BTC1110: Business Law

10% MCQ test
30% Mid semester test
60% Exam

Firstly, I'd have a look at d3stiny's review here, as the subject hasn't changed that much in 4 years, but things have moved around slightly so I thought it wise to write up a new review of the subject.

This was a great subject for me, and a nice way to introduce the law that's relevant to a business person in the real-world. Basically you cover 5 topics, which are an Introduction to the Legal System, Law of Contract, Consumer Protection, Negligence and Business Organisations. These topics tend to be quite broad and lengthy in terms of content, so Roger condenses this quite significantly to what is on the lecture slides. It's important to note that the slides are often a better guide to refer to than the textbook, however using both in tandem makes this relatively straightforward to understand what is being taught.

The key focus in this subject is to learn how to write a structured response to any law problem that you will face in life. The IRAC method - Issue,rule, application and conclusion, is stressed upon somewhat, however I found that I did not have to rely on that method as much to understand what the question was trying to ask. Therefore, it's key that you focus on what format your tutor is looking for you to write out, and ensure that you focus on nailing that format as much as possible.

In tutorials you basically go over the content from the previous week's lectures, of which are set questions from the back of the chapter. These aren't compulsory to do, but I strongly recommend that you attempt them to some extent, as they stress upon your writing skills and are great to get some practise for the exam, which has a similar format. My tutor was Les, who was excellent, and someone who I'd recommend for you to have as a tutor for this subject.

Furthermore, PASS sessions were introduced this semester for the subject, which I found improved my thought process towards how to approach this subject. Therefore, I'd suggest to enrol in them as well if possible to strengthen your knowledge of the content.

Additionally, videos are posted on Moodle at the end of the week for the content covered in lectures the following week. These involve Roger summarising the content and occasionally going over the suggested answer structure for particular parts of the course, such as exclusion clauses. I'd recommend to watch them when you can, to ensure that you're well prepared for the lectures the following week.

In terms of assessments, there are 2 in-semester tasks, both of which are attempted in your regular tutorial.

- Solely focused upon short-answer questions. There were 3 questions for the 3 main topics looked at in the second half of the semester - one on consumer protection, one on the law of negligence and one on business organisations (partnerships and corporations). I found myself to be quite pressed for time in completing this, so it's key that you allocate your time to each question as much as you can, so that you're able to structure your answers in a proper, concise and detailed way.
Overall, I have to say that although the impression is that this subject is the hardest compulsory commerce subject, if you do your work, put in the effort to learn the cases, learn the legislation and understand the flow of each question, then you'll be fine. The main goal here is to keep up with the workload around you, and ensure that you don't fall behind in what topic is being covered each week. It was a great way to understand the law for a business-person, and a subject that I'd look forward to, rather than being fearful of having to do in the first place.

Roger Gamble - one of the most genuine lecturers I've ever had in a subject at Monash. He knows his stuff inside out and is a great explainer of the intricacies of the course. If you are to pick which semester to do this subject, I'd strongly recommend doing it when he's taking the unit, so that you can understand the course in more detail than any other semester.

- Consists of a standard multiple choice test, consisting of 10 MCQ's with each one worth 1% of your grade for a total of up to 10%. These covered offer and acceptance of a contract and the intro to the Australian legal system. I found these to be particularly tricky, but if you prepare well you should be fine. This is done in your week 4 tutorial - with a time limit of around 15-20 mins depending on your tutor.

- The mid-sem completely focused on the Law of Contract. You are allocated the whole of your week 7 tutorial to complete it.It consisted of some MCQ's and 2 short answer questions, targeting particular areas of contract including exclusion clauses, termination & remedies. There are some tricks in the questions, however it's important to note here to carefully look at every word in the case (here in particular due to this being a law subject), so that every detail in the question is ironed out. I didn't find this to be too difficult, so as long as you carefully read each question rather than skimming through the content then you'll be fine. Also, this was the last time contract was looked at as it is

None provided, however sample questions were provided that were taken from past exams

4.5 out of 5

Yes, with screen capture

Concise Australian Commercial Law (4th edition) - 100% necessity. Includes all the cases and relevant legislation for the subject, so it's definitely needed otherwise you'll struggle to keep up with what's being discussed.

1.5hr lecture per week
1.5hr tute per week

Semester 1, 2018

HD

Enjoyable and challenging unit. Compulsory for all Commerce students at Clayton except Comm/Law students. If you have Mathews as a lecturer he will divide the classes into the usual lectures and tutorials but the other semester's lecturer (Roger) will combine the classes into one 3 hour long lectorial. No idea whether the lectorials are better or not but conventional lectures/tutorials work for me.
Make sure to print out all the Acts and statutes provided and have a concise summary of all the important cases (i.e. ones that are frequently mentioned in lectures etc.). It's emphasized so much through out the course but keeping them neat and organized really will help greatly in this subject, as you will need to constantly refer to cases and statutes in your answers.
Tutes aren't compulsory but they are pretty much the only source of getting answers to questions and such, since sample answers are rarely uploaded to Moodle and when they are, it's only to a question or two.

If you have Mathews as a tutor you will find that his teaching style is quite different, and you may find that he somewhat undermines or belittles students in a light hearted manner but i guess its just to set students straight haha. While others may not like him, he does a good job of teaching the material although being a tightass (especially with lateness to lectures). He says his methods are more suited to Science and Engineering students and I would say I'd agree, so if you happen to Sci or Eng at least give him a go.
One of the librarians, Tami Castillo holds two sets of seminars in the matheson library throughout the unit to assist with note taking and exam prep. The exam prep one was recorded but the exam prep wasnt, so you really have to attend them if you don't want to miss out. Just a word of warning that they get booked out super quick, as I found.

Concise Australian Commerical Law is needed for the tutorial questions. Not sure if the 1st edition is the same but apparently it is. Law in Commerce is the book used in Caulfield and was recommended by Mathews as it had better explanations of certain topics toward the end of the course, so it might be worth borrowing it and having a look. The multiple choice quizzes are a bit tricky but 10 out of the 20 marks available are pretty doable. Apparently Moodle stuffed up the displaying of the results so don't count on immediate results (they usually take a week or two and different weeks pop up randomly), and there are no reviews available. Going through the lectures will help you with them greatly.

Topics covered are:

Sem 1 - Roger Gamble
Sem 2 - Mathews Thomas

1 past exam (2012) with sample answer guide

4 Out of 5

Yes, audio only

Concise Australian Commercial Law 2ed (Prescribed) - You will most likely need this book.
Law in Commerce 5ed (Highly Recommended) - Not needed if you have CACL.

Semester 1
1 x 3hr lectorial
Semester 2
1 x 2hr lecture, 1 x 1hr tutorial

Semester 2 2013

85 HD