Commercial Law

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The principal aim of the LLM in Commercial Law is to provide postgraduate students with the opportunity for advanced learning on certain key areas of international commercial law. The one semester courses have a key role to play in fostering deep learning, enabling lecturers to explore a wider variety of subjects in greater depth. A further aim is the study of the law in its commercial context. Each of the core commercial law lecturers (Laura Macgregor, Scott Wortley, Parker Hood, David Cabrelli, Simone Lamont-Black and Gillian Black) is a fully qualified solicitor and the teaching teams in many of the courses include full-time legal practitioners (Scottish and English).

The LLM in Commercial Law has a strong community atmosphere. This atmosphere is conducive to the exchange of ideas between students, which is central to the ethos of our programme. LLM Commercial Law students meet together as much as possible, not only for classes on substantive issues but also for skills training, social events, and recent innovations such as a visit to the Scottish Commercial Court.

Of central importance to the Commercial Law LLM is the recently inaugurated Edinburgh Centre for Commercial Law. Set up by five core commercial law academics in the Edinburgh Law School, this Centre has several functions. It operates principally as a research centre allowing the members to co-ordinate their research efforts. A further aim is to strengthen and develop existing links with practising lawyers. A Commercial Law Seminar Series takes place under the auspices of the Centre involving leading commercial lawyers from the UK and further afield.

You may take the LLM in Commercial Law either full-time (over one year) or part-time (over the course of two years).
Students are required to complete 180 credits of study: this includes a dissertation to be submitted at the end of their studies (60 credits). The remaining 120 credits must be made up from taught LLM courses. Each curriculum for an LLM in Commercial Law student will resemble one of the following options:

Option 1 Three full-year courses over two semesters of the academic year, each course carrying 40 credits (i.e. 120 credits).

Option 2 Two 40 credit courses and two 20 credit courses (i.e. 80 credits plus 40 (20+20) credits, = 120 credits)

Option 3 One 40 credit course and four 20 credit courses (i.e. 40 credits plus 80 (4 x 20) credits, =120 credits)

Option 4 Six 20 credit courses (i.e. 6 x 20 credits = 120 credits)

LLM in Commercial Law students must take a minimum of 80 credits from the Commercial Law Courses listed below. The remaining 40 credits may be chosen either from this same list of Commercial Law Courses below or from the School's other MSc and LLM courses.

Commercial Law Courses Candidates for the degree of LLM in Commercial Law can choose from the following list of courses, none of which is compulsory. Please note that the one semester courses only run at specific times of the academic year as noted below - they do not run in both semesters:

Full year courses (40 credits, counting as 20 credits per semester)
* Company Law
* Contract Law in Europe
* EU Competition Law
* Financial Models and Derivatives in a Legal Context
* The Law of International Trade
* Regulation of International Finance: the Law, the Economics, the Politics

Semester One courses (20 credits)

* Banking and Finance Law
* Delict and Tort
* Comparative Corporate Governance
* International Commercial Arbitration
* The Law relating to Debt and Insolvency
* Sport and the Law

Semester Two courses (20 credits)

* Commercial Banking and Financial Markets
* Corporate Social Responsibility and the Law
* Cooperation Law and Economics
* Data Protection and Information Privacy
* Economics for Postgraduates
* European Labour Law
* European Law of Capital Markets
* International Private Law: Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments
* The Law relating to Debt and Insolvency
* Principles of Insurance Law
* Principles of International Tax Law

A UK 2:1 honours degree or its equivalent if outside the UK. English language standard: 7.00 IELTS or equivalent. English Language Requirements IELTS band: 7 IMPORTANT NOTE: Since April 2014 the ETS tests (including TOEFL and TOEIC) are no longer accepted for Tier 4 visa applications to the United Kingdom. The university might still accept these tests to admit you to the university, but if you require a Tier 4 visa to enter the UK and begin your degree programme, these tests will not be sufficient to obtain your Visa. The IELTS test is most widely accepted by universities and is also accepted for Tier 4 visas to the UK- learn more.

Edinburgh Law School will offer five Tercentenary Awards for Excellence across all the LLM and MSc Programmes in the School starting in 2012, including the LLM in Commercial Law. This award will provide funding of £1,000 towards tuition fees.