Outline

Overview

The unit provides an introduction to the mainly statutory law regulating insolvent companies to be found in the Corporations Act, 2001. It explores the objectives and key principles of insolvency law, the pari passu principle, the various forms of insolvent administration including informal workouts, liquidation, receivership, voluntary administration, schemes of arrangement, restructuring and associated procedures together with avoidance of transactions in insolvency. The unit also considers the impact of insolvency on existing contractual and proprietary rights from the perspective of employees, unsecured creditors, shareholders, trustees of trusts and third parties generally. The unit also considers cross border insolvency and the Cross Border Insolvency Act, 2008. The impact of the Personal Property Securities Act, 2009 is also analysed. The unit involves a significant component of statutory interpretation.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit	Law
Credit points	6
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Prohibitions ?	CLAW6006 or LAWS3403 or LAWS3445 or LAWS5103
Assumed knowledge ?	undergraduate law degree with good background in Australian corporate law
Available to study abroad and exchange students	No

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Lindsay Powers, lindsay.powers@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	Essay Essay	50%	Formal exam period Due date: 12 Jun 2022 at 16:00	4000 words / 28 days
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Problem Question Practical application to facts of a hypothetical problem	50%	Week 13 Due date: 29 May 2022 at 16:00	4000 words / 28 days
Outcomes assessed:
= hurdle task ?

Assessment summary

Problem question assignment (50%): The assessment consists of a problem question (in two parts) answered in no more than 4000 words in total. The assignment will be released on Sunday 1 May 2022 at 10am and is due 4pm (AEST) on Sunday 29 May 2022. The questions will require students to analyse a set of facts and to provide an answer to the questions asked by applying relevant statutory provisions and case law. Students are expected to research relevant case law to locate any applicable decisions that may not have been referred to in lectures.

The word limit excludes non-discursive footnotes (that is, citations of cases and statutory provisions). No bibliography is required for the Problem Assignment.

Essay (50%): to be no more than 4000 words from a choice of three topics. The release date for the essay topics is Sunday 15 May 2022 at 10am and the essay is due by 4pm (AEST) on Sunday 12 June 2022.

Students are required to demonstrate thier knowledge of the topic, undertake research to identify relevant academic commentary and to express thier own conclusions and reasoning.

The word limit for the Essay excludes non-discursive footnotes (that is, citations of articles, cases and statutory provisions). A bibliography is required for the Essay, but is not counted in the 4000 word limit.

Both assessments will satsify Learning Outcome 1 by requiring students to understand the key provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) referable to insolvency. It will satisfy Learning Outcome 2 by requiring students to apply insolvency law across a range of commercial contexts. It will satisfy Learning Outcome 3 by requiring students to understand the commercial and legal difficulties which can arise in times of financial stress. It will satisfy Learning Outcome 4 in requiring students to understand the competing interests and stakeholders relevant to insolvency.

Note: Students must retain pre-submitted drafts of their assessments on file.

The outcome of a successful special consideration application for both assessments will be an extension.

Assessment requirement to pass a unit of study:

In addition to attending at least 70% of classes, a student must make a genuine attempt at all assessment tasks set out in this Unit of Study in order to obtain a Pass mark and grade (or above); otherwise an Absent Fail grade will be recorded as the student’s result for this Unit of Study.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100	• Completely answers the question. • Contains striking originality of approach or analysis. • Demonstrates exhaustive or innovative research (where independent research required). • Exceptionally well written, structured and expressed. • Is otherwise exceptional in some way.
Distinction	75 - 84	• Completely answers the question. • Achieves a critical and evaluative approach to the issues. • Content and structure is well organised in support of the argument. • Demonstrates extensive research and analysis to support a well-documented argument. • Generally well expressed and free from errors. • Has a clear structure and is well articulated.
Credit	65 - 74	• Covers main issues fairly well in answering the question. • Contains no significant errors • Demonstrates an attempted critical approach to the issues. • Demonstrates reasonably sound research and analysis in addressing the key issues. • Has a clear structure and reasonably clear expression.
Pass	50 - 64	• Identifies the key issues, but does not follow through with a reasoned argument. • Contains some significant errors. • Displays satisfactory engagement with the key issues. • Offers descriptive summary of material relevant to the question. • Superficial use of material, and may display a tendency to paraphrase. • Demonstrates little evidence of in-depth research or analysis. • Adequate expression. • Overall, demonstrates the minimum level of competence in the assessment and satisfies the requirements to proceed to higher-level studies in the degree or subject area.
Fail	0 - 49	• Does not answer the question. • Contains significant or numerous errors. • Few or no identifiable arguments. • Content that is inappropriate or irrelevant. • Lack of research or analysis. • Difficult or impossible to understand through poor grammar, expression or structure. • Overall, does not demonstrate the minimum level of competence in the assessment.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

The late submission of a piece of assessment, which has not been granted an extension, will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment per calendar day or part thereof.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Ongoing	1. History of Insolvency Law; Objectives of Corporate Insolvency Law; Identifying Insolvency. 2. Corporate Insolvency Process and Procedure: Role and powers of liquidators; Commencement, Administration and Termination; Statutory Demands. 3. Corporate Insolvency Process and Procedure (continued): Proofs of debt; Priorities; Set-Off; Disclaimer	Seminar (7 hr)
	4. Insolvent trading; 5. Avoidance of corporate antecedent transactions (part 1); 6. Avoidance of corporate antecedent transactions (part 2)	Seminar (7 hr)
	7. Voluntary administration; 8. Receivership; 9. Impact of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth)	Seminar (7 hr)
	10. Schemes of arrangement; 11. Work outs; 12. Cross border insolvency	Seminar (7 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: All students are required to attend 70% of live classes (or as otherwise specified by the Unit Coordinator) to satisfy the pass requirements for each unit of study. Attendance requirements may be satisfied by in person and/or online attendance as specified by the Unit Coordinator. Failure to meet this requirement may result in a student being precluded from sitting the final assessment.

For PG intensives only: For units offered in Intensive mode, participation in all scheduled sessions may be expected by a Unit Coordinator in order to satisfy the requirements of the unit.

Word count penalty: A piece of assessment which exceeds the prescribed word limit will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment for every 100 words, or part thereof. The total word count for essay and other written assessments will exclude: bibliography; footnote numbers; footnote citation; cover page and include: body text; headings and sub-headings; quotations; anything other than numbers and citations in footnotes.

Referencing: The Sydney Law School expects you to use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th edition, 2018) for your footnoting style, although you should confirm this with your lecturer, and a link to the library website where this is set out comprehensively is available at https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/c.php?g=508212&p=3476376

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Michael Murray and Jason Harris, Keay’s Insolvency: Personal and Corporate Law and Practice (Law Book Co. 10th ed 2018).
Cross Border Insolvency Act 2008 (Cth)
Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)
Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth)

The Reading Guide document will be available on Canvas which contains the reading list.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. understand the key provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) referable to insolvency
LO2. apply insolvency law across a range of commercial contexts
LO3. recall the commercial and legal difficulties which can arise in times of financial stress
LO4. appreciate the competing interests and stakeholders relevant to insolvency.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

No changes have been made since this unit was last offered.

Additional information

Resources - Sydney Law Students

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

LAWS6159: Insolvency Law

Intensive June, 2022 [Block mode] - Remote

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Additional information

Additional information

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect