LLM Executive Law

Preparatory Module: Legal Method and Inquiry (0 credits)

Running alongside your first taught module, this induction prepares you for postgraduate study in English law. It covers the foundations of the English legal system, the research and writing skills you will rely on throughout the programme, and the responsible use of technology in legal study.

❚ Sources and nature of law in England and Wales; statutory interpretation

❚ The common law, precedent and the court hierarchy

❚ Locating cases and legislation using legal databases such as Westlaw and LexisNexis

❚ Reading cases and statutes: ratio decidendi and obiter dicta

❚ Legal writing and reasoning, IRAC, and OSCOLA referencing

❚ Ethical and responsible use of generative AI in legal research

 

Module 1: Governing Intelligence: AI, Law and Regulation (30 credits)

Examine the technical foundations of artificial intelligence and the legal and ethical questions they raise, then critically evaluate the UK and comparative regulatory frameworks now emerging — and what they mean for compliance and professional practice.

❚ Foundations of AI: machine learning, LLMs, automated decision-making and the black box problem

❚ AI and human rights: facial recognition, predictive policing, the Human Rights Act 1998, ECHR and Equality Act 2010

❚ Autonomous weapons under international humanitarian and human rights law

❚ Generative AI and copyright: training data and ownership of AI-generated works

❚ Automated decision-making under UK GDPR and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025

❚ UK principles-based AI regulation and the EU AI Act: comparative divergence

 

Module 2: Intellectual Property in a Global Economy (30 credits)

Develop the analytical and practical skills to protect and exploit intellectual assets across jurisdictions, working through the core principles of copyright, patents and trademarks within UK, EU and international frameworks.

❚ Foundations and rationale of intellectual property protection

❚ Copyright: originality, authorship, infringement and exceptions

❚ Patents: inventive step, protection requirements, scope and limitations

❚ Trademarks: distinctiveness, registered and unregistered marks, enforcement

❚ Creation and registration of rights in UK and post-Brexit EU frameworks

❚ The territorial nature of IP and international treaty frameworks

 

Module 3: Deals, Disputes and Decisions (30 credits)

Commercial disputes are cheaper to prevent than to litigate. This module examines how disputes are avoided, managed and resolved outside the courtroom, drawing on law, economics, game theory and psychology.

❚ Contract law principles underpinning dispute resolution clauses and party autonomy

❚ Tiered and hybrid mechanisms: negotiation, mediation, arbitration, med-arb and arb-med

❚ Theories of conflict: game theory, cognitive bias and strategic decision-making

❚ Commercial negotiation strategy, dynamics and barriers to settlement

❚ Facilitative mediation, its legal framework and post-Churchill CPR developments

❚ Domestic and international arbitration and the New York Convention

 

Module 4: Litigation Across Borders (30 credits)

When a dispute spans jurisdictions, the first questions are where it will be heard, whose law applies and whether the judgment will be enforceable. This module works through the principles of private international law and the tensions between common law and civil law approaches.

❚ Jurisdiction, applicable law, and recognition and enforcement of judgments

❚ Forum non conveniens and lis pendens: contrasting doctrinal approaches

❚ Jurisdiction clauses in international commercial contracts

❚ Brussels I Recast and the Lugano Convention

❚ Brexit and its consequences for private international law

❚ The Hague Conventions 2005 and 2019: scope and limitations

 

Module 5: Business Law and Practice (30 credits)

Follow the legal issues that arise across the lifecycle of a business — from formation and governance through employment, contract and tort, to professional ethics and financial crime compliance — and build the judgement to advise on them.

❚ Business structures: sole traders, partnerships, LLPs and private limited companies

❚ Corporate governance, directors’ statutory duties and the shareholder relationship

❚ Employment law: employees, workers and contractors; equality and non-discrimination

❚ Contract law and tortious liability in a business context

❚ Intellectual property protection for business assets

❚ Professional ethics, anti-money laundering and financial crime compliance

 

Module 6: Legal Strategy Report (30 credits)

Select and critically analyse a legal issue or strategic challenge drawn from the programme, and produce an original, independently argued Legal Strategy Report. Structured academic guidance and a formative mid-block checkpoint support you throughout.

❚ Independent selection and framing of a legal or strategic issue

❚ Postgraduate legal research using primary and secondary sources

❚ Critical analysis and synthesis of programme learning

❚ Structured academic supervision and a formative mid-block checkpoint

❚ Assessed by a 500-word preliminary written analysis and a 5,500-word Legal Strategy Report

❚ An original, reasoned and independently argued strategy