Interdisciplinary Legal Practice
Objectives
It is intended that students have an exploratory incursion into the world of law as applied and lived by commercial companies.
Aiming at the acquisition of knowledge and development of skills in a pragmatic and multidisciplinary logic, the course will focus primarily on practical aspects related to the life of companies, through an approach that will cover topics of a corporate nature (from its establishment, but going through the day-to-day and vicissitudes that affect companies) and other areas of law such as labor law, financial law, e-commerce, personal data protection, industrial property, tax law, competition law and real estate law (always from the perspective of companies), also addressing issues of insolvency and corporate recovery.
For students to better understand law as experienced by companies, in each of the sessions and whenever appropriate, practical cases will be analyzed and discussed, as well as real cases that are in the public domain and for which the lecturers have relevant experience.
To this end, content related to the subjects to be taught will be made available to students at least one week prior to the date of each session, in order to allow students to have more immediate contact with the subjects in question and to better follow each session.
General characterization
Code
27147
Credits
6
Responsible teacher
Ana Falcão Afonso, Gonçalo dos Reis Martins, Pedro Alves da Silva, João Lima Cluny, Duarte Santana Lopes
Hours
Weekly - 4.5
Total - 54
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
Not Applicable
Bibliography
1. Corporate Module:
- PAULO OLAVO CUNHA, Direito das Sociedades Comerciais, 6.ª edição, Almedina, 2016
- JORGE MANUEL COUTINHO DE ABREU (Coord.), Código das Sociedades Comerciais em Comentário (Volumes I-VII), 2.ª edição, Almedina
2. Module Acquisitions:
- ANA PRATA, Cláusulas de Exclusão e Limitação da Responsabilidade Contratual, 2.ª Edição, Almedina, 2005
-NUNO AURELIANO, O Risco nos Contratos de Alienação, 1.ª Edição, Almedina, 2009
3. Labor Module:
- ANTÓNIO MONTEIRO FERNANDES, Direito do Trabalho, 18.ª Edição, Almedina, 2017
- PEDRO FURTADO MARTINS, Cessação do Contrato de Trabalho, 4.ª Edição, Princípia, 2017
4. Financial Module:
- ANA PERESTRELO DE OLIVEIRA, Manual de Corporate Finance, 2.ª Edição, Almedina, 2015
- L. MIGUEL PESTANA DE VASCONCELOS, Direito das Garantias, 2.ª Edição, Almedina, 2013
5. Module E-commerce & Personal Data Protection:
- MINISTÉRIO DA JUSTIÇA, GABINETE DE POLITICA LEGISLATIVA E PLANEAMENTO, Lei do Comércio Electrónico Anotada, Coimbra Editora, 2005
- JORGE MORAIS DE CARVALHO E JOÃO PEDRO PINTO FERREIRA, Contratos celebrados à distância e fora do Estabelecimento Comercial, Almedina, 2014
- JORGE MORAIS DE CARVALHO, Manual de Direito de Consumo, 7.ª Edição, Almedina, 2020
- MARIANA CARVALHO HOMEM, A formação dos contratos no comércio eletrónico, Revista Eletrónica de Direito (RED), Junho de 2013
- ANTONIO MENEZES CORDEIRO, Direito da Proteção de Dados, 1.ª Edição, Almedina, 2020
6. Lease Module:
- JORGE HENRIQUE DA CRUZ PINTO FURTADO, Manual de Arrendamento Urbano, vol. I e Vol. II, Almedina
- LUÍS MENEZES LEITÃO, Arrendamento Urbano, Almedina
7. Intellectual Property Module:
- PEDRO SOUSA E SILVA, Direito Industrial, 2ª edição, 2020
- ALBERTO DE SÁ E MELO, Manual de Direito de Autor e Direitos Conexos. 4ª edição, 2020
8. Tax Module:
- ANA PAULA DOURADO, Direito Fiscal, 4.ª Edição, Almedina, 2019
- SÉRGIO VASQUES, Manual de Direito Fiscal, 2.ª Edição-Reimpressão 2019, Almedina, 2018
9. Insolvency Module:
- LUÍS A. CARVALHO FERNANDES e JOÃO LABAREDA, Código da Insolvência e da Recuperação de Empresas Anotado, Quid Juris, Sociedade Editora, 2013
- ALEXANDRE DE SOVERAL MARTINS, Um curso de Direito da Insolvência, Almedina, 2015
10. Competition Module:
- CARLOS BOTELHO MONIZ et al. (coord.), Lei da Concorrência Anotada, Almedina, 2016
- MANUEL LOPES PORTO et al. (coord.), Lei da Concorrência Comentário Conimbricense, Almedina, 2013
Teaching method
In order to ensure a fair assessment and that ensures a balanced weighting of the knowledge acquired and its practical application in the papers, students will be required to complete the following assignments: (a) A first interim paper related to a corporate law topic covered in the first session of company law - the wording will be sent to students after the session on March 9 and the deadline for submitting the work will be March 22; b) A second mid-term paper related to corporate acquisitions issues - the wording will be sent to the students after the March 16 session and the paper due date will be April 23; c) A final paper based on the practical case of the paper on acquisitions but that will comprehend the subjects covered in the various modules that make up the discipline - the wording will be sent to the students after the session on May 18 and the deadline for handing in the paper will be May 28. The final assessment must obey the following weighting factors: (i) the grade assigned in the first interim paper will have a 20% contribution in the final evaluation; (ii) the mark awarded on the second interim assignment will contribute 40% to the final evaluation; (iii) the mark awarded on the final assignment will contribute 40% to the final evaluation. If the final grade is below 10 points or if the student wishes to improve their grade, they may take an oral exam at the end of the semester on a date and under conditions to be set by the NSL. A final remark to mention that, according to the NSL regulations, if the student wishes, he can, under any circumstances, request a written final exam (on a date and under conditions to be defined by the NSL).
Evaluation method
Students will be initially divided randomly into groups. Thus, alongside the theoretical and practical presentations done by the teachers, students will be asked to participate, individually or collectively, in discussions of the topics covered: For this purpose, screenplays will be made available prior to classes, to enable a work oriented on recommended readings and the best preparation for the discussion of matters. To facilitate the acquisition of knowledge and, above all, the ability of students to "instrumentalise" new knowledge on the basis of future practical needs will be analyzed content of literary and cinematic character. The evaluation will consist of two essential elements: the assessment of student performance on weekly assignments and a written evaluation element that may be a research paper on a topic of the program or, alternatively, an exam.
Subject matter
1.Corporate Module
(i) Constitution of the Commercial Company
(a) Company types and their main characteristics
b) Mandatory and optional mentions in the company's articles of association
c) Stages of the incorporation process and practical aspects
(ii) Company vicissitudes | Amendments to the articles of association
a) Annual obligations
b) Capital changes: increase and reduction of capital stock
c) Transfer and encumbrance of shares
d) Mergers, splits and transformations - general aspects
(iii) Shareholders' agreements: purpose and typical clauses
2. Module Acquisitions
(i) Purchase and sale of companies: types of operations of company acquisition and main aspects to consider
(ii) Stages of the acquisition process, in particular:
(a) Preliminary negotiations
b) Due diligence
(c) Sale and purchase agreements of companies, assets and other instruments used in acquisition transactions | related issues and main themes (regulation of responsibilities, identification and treatment of contingencies, declarations, and warranties)
3. Labor Module
(i) Introduction: main labor aspects in company life
(ii) Conclusion and termination of the employment contract: in particular, practical aspects to be considered when hiring and firing employees
(iii) Liability of the company and of the managers or directors
(iv) The new challenges of Labor Law:
(a) Work 4.0
(b) Collaborative economy
4. Financial Module
(i) Main forms of corporate financing
(ii) Guarantees
(iii) Financing contracts: structure and main aspects to be considered
(iv) Other financial operations: sale of credit portfolios
5. Module E-commerce & Personal Data Protection
(i) Legal framework for e-commerce and distance contracting. Main legal concerns of companies when selling products in an online store
(ii) The General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016).
(a) Basic concepts
(b) principles relating to the processing of personal data
(c) rights of data subjects
(iii) Importance of data protection standards in the context of e-commerce
6. Lease Module
(i) Legal framework of the Lease
(ii) Urban Lease Contract
a. Main aspects to consider when drafting the Contract - Common requirements
b. Specific aspects of Leases for housing purposes
c. Specific aspects of Leases for non-housing purposes
d. Other relevant issues
(iii) Rural Lease Agreement
7. Intellectual Property Module
(i) Intellectual Property and Industrial Property
(ii) Brief Notions on Intellectual Property
(iii) Industrial Property
a. Patents and Utility Models
b. Industrial Designs
c. Distinctive Signs
(iv) IP in Due Diligences
(v) Enforcement: means of reaction against violations of intellectual and industrial property rights
8. Tax Module
(i) Introduction to Corporate Tax Law: general aspects on IRC, IRS/Social Security, VAT, Stamp Duty, IMT and IMI
(ii) Particularities on the purchase and sale of companies: tax implications to consider in the tax structuring of the operation; sale of shares vs. sale of assets
9. Insolvency Module
(i) Insolvency and Corporate Restructuring Process: general aspects; initiative and development of the process; main stages
(ii) The Special Revitalization Process (PER)
(iii) The Out-of-court Reorganization Regime (RERE)
(iv) The Special Process for Payment Agreement (PEAP)
10. Competition Module
(i) Introduction to Competition Law: legal framework and main concepts and principles
(ii) Practices restricting competition. Special focus on horizontal agreements:
(a) Purpose
(b) Different types of restrictive agreements
(c) Substantive and procedural aspects