liability partnership. The chapter includes discussion of the rules relating to partnerships under the Partnership Act 1890 and the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2000. It explains how different types of partnerships may be set up and looks at the relationship between partners and the relationship between partnerships and outsiders. It considers the dissolution of the different types of partnerships. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the different types of companies and the separate legal personality of companies.
Chapter
15. Business-related torts
This chapter examines the different types of torts that can affect businesses. A number of these torts (namely product liability, and wrongful interference with goods) aim to protect persons’ usage of goods, whereas other torts (such as nuisance, and the tort in Rylands v Fletcher) are more about protecting persons’ enjoyment of land and property. The tort of occupiers’ liability discusses the duties that are owed by persons who occupy land to those who are present on that land (both lawful visitors and non-lawful visotors). The chapter also discusses the protection of more abstract interests, such as how the law of defamation seeks to protect a person’s reputation. In addition, a number of other torts are discussed, including employers’ liability, and breach of statutory duty.
Chapter
18. Businesses and the Responsibility to Agents
This chapter identifies agency relationships, their prevalence in business, and how the agency exists to bind the principal in contracts with third parties. It begins by defining agency as the relationship that exists between two persons when one, called the agent, is considered in law to represent the other, called the principal, in such a way as to be able to affect the principal’s legal position in respect to strangers to the relationship by the making of contracts or the disposition of property. Agencies exist in corporate organizations, sole trader, and partnership trading structures, and the law in this area applies to many relationships and is frequently seen in commercial enterprises, including high street retailers, between partners, and the directors of a corporation.
Book
Lee Roach
Card & James’ Business Law provides analysis of the English legal system, contract law, the law of torts, company law, and employment law, with online chapters providing further discussion relating to the economic torts, corporate governance, the sale of goods, consumer credit, and the law relating to unfair and illegal commercial practices. All of this is discussed using relevant examples from the business environment, and the key legal cases to help develop a greater understanding of the interconnections between the law and the corporate setting. Part I of the book looks at the English legal system. Part II looks at the law of contract including the formation, terms, exclusion clauses, and remedies. Part III looks at the law of torts in detail. Part IV considers partnership and company law including business structures, the constituents of a company, shares, capital maintenance, shareholders remedies, and corporate rescue. Finally, Part V is about employment law.
Chapter
16. Company Law I
Formation and Finance
This chapter explains how companies limited by shares are formed and looks at the contents of companies’ constitutions. The discussions cover the role of promoters in setting up a company and the meaning of a company ‘off the shelf’. The chapter examines the steps and documentation necessary to register a new company limited by shares and the rules relating to a company’s name. It discusses the constitutional documents of a company and the rules relating to its constitution. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the financing of companies. It examines the different types of shares and the issuing of shares. It also considers debentures and charges.
Chapter
9. Company law I: trading structures and forming the business
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter reviews the law on business organization and business formation. The five main types of business organization (trading structure) applicable in England and Wales are: sole trader; simple partnership; limited liability partnership; private limited company; and public limited company. Sole trader organizations are very flexible but expose the owner to unlimited liability for losses, whilst operating a limited company limits potential losses of the shareholders but is subject to external regulation. A partnership can be ‘simple’, ‘limited’, or a ‘limited liability partnership’. Private limited companies are not required to have a minimum share capital but public limited companies require a minimum of £50,000 allotted share capital on registration.
Chapter
17. Company Law II
Company Officers and Liabilities
This chapter discusses the rules relating to the officers of a company. It considers the meaning of ‘director’ and the position of the Board of Directors. It examines the appointment, retirement, and removal of directors and considers the powers of directors and their authority to act on behalf of the company. The chapter examines the general duties of directors, including the codified duties under the Companies Act 2006, and considers the effect of a breach of those duties. The appointment and the role of a company secretary and company auditors are examined. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the meaning of corporate governance.
Chapter
10. Company law II: directors, finance, and capital
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the law governing company directors and shareholders. The common law duties on directors have been codified and expanded through the Companies Act (CA) 2006. Directors are responsible to the company itself, not to individual shareholders. Minority protection (of shareholders) is provided through the CA 2006 to restrict directors’ acts that may unfairly disadvantage them. Public companies must have a company secretary and they must satisfy statutory requirements in relation to their qualifications. Shareholders have no automatic right of management in the company although, through attendance and the rights to vote at shareholder meetings, they may have influence over the business conducted.
Chapter
18. Company Law III
Company Meetings, Shareholder Protection, and Liquidation of Companies
This chapter discusses the different types of company meetings and how meetings are convened and managed. It examines the different types of resolutions that may be made by shareholders both at meetings and outside meetings, and the rights of shareholders to propose their own resolutions. It explains the difference between voting by a show of hands and voting by poll. It considers the protection given by law to minority shareholders. It discusses the meaning of insider dealing and market abuse and the penalties they attract. The chapter concludes with a discussion of methods by which a company can be wound up and the meaning of wrongful and fraudulent trading.
Chapter
20. The constituents of a company
This chapter examines the principal constituents who make up and contribute to the success of companies in the UK. The role of the members is discussed, especially their role in corporate decision making. What is a director and the powers of the board of directors are examined, as well as a discussion of the appointment and remuneration of directors. The importance of the company secretary is examined. The chapter than looks at the role of the company’s auditor as well as the liability that can be imposed upon a negligent auditor. Finally, the chapter looks at the position occupied by a company’s creditors and examines how they can protect themselves via taking security, such as a fixed or floating charge over the company’s assets.
Chapter
2. Contract I: essential features of a contract
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the essential features of a contract. Offer and acceptance are the first stages in establishing an agreement that may form a legally binding contract. An offer may be accepted at any point until it is terminated. Acceptance can only be made by the offeree or their agent. Consideration is the bargain element of a contract and may be referred to as the ‘price of a promise’. The parties must intend for an agreement to establish legal relations to create an enforceable contract. Presumptions exist in relation to social/domestic agreements and business/commercial agreements.
Chapter
3. Contract II: mistake, misrepresentation, duress, and undue influence
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter considers contract law and the factors that may affect the contract or its validity: mistake, misrepresentation, duress, and undue influence. A contract may be held void due to a fundamental mistake, as the parties did not have a true agreement. An action under misrepresentation is available if an untrue representation is considered ‘actionable’. If a contract is established on the basis of violence (or a threat), or unlawful economic pressure, this may be considered to be a case of duress. Where undue influence has been used to form the contract, it will be voidable.
Chapter
4. Contract III: contractual terms and statutory protection
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses contractual terms and statutory protection. Parties to a contract may express terms and/or terms may be implied. The sources and effects of implied terms are essential to the rights of the parties and obligations imposed on them. Terms can be implied through the courts, through customs, and from statute. Terms are identified as conditions, warranties, or innominate and this distinction is relevant when identifying remedies for breach. Statutes regulate the rights and obligations applicable to consumers and traders. These include the Sale of Goods Act 1979, the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, and the substantial changes in contracts between consumers and traders introduced through the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Chapter
5. Contract IV: discharge of contract and remedies for breach
Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on contract law. It discusses the discharge of contracts and the remedies for breach of contract where one of the parties has failed in their contractual obligations. Contracts can be discharged through performance, agreement, frustration, or breach. In the event of frustration, the parties can establish their own remedies or they can rely on the provisions developed through the Law Reform (Frustrated Contracts) Act 1943. Remedies have been established through the common law and equity. Damages are the primary remedy in most cases, but equitable remedies include specific performance, injunctions, and rectification.
Chapter
25. The contract of employment
This chapter examines the issues concerning contracts of employment. It begins by looking at how employment law disputes are resolved, namely by discussing the role of employment tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal, and how they fit into the courts structure discussed in Chapter 2. The chapter than discusses the difference between employees and independent contractors, and looks at the status of several special classes of worker. An examination of the terms of the contract then takes place, including a discussion of express terms, and the terms that are implied that relate to the conduct of the employer and employee.
Chapter
13. The Contract of Employment and its Termination
This chapter discusses the contract of employment and its termination. It considers the difference between an employee, an employee shareholder, an independent contractor, and a worker, and the tests used to establish their status. It discusses the types of implied terms contained in a contract of employment. The chapter also considers termination of a contract of employment, examining the difference between unfair, constructive, and wrongful dismissal. It looks at claims for unfair dismissal, considering the potentially fair reasons for dismissal, the band of reasonable responses, the automatically unfair reasons for dismissal, and the remedies available where unfair dismissal has occurred. The chapter concludes with a discussion of redundancy.
