Students

LAWS5082 – Insolvency Law

2024 – Session 3, Online-scheduled-weekday

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Lezelle Jacobs
lezelle.jacobs@mq.edu.au
Max Barnett
max.barnett@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
80cp in LAW or LAWS units incl LAWS2300
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Insolvency law is focused on the law and practice of bankruptcy and corporate insolvency, an increasingly important body of law for commercial law practice. The unit explores personal insolvency including topics covering the history and purpose of bankruptcy law, bankruptcy notices, creditor's and debtor's petitions, and administration and termination of bankruptcy. Corporate insolvency is also studied, with topics covering liquidation, winding-up, receivership, voluntary administration and deeds of company arrangement. The unit considers the consequences of insolvency on trustees, shareholders and creditors.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Explain legal principles, cases and statutes related to insolvency law.
  • ULO2: Analyse and apply relevant legal principles to factual situations involving insolvency law.
  • ULO3: Evaluate the effectiveness of insolvency law in resolving issues of bankruptcy and corporate insolvency.

General Assessment Information

All assessments are submitted electronically. Turnitin plagiarism detection software is used to check all written assessments.

Students should carefully check that they submit the correct file for an assessment as re-submissions will not be accepted after the due date and time, including instances where students upload an incorrect file in error.

Word limits are strictly applied. Work above the word limit will not be marked.  Footnotes are to be used only for referencing. Unless otherwise advised, referencing must conform to the requirements set out in the Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition.

Marking of all assessments is moderated through a process of blind marking and the use of detailed marking rubrics.

Late penalty policy

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of ‘0’ (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue.    

This late penalty will apply to non-timed sensitive assessment (incl essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc). Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special Consideration application. Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic. 

Special Consideration

Students should submit applications for Special Consideration electronically via ask.mq.edu.au, along with the supporting documentation. Before submitting their applications, students should refer to the Special Consideration policy (link provided under 'Policies and Procedures' below).

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Professional Skills Task 40% No 18/12/2024
Class participation 20% No Ongoing
Take Home Test 40% No 22/01/2025

Professional Skills Task

Assessment Type 1: Professional writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: 18/12/2024
Weighting: 40%

 

Students will research and complete a written task that utilises professional skills characteristic of insolvency law

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain legal principles, cases and statutes related to insolvency law.
  • Analyse and apply relevant legal principles to factual situations involving insolvency law.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of insolvency law in resolving issues of bankruptcy and corporate insolvency.

Class participation

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 0 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 20%

 

Students will be assessed based on their participation in tutorial discussions, debates and other activities

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain legal principles, cases and statutes related to insolvency law.
  • Analyse and apply relevant legal principles to factual situations involving insolvency law.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of insolvency law in resolving issues of bankruptcy and corporate insolvency.

Take Home Test

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: 22/01/2025
Weighting: 40%

 

A time limited take home task covering all unit content

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Explain legal principles, cases and statutes related to insolvency law.
  • Analyse and apply relevant legal principles to factual situations involving insolvency law.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of insolvency law in resolving issues of bankruptcy and corporate insolvency.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Online lectures for topics 1-6 will be available from 2 December 2024. Online lectures for topics 7-12 will be released on 16 December 2024. There are two full-day online intensive seminars. The seminars covering topics 1-6 will take place on the week beginning 9 December 2024 and the seminars covering topics 7-12 will take place on the week beginning 6 January 2025. Discussion questions for each tutorial will be available on the iLearn page for the unit. You must prepare your responses in advance. Tutorials are assessed for participation.  

 

The Required Text is:

Christopher Symes, David Brown and Sulette Lombard, Australian Insolvency Law, 5th Edition (LexisNexis, 2023)

 

For students affected by financial hardship the university offers financial assistance through a variety of support systems listed in the link below: 

https://students.mq.edu.au/support/personal/financial-support

Second hand textbooks can be purchased from Student VIP below:

https://studentvip.com.au/macquarie/textbooks

Additional readings will be available via iLearn or else they will be linked to a publicly available source.

Students will also be required to use a computer for word processing of assignments and have access to the internet for submission of assignments in Turnitin and to interact with iLearn and online research databases and web-based research tools.

Unit Schedule

  • Introduction to Insolvency Law and Theory

  • Corporate Insolvency Processes:

    • Liquidation

    • Voluntary Administration

    • Deeds of Company Arrangement 

    • Small Business Restructuring

    • Receivership

  • Personal Insolvency and Bankruptcy

  • Insolvency and Trusts

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2024.03 of the Handbook