Assessed Written or Oral Presentation Work 2023-24

Module:
Commercial Law LW3COM

Title:
Choose one of the following scenarios as the basis of an essay (5 pages)
OR as a topic for an individual presentation with abstract (1 page) and
bibliography.

Students who wish to do the presentation must elect to do so by 8

December 2023 by emailing Elizabeth Conaghan (from their University
email account).

Note: Ensure you use academic commentary, case law, and legislation to
develop your argument. Both scenarios can be written or presented using the
first person (e.g. “I will argue that…”) or the third person (e.g. “It will be argued
that..”).

Those opting to do the presentation do not have to use visual aids (such as PPT)
but they may find it helpful to do so.

Scenario 1

You are attending an assessment day at a top law firm and you are chatting
with the interview panel about your favourite final year modules. You explain
that the commercial law module included a detailed examination of the Sale of
Goods Act 1979. One of the senior partners (from the family law department)
says, ‘From what I recall from my student days, the Act is just a set of default
provisions, so unlikely to be relevant to most transactions for the sale of goods
because parties draft their own contracts.’

Critically evaluate the partner’s view.

Introductory reading: C. Riley, ‘Designing Default Rules in Contract Law:

Consent, Conventionalism, and Efficiency’ (2000) 20 OJLS 367

Scenario 2

You are undertaking a vacation placement in London at a global law firm. One
of the partners from the New York office has started a secondment at the
London office and asks you to explain the domestic law applicable in England
and Wales for B2B and B2C contracts for the sale of goods. She is particularly
keen to understand the similarities and differences between consumer and
non-consumer contracts in this context, and what you think are the strengths
and weaknesses of the relevant statutes.
Introductory reading: J. Devenney. "The Legacy of the Cameron-Clegg Coalition
Programme of Reform of the Law on the Supply of Goods, Digital Content and
Services to Consumers." [2018] 6 JBL 485.

Important note
When submitting any assessed coursework, you will be asked online to confirm: “I certify that
neither this piece of work, nor any part of it, has been submitted in connection with another
assessment.” If you foresee any problems with this, consult the module convenor.

Maximum Length:
Essays - not more than 5 pages which must be formatted in accordance with
the School of Law’s Assessed Work Rules (otherwise penalties will apply)
Presentation - not more than 12 minutes in length together with an abstract
summarizing the argument of not more than 1 page, and a bibliography, which
must be formatted in accordance with the School of Law’s Assessed Work Rules
(otherwise penalties will apply)

Submission Deadline:
Submission Deadline:
By 12 noon UK time on Wednesday 10th January 2024 (University penalties
apply to late submission – unless you are granted an extension)
Presentations will be timetabled after 12 noon Wednesday 10 January 2024
but abstracts and bibliographies must be submitted via Turnitin by that
deadline (University penalties apply to late submission – unless you are granted
an extension using the Exceptional Circumstances process).

Warning:
IT systems operate slowly at times, and IT problems are generally not accepted as an excuse for
late submission: therefore, students should not leave submission to the last moment.
Return of essays:
General University policy is to return marked essays, with feedback promptly, within 15
working days from the submission date. You can expect essays to be returned by 31 st January
2024.
All marks are provisional, subject to revision by the External Examiner in end of year results.

Submission Process:
Submission is online – with the time recorded – through the “Assessments” tab in the
Blackboard module site: submit by the deadline a single PDF file containing all of your essay
(text, notes, any bibliography – no coversheet is needed). If the system will not accept your
submission, notify us via the “Ask a Question” function in RISIS attaching your essay (or if the
network is down, phone Law on 0118 3786568) and then submit as soon as you are able.
 No paper submission is required.
 Using a pdf file guarantees the length of your essay will not change during submission:
producing a pdf file is simple – within your final document, using the “Save As” function
will offer a dropdown list of file types, where you can select pdf.
 If you are entitled to use green stickers to notify markers about a condition affecting your
work, include the electronic sticker as the first item in your electronic file – it does not
count as part of your page allowance.
Check your submission was accepted:
You should always check your submission was accepted by the system. You will need
to download your submission receipt, rather than having one emailed to you. For
details see the help page: Turnitin LTI assignments.

School of Law Assessed Work Rules:

You must read and comply with all the School of Law’s Assessed Work Rules in the Programme
Handbook, published at the start of the year. (If you are not a Law School student you should
ensure the Module Convenor has made a copy of these rules available to you.)

Assessment Criteria:
The University’s general assessment criteria apply: see the Programme Handbook for details.

Specific assessment criteria for this exercise:

We use the Law School’s standard feedback form for both types of assessment
submission.

The only difference is that a presentation is not assessed on the student’s

writing skills, but on their oral skills (but the same criteria are used to assess
both, e.g. structure, introduction, conclusion, clear language etc.):

Criterion Description
Relevance Identification of the main issues and law, and
engagement with the question

Sources and Selection and identification of sources,

techniques techniques/approaches and ideas

Analysis Critical thought, evaluation, and integration of theory

and evidence

Writing/Oral Structure, style, and grammar

Presentation
Feed-forward What you need to do to improve your mark in future
pieces of work, and other comments

Learning Outcomes:

This piece of work will require students to demonstrate the ability to:
 Conduct independent research;
 Understand and evaluate the principles and concepts of commercial law;
 Take an analytical approach to literature and sources;
 Create and sustain a logical and coherent argument;
 Write or present clearly and accurately, with good structure; and
 Provide citations to primary and secondary sources of law in line with the
OSCOLA citation system.
]
Originality / plagiarism – you have the opportunity to check drafts:
Your online submission – into the Turnitin system – generates an originality report for the
examiners highlighting any passages apparently copied or unoriginal.
You have the opportunity to check a draft of your essay in Turnitin to help you avoid
plagiarism: you are strongly encouraged to do this, leaving yourself enough time to make any
necessary revisions before final submission. (The system can sometimes take a day to generate
a report.) You do this in the Blackboard module site, through the “Assessments” tab, using the
“DRAFT essay” assignment. This will open one month before the submission deadline (and
remains open after the deadline for students with extensions). You can check several drafts.
Guidance on interpreting Turnitin results is in the Programme Handbook: you are advised to
read this before looking at the report on your essay. Reading the Turnitin report and revising
your draft essay is your responsibility; staff cannot be asked to read the report or advise on it.
Further guidance on plagiarism, and how to avoid it, can be found in your Programme
Handbook and in the Law School’s Legal Skills: a Guide.

Percentage of module mark:

The mark awarded for the assessed work will be out of 100. The percentage of the final module
mark derived from this assessed work can be found in the Module Description.