BUSINESS LAW 1
LARGE GROUP 1
Student Guide
Introduction:
Types of business organisation
Separate legal personality
Context
Organisations exist in all walks of life as the vehicles by which human affairs
are arranged and governed. They range from chess clubs to the United
Nations, from the parish council to Microsoft. All forms of organisation give rise
to legal issues about how they operate, and the relations they engender
between their various participants. In this module, we will be looking almost
exclusively at forms of business organisation: those organisations which are
established in order to conduct commercial activities of one sort or another. In
the first unit, we will consider the nature of businesses and the principal forms
of business organisation in English law, and we will consider some fundamental
concepts relating to companies as a form of business organisation and how
they are able to act at all.
Outcomes
By the end of this Large Group you should be able to:
1. characterise what a business is in legal terms
2. identify the main forms of business medium
3. demonstrate an understanding of some of the key characteristics of
businesses run as sole traders or in partnership
4. demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of incorporation and
separate legal personality, and identify some to the different types of
legal person
5. demonstrate an understanding of the variety of legal relationships,
statuses, liabilities etc. which a company may have
6. Introduction
7. What is a business?
, Activity 1
Kai, who has just completed a personal training course, wants to set up a gym
in his local town, offering personal fitness and strength training. He also plans to
sell whey protein and other body building and strength enhancing supplements
to clients.
Make a list of the resources that you think he would need in order to set
up and trade.
8. Forms of organisation
3.1 Principal forms of business organisation
sole trader (3.5 million or c.59% of all private businesses)
partnership (405,000 or c.7%)
private limited company (Ltd) 2 million actively trading companies (Ltd
and plc)
public limited company (plc) (c.34%)
limited liability partnership (LLP) (45,000 or c.0.76%)
3.2 Incorporated and unincorporated businesses
3.2.1 Incorporated businesses
3.2.1 Unincorporated businesses
3.3 Legal personality
3.4 Limited and unlimited liability
Activity 2
Which ONE of the following law firms is NOT a separate legal entity?
A. Slaughter and May.
B. Linklaters LLP.
C. Clarion Solicitors Limited.
D. Gateley Plc
4 Sole traders
LARGE GROUP 1
Student Guide
Introduction:
Types of business organisation
Separate legal personality
Context
Organisations exist in all walks of life as the vehicles by which human affairs
are arranged and governed. They range from chess clubs to the United
Nations, from the parish council to Microsoft. All forms of organisation give rise
to legal issues about how they operate, and the relations they engender
between their various participants. In this module, we will be looking almost
exclusively at forms of business organisation: those organisations which are
established in order to conduct commercial activities of one sort or another. In
the first unit, we will consider the nature of businesses and the principal forms
of business organisation in English law, and we will consider some fundamental
concepts relating to companies as a form of business organisation and how
they are able to act at all.
Outcomes
By the end of this Large Group you should be able to:
1. characterise what a business is in legal terms
2. identify the main forms of business medium
3. demonstrate an understanding of some of the key characteristics of
businesses run as sole traders or in partnership
4. demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of incorporation and
separate legal personality, and identify some to the different types of
legal person
5. demonstrate an understanding of the variety of legal relationships,
statuses, liabilities etc. which a company may have
6. Introduction
7. What is a business?
, Activity 1
Kai, who has just completed a personal training course, wants to set up a gym
in his local town, offering personal fitness and strength training. He also plans to
sell whey protein and other body building and strength enhancing supplements
to clients.
Make a list of the resources that you think he would need in order to set
up and trade.
8. Forms of organisation
3.1 Principal forms of business organisation
sole trader (3.5 million or c.59% of all private businesses)
partnership (405,000 or c.7%)
private limited company (Ltd) 2 million actively trading companies (Ltd
and plc)
public limited company (plc) (c.34%)
limited liability partnership (LLP) (45,000 or c.0.76%)
3.2 Incorporated and unincorporated businesses
3.2.1 Incorporated businesses
3.2.1 Unincorporated businesses
3.3 Legal personality
3.4 Limited and unlimited liability
Activity 2
Which ONE of the following law firms is NOT a separate legal entity?
A. Slaughter and May.
B. Linklaters LLP.
C. Clarion Solicitors Limited.
D. Gateley Plc
4 Sole traders
