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LLM Corporate and Commercial Law
School of Law,
Faculty of Social Sciences

Course description
This LLM is designed primarily for law graduates and lawyers who want to explore how contemporary challenges are addressed in the corporate and commercial law field. It provides you with an excellent opportunity to evaluate and critique the existing legal responses to these challenges. You'll also be encouraged to reflect on how these existing responses can be improved.
We offer a variety of modules, and the teaching is informed by the research of renowned academics from the Sheffield Institute of Corporate and Commercial Law.
Alongside courses in specific areas of corporate and commercial law, we run a series of workshops on legal skills. Those workshops also introduce you to different methodologies. You will develop and hone your critical skills and research expertise. You will use these skills to write a dissertation during the second half of your LLM, with expert supervision from our staff.
Teaching is informed by the research of renowned academics from the Sheffield Institute of Corporate and Commercial Law.
This course is just one of the pathways offered on the Sheffield LLM. You can also choose to study the LLM International Law and Global Justice option.
If you’re not sure which specialist pathway you want to follow, don’t worry, you can take the Sheffield LLM without specialising, or opt to follow one of the pathways on arrival. The choice is yours.
Modules
Core modules
- Legal Research & Writing Skills
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This module introduces students to the basic skills of legal research and legal writing, both essays and problem solving. The module includes lectures by academic staff, library staff and on-line specialists, hands-on workshops and structured seminars. The modules also covers referencing and the use of unfair means. Students are given formative feedback on essays. Students are introduced to the skills necessary to give effective oral presentations. Time will also be given to self-reflect on future employment opportunities.
- Dissertation (LLM in Law)
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Students must complete a 10,000-12,000 word dissertation on a legal topic of their choice, subject to approval by the Head of School or her or his delegate. The approval will include consideration of whether the dissertation is suitable for the student to graduate from one of the specialised pathways. To this end the student will be asked to nominate on the paperwork their interest in graduating with one of the specialised pathways. The dissertation gives the student the opportunity to explore an area of their interest in some depth. To achieve a Masters standard the student is required to demonstrate an up-to-date critical analysis of the topic chosen for discussion.
60 credits
Optional modules - examples include:
- WTO Law: Foundations, Institutions, Challenges
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This module introduces the rules, institutions and policies of international trade law including the study of law and governance of the WTO, including core principles and institutional structures. The module will examine the functions and limits of international law in governing world trade in goods/services. Taking into account political, economic and historical contexts, it will discuss the effects of international trade law on states' interests, policies and individuals' lives/wellbeing. Topics may include trade negotiations, dispute settlement, core disciplines reciprocal exchanges, discriminatory treatment, interaction of trade rules with economic development, trade regionalism, intellectual property rights, environmental protection, and other societal values.
15 credits - Information Technology Law
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This module will address the regulatory framework that governs information technology within international, European and domestic settings. Information technology is an umbrella term for different areas of what can is commonly described as 'internet law' such as electronic commerce, intellectual property in the online context, privacy and data protection. The module will first discuss the legal challenges raised by the internet by, inter alia, looking at Internet Governance, the jurisdictional challenge of the internet as well as online dispute resolution. The module will then focus on electronic commerce. It will discuss e-contracts, both in the business-to-business and business-to-consumer scenario. The module then particularly focusses on the role and regulation of internet intermediaries (including key entities such as Google, eBay, YouTube) which has led to a number of cases recently, including diverging interpretations of the E-Commerce Directive in Member States. Hereafter, the module will address intellectual property as specifically applied to information technology. Finally, the module will critically discuss online privacy and data protection such as in the context of revenge pornography.
15 credits - Introduction to Company Law and Corporate Governance
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This module begins with an outline of the principles of company law for those who have not studied it before. It then offers an overview of directors duties, decision-making, and minority protection versus market protection. These topics are then set in their broader corporate governance context, with an overview of theoretical approaches to corporate governance, as well as some of the main mechanisms characteristic of the UK system
15 credits - Current Issues in Company Law and Corporate Governance
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This module explores in detail a number of topical issues in company law and corporate governance. Topics may include corporate theory, board composition, remuneration, takeovers, codes of conduct, introduction to corporate social responsibility, corporate finance including creditor protection, stakeholder corporate governance and corporate governance and the financial crisis.
15 credits - Fundamentals of Intellectual Property Law
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The module seeks to provide students with an introduction to UK intellectual property law including relevant European treaties and EU law and to some of the issues that are currently topical within the subject. It aims to provide an overview and a framework within which students can undertake detailed study of particular areas which may form the basis of students' assessed work.
15 credits - Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law
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This module will critically look at the developing legal regulation of CSR. The module will first look at the meaning of CSR, how it has evolved as a concept and how it is linked to law. The module will then approach CSR from the perspective of different legal fields. The focus will be on English law, but examples from other systems will also be referred to. The module will first look at CSR from a company law perspective, particularly focussing on reporting duties on CSR issues, but also covering directors' duties and the role of shareholders. Secondly, the module will address CSR in global supply chains, focussing on contract law. Thirdly, the module will discuss liability-based approaches to promoting greater CSR such as transnational tort litigation and corporate criminal liability with extraterritorial effects. Fourthly, the module will study CSR from a consumer (law) perspective which particularly raises questions of enforcement. Finally, the module will shift its focus to CSR in emerging economies
15 credits - International Law and the Protection of Foreign Investment
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This module introduces students to States' obligations under public international law toward foreign investors and their property and examines the substantive and procedural rules applicable in settling investment disputes. International law concerning the treatment of foreign nationals and their property has important consequences in facilitating foreign direct investment and for host States' capacities to define and pursue the public interest. Students will be encouraged to critically engage with existing law and practice concerning investment protection and the settlement of investment disputes, and to consider whether, and how, these rules and practices might be improved.
15 credits - International Commercial Arbitration
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This module discusses and studies the international commercial arbitration legal framework based on the 1958 UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention). It first introduces the sources and hierarchy of norms governing international commercial arbitration, and then focuses on the legal issues and processes concerning enforcing arbitration agreements, selecting and challenging arbitrators, choosing the procedure and applicable law in arbitral proceedings, and enforcing the resulting arbitral award. This module's unique approach presents commercial arbitration as a transnational phenomenon and not as a subject based in or controlled by any particular national legal system.
15 credits - Comparative Corporate Governance
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The module introduces students to comparative law methodology, and compares the structure and function of a number of different company law and corporate governance systems from around the world (for example, the UK, the US, Germany, China, Japan, France), and offers an introduction to interdisciplinary debates on varieties of capitalism.
15 credits - Law and Development
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This module will explore in depth the relation between law and economic development, the underlying theories, practice and lessons of law and development movement, both in the past and present. Topics include the theories of economic growth; the property right hypothesis; contract law; law and finance which consists of two parts: one is shareholders protection and stock market, another is creditors protection with a focus on insolvency law; reflection on the law and development movement.
15 credits - International Intellectual Property Law and Sustainable Development
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The module examines the international frame of Intellectual Property (IP) and how, and to what extent, this can contribute to fulfil the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) whose agendas overlap with IP-related issues, i.e. most of them. In particular, the module will (a) analyse the 'Agreement on the Trade-Related aspects of IP Rights (TRIPs)', focusing on its key principles and outlining the key IP rights regulated therein; (b) discuss selected issues of international importance connected with IP and the SDGs frame such as: access to medicines; access to educational materials; protection of biodiversity and traditional heritage.
15 credits - The International Legal Profession and Transnational Legal Advisory
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This module introduces students to theoretical and practical aspects of the international legal profession and of transnational legal advisory. It explores different limbs of the international and transnational practice of law - transactional advisory, adjudication, arbitration, government advisory, advocacy, international civil service - mapping out the field. It includes presentations by practitioners about their experiences of the international/transnational legal profession, and discussions about the theory, scope, and limits of transnational law, and expertise in international law. The module will provide students with intellectual and practical tools relevant to both the commercial- and the public-interest, international,legal job market.
15 credits - International Trade Law: Advanced Issues
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This module covers in-depth topics of international trade law and governance. Building upon the foundational knowledge of international trade law (as offered in WTO Law: Foundations, Institutions, Challenges), this module explores advanced issues that are at the core of contemporary challenges facing the world trading system.
15 credits
This module will address some of the following themes:
Advanced issues of the law and policy of the World Trade Organization;
The world trading system in a context of deglobalization of complex global value chains and increasing economic nationalism;
The future of global trade governance in a brave new world of regional trade agreements. - Discrimination in Employment Law
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This module examines the law of age, religion or belief, disability, race, sexual orientation and sex discrimination including direct and indirect discrimination, genuine occupational qualifications, justification, remedies and the duty of reasonable adjustment. Also investigated are positive action and positive discrimination, theoretical aspects including the economics of discrimination, the position of groups in the law, and the limits of the law.
15 credits
The content of our courses is reviewed annually to make sure it's up-to-date and relevant. Individual modules are occasionally updated or withdrawn. This is in response to discoveries through our world-leading research; funding changes; professional accreditation requirements; student or employer feedback; outcomes of reviews; and variations in staff or student numbers. In the event of any change we'll consult and inform students in good time and take reasonable steps to minimise disruption.
Open days
An open day gives you the best opportunity to hear first-hand from our current students and staff about our courses. You'll find out what makes us special.
Duration
- 1 year full-time
- 2 years part-time
Teaching
The course is delivered through regular seminars in each subject area.
Assessment
Assessment is through essays and a dissertation.
Department
School of Law
At the School of Law, you will learn to identify and address the complex legal, moral, ethical and social questions that underpin the law. You will be taught by academics, some of whom are practising legal professionals, that are researching at the cutting edge of law and criminology. Our commitment to research-informed teaching means their discoveries become yours, as this research filters into teaching.
Our courses have been developed in consultation with the legal profession and have a strong international focus to develop you into a highly employable graduate. Top law firms regularly visit us to meet our students and take a hands-on approach by contributing to your wider education. They also interview our high-achieving students for jobs.
Our school is acclaimed for its exceptional research performance, aided by our world-leading academics, as well as our pioneering research centres and projects. 91% of our research is rated in the highest two categories in the REF 2021, meaning it is classed as world-leading or internationally excellent.
We endeavour to help you build the employability skills that employers value. At the School of Law we have a dedicated pro bono centre offering you a range of practical experiences. You will have the opportunity to work in our FreeLaw Clinic, fight injustice with our Criminal Justice Initiative and Miscarriages of Justice Review Centre, and gain work experience with our commercial clinic for start up businesses, CommLaw, delivering legal advice on commercial legal issues.
You can also provide practice support to litigants in person with Support Through Court and have the opportunity to get involved with local projects and charities such as Victim Support and Citizen’s Advice Sheffield.
You’ll be based at Bartolomé House, where you will learn through a variety of lectures, tutorials, seminars, and group work. You can also enhance your degree by taking advantage of our careers and employability sessions and there are also a variety of student societies that you might join. This includes the student-run Edward Bramley Law Society.
Entry requirements
Minimum 2:1 undergraduate honours degree in a law or a subject with a sufficient legal component.
Overall IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component, or equivalent.
If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the department.
Fees and funding
Apply
You can apply for 2024 postgraduate study using our Postgraduate Online Application Form. It's a quick and easy process.