MSc CASE STUDY REPORT Instructions
MSc CASE STUDY REPORT Instructions
This document contains several case study project titles, from which you should choose one.
For your chosen title, you are required to:
Write a 3,000-word report; and
Write a statement not exceeding 500 words reflecting on how completing the Case Study module has contributed to your learning and development and how the skills you have developed may be applied in your future career.
Prepare a 10-minute presentation of your report (no more than 10 slides) and be prepared to answer questions on the report and presentation.
Please also refer to the Case Study Project student instructions issued separately.
By submitting this assessment I certify that:
the assessment submission is entirely my own unaided work, and I have fully referenced and correctly cited the work of others, where required. I also confirm the contents of my submission have not been generated by a third party, or through an Artificial Intelligence generative system.
if the above statements are untrue I ACKNOWLEDGE that I have cheated
I have read the Universitys Assessment Regulations and the Student Discipline Regulations and understand any Assessment Related Offence/Academic Misconduct can lead to consequences which include those set out below*.
I understand that if I am found to have committed an Assessment Related Offence/ Academic Misconduct under the Student Discipline Regulations, I will be reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
I further understand that under the SRA Assessment of Character and Suitability Rules, the SRA will consider a deliberate assessment offence when assessing an individuals character and suitability to be admitted as a solicitor.
*It is the Students responsibility to be aware of these Regulations. The Student Discipline Regulations can be found on the Universitys website under University of Law Policies. The Assessment Regulations can be found in your Student Handbook on ELITE.
The contents of this assessment are confidential. You must not disclose, discuss or express an opinion on the contents of this assessment or your answer to it to any other person, by any means.
In particular, you should note that you may not consult any member of the University of Law staff or any other person on any aspect of this assessment. If you are in any doubt as to how to interpret any word or phrase in this assessment you should decide for yourself what interpretation to adopt.
By submitting this assessment, you are confirming that you are fit to sit, in accordance with the Assessment Regulations.
Assessment Criteria
Your report you should meet the following seven assessment criteria, where appropriate.
Demonstration of knowledge and understanding of the relevant area;
Analysis of complex legal, factual, business and/or management issues, as appropriate;
Application of knowledge and understanding to the task;
Ability to select and use appropriate information in support of the argument;
Ability to critically to evaluate information as appropriate;
Ability to reach a sound and clearly reasoned solution to the problem(s) raised in the task, addressing any ethical and commercial issues, as appropriate;
Ability to communicate using a clear and logical structure and language appropriate to the task.
Your oral presentation should demonstrate the following assessment criterion:
7. Ability to communicate using a clear and logical structure and language appropriate to the task.
Case Study 1 Remote Working Arrangements in the Legal SectorThis case study concerns consideration of remote working arrangements in the legal sector.
The pandemic proved that remote working can work. Not without hard work, digital investment, and company-wide buy-in, true but it works.
https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/associate-news/the-future-of-work-what-hybrid-means-for-the-legal-industryWith regard to the statement above, consider to what extent remote working arrangements in law firms can work. Analyse to what extent an increase in remote working is a positive development for law firms, solicitors and their clients.
Prepare a 3,000-word report. The report should contain the following sections.
A brief analysis of the term remote working and a description of the different types of remote working arrangements law firms offer.
Analysis of the impact that you think an increase in remote working will have on law firms in relation to at least two of the following areas:
Profitability
Staff
Client experience
Your analysis should be informed by the wider literature and your own research to demonstrate your understanding.
In relation to at least one of the areas you considered for section 3, make informed suggestions as to what steps law firms could take to minimise any negative impact that might arise in relation to remote working.
Your suggestions should be informed by the wider literature and your own research to give a comprehensive analysis and show your understanding.
In making your suggestions, please bear the assessment criteria in mind; so fewer suggestions that meet the criteria will gain you more credit than lots of suggestions that are dealt with superficially and dont meet the assessment criteria.
A reasoned conclusion that answers the question.
You should also prepare a reflective statement and a 10 minute presentation of your
Report as outlined on page 1 of this document.
Case Study 2 Gender Diversity in the Finance SectorAddressing the Women in Finance Charter (the Charter) in the HM Treasury Women in Finance Annual Review 2022 dated March 2023, Baroness Penn, Treasury Lords Minister, wrote:
Since its launch in 2016, the Charter has been a catalyst for change. We started out with a vision to increase female representation at senior levels and today we can see that we have come a long way.
With reference to the Charter and its signatories, to what extent is Baroness Penn correct that we have come a long way in increasing female representation at senior levels in Finance?
Prepare a 3,000-word report. The report should contain the following sections:
By way of background, discuss the position regarding female representation at senior levels in Finance before the Charter and why HM Treasury considered that the Charter was required;
With reference to the Charter and the related guidance, explain the key aims of the Charter;
A critical analysis of whether the Charter is sufficient to increase female representation at senior levels in Finance; and
Your view of whether Baroness Penn is correct that we have come a long way in increasing female representation at senior levels in Finance.
You should also prepare a reflective statement and a 10-minute presentation of your Report as outlined on page 1 of this document.
Case Study 3 The Business of LawThis Case Study concerns Alternative Legal Services Providers.
The idea that we are an alternative provider of legal services seems to me to imply that there is one proper way of providing legal services (i.e. going to a traditional law firm) and any other way is alternative (i.e. wrong/new/risky!).
John Croft, President and Co-founder of Elevate
https://www.artificiallawyer.com/2018/11/15/stop-calling-elevate-alternative-we-are-a-law-company/With regard to the statement above, consider whether ALSPs should continue to be regarded as alternatives to mainstream law firms.
Prepare a 3,000-word report. The report should contain the following sections.
A brief analysis of the term ALSP and a description of the different types of ALSPs.
With regard to any three types of ALSP you choose, an analysis of their services and their impact on the legal services market.
An evaluation of how your chosen types of ALSP from 2. above might become integrated within the mainstream legal market.
A synthesis of sections 1 to 3, explaining whether you agree with the statement by John Croft, and containing your observations and conclusions on whether ALSPs have sufficient features in common to distinguish them as a group from traditional law firms.
You should also prepare a reflective statement and a 10 minute presentation of your
Report as outlined on page 1 of this document.
Case Study 4 Private Equity Disclosure and ReportingIn the Preface to the Guidelines for Disclosure and Transparency in Private Equity dated November 2007 (the Guidelines), Sir David Walker, wrote:
My hope and expectation is that implementation of these guidelines and recommendations will mitigate many of the specific concerns about large-scale buyout activity that have emerged in the recent past and will provide for better understanding of how private equity operates and its contribution to UK economic performance in terms of employment, productivity, investment and growth.
With reference to the UK Private Equity Annual Public Report dated 2023 issued by the Private Equity Reporting Group (the Report), to what extent have the Guidelines mitigated these concerns about large-scale buyout activity in the UK and provided for better understanding of how private equity operates and its contribution to UK economic performance in terms of employment, productivity, investment and growth?
Prepare a 3,000-word report. The report should contain the following sections:
By way of background, discuss the position regarding disclosure and transparency in the UK private equity sector before the Guidelines and why the British Venture Capital Association considered that the Guidelines were required;
Explain the key objectives of the Guidelines and three requirements to which private equity firms are subject under the Guidelines;
With reference to the Report, a critical analysis of whether the Guidelines are sufficient to mitigate concerns about large-scale buyout activity in the UK; and
Your view of whether todays understanding of how private equity operates and its contribution to UK economic performance in terms of employment, productivity, investment and growth has improved since the publication of the Guidelines in 2007.
You should also prepare a reflective statement and a 10-minute presentation of your Report as outlined on page 1 of this document.
Case Study 5 Green Finance StrategyIn their Ministerial Foreword to Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy dated March 2023 (the Strategy), Grant Shapps MP, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Jeremy Hunt MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Therese Coffey MP, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (the Ministers) wrote:
We have led the world on green finance. We were the first major country to publish a green finance strategy in 2019. In 2021, we placed finance at the heart of our COP26 Presidency and became the first G20 nation to require the largest companies and financial firms to make public how they are responding to financial risks and opportunities from climate change. We established a UK Infrastructure Bank with 22 billion of capital to level up and decarbonise our economy. And we have raised over 26 billion through selling green gilts. All these measures have given us a strong head start in the race to finance the green Industrial Resolution.
With reference to the Strategy, to what extent are the Ministers correct that we have led the world on green finance and will the Strategy secure the UKs position as a world leader on green finance?
Prepare a 3,000-word report. The report should contain the following sections:
By way of background, discuss the green finance measures which were implemented in the UK prior to the publication of the Strategy in March 2023;
Explain (i) the Strategys key objectives and (ii) three different green finance measures which are proposed to be implemented pursuant to the Strategy;
A critical analysis of whether these three green finance measures are sufficient to ensure that the Strategys objectives are achieved; and
Your view of whether (i) the Ministers are correct that we have led the world on green finance and (ii) the Strategy will secure the UKs position as a world leader on green finance.
You should also prepare a reflective statement and a 10-minute presentation of your Report as outlined on page 1 of this document.
