Study Tips for AB1301 Business Law Module

Welcome to Business Law (AB1301). Business Law is a vital foundational course essential
for understanding core concepts that underpin business relations and transactions, and how
they work. This short note is meant to give you a quick clue into the process of studying by
going over the following essentials.

a. Why you are studying law

Even though you may not be training to be a lawyer, studying the law is important to facilitate
an understanding of how society works and how business transactions are structured, and to
enable you to do things with the relevant rules in mind.

b. How to study the law

Although there will be a fair amount of reading to do, the important thing is to know what
you’re looking for and trying to understand. The better you understand, the less you have to
memorise and the more quickly you may skim over the less essential portions of the texts. This
is the secret to learning the law (or any other subject). In this course, there may be for each
seminar only a half-dozen, or slightly more, core concepts or rules you really need to know and
understand. You should for each seminar seek to a grasp of the following:

• What the law is: you should know and be able to state the key element of the rules.

• Why the law is the way it is: you should seek to understand and be able to explain the
reason for (the social concern and interest protected/promoted by) the rules. These may
be stated in the text, or you may have to infer it from the nature of the rules themselves,
and glean it from class room discussions. This is critical because without this
understanding, you will not be able to apply or use the concepts/rules properly even if
you can recite them in full.

• How to apply the law: when faced with a particular issue, you should be able to identify
the relevant laws to apply and to make a systematic application of these rules to the
facts.

c. What to study

• Use of textbooks: The course outline lists out three different texts: i.e. Introduction to
Business Law in Singapore, Principles of Singapore Business Law and Singapore
Business Law. Introduction to Business Law in Singapore has been listed as the
recommended text whereas the other two have been set out as supplementary texts.
The main reason for this is that Introduction to Business Law in Singapore is pitched
at a basic and is likely to be the easiest to understand for students who are not familiar
with the study of law. However, which text is most suited to your learning style is a
matter of personal preference and students are encouraged to take a look at all three
before deciding on which text to acquire. You do NOT have to acquire or read all
three texts. However, where you find that one text is ambiguous or insufficient in
content in respect of a particular concept/rule or topic, it would probably be useful for
you to refer to one of the other texts in order to clarify the ambiguity and/or to aid your
understanding.
 • What to look out for when reading a text: The recommended texts will sometimes
cover a greater scope than is required for the purposes of the curriculum for this course.
You can refer to the Seminar Notes that will be provided for each Seminar for an
indication of the coverage of the curriculum for this course. This will give you guidance
on what areas to focus on. This is the purpose of the Seminar Notes. Seminar Notes
are NOT intended to be used as a substitute for the recommended texts.

• Use of seniors’ “notes”: While there may be seniors’ or other students’ “notes” or
“solutions” that may be circulated, you are advised not to rely on such “notes” and/or
“solutions” because they may be inaccurate and outdated. You will also find that
preparing your own notes/solutions based on your own reading of the core texts and
discussions during seminars will help you to solidify your learning and understanding
of core concepts as well as to practise the necessary skill of answering discussion and
exam questions.

d. How classes are conducted

This course operates on a seminar basis - this means it is not a lecture or teacher-driven
but rather driven by discussion on your part (a flipped-classroom style is what you
should expect). No preparation often means little learning. It is NOT enough for you to
wait for a summation or input by your instructor.

The main objective of each seminar is not to necessarily to engage in a complete

discussion of all the questions set out on the worksheet (given the 3-hour time
limitation, at times, this is inevitable) but rather to instil in you an understanding of the
key concepts/rules for each topic via the worksheet questions. Your respective
instructors will exercise discretion in how they run their seminars, including how much
of emphasis is to be placed on each of the worksheet-questions.

• Preparation before seminars: As highlighted above, there will be no lectures during

the seminar. Instead, the class time will be used by the instructor to facilitate a
discussion of the questions in the seminar worksheet. IT IS THEREFORE
IMPERATIVE THAT ALL STUDENTS MUST HAVE PREPARED FOR CLASS
by reading the prescribed texts and attempting the questions in the seminar worksheet
before the seminar. A student who fails to prepare for class will likely not be able to
follow the discussion and will derive little or no value from the class. Such a student
will also not be able to contribute to the class discussion and this will have detrimental
impact on their class participation marks.

e. How to address and answer a question:

Use of ILAC: The acronym for Issue, Law, Application, Conclusion

Issue: identifying what the central figure in the question wants, and therefore what legal point
has to be resolved. The legal point to be resolved is the “issue”. Being able to do this relevantly
and succinctly is a core skill. When you don’t get this right, you misdirect yourself and may go
off point, losing all the marks in answering a question. Get this right and directly stated, and
you’ll have demonstrated a core indication of understanding.
Law: This is a plain statement of the rule/concept and its elements, and effect (consequence
of its applying) - i.e. What the law is. This would include a definition of any legal terms used
in the statement of the rule.

Application: Systematic application of the individual elements of the rule to the facts. There
may be, in such application, a need to discuss some ambiguity or obscurity in the law or
facts/evidence. In such cases, you have to identify the options and the reasons for or against
one or other reading. In general, you should commit to one view or other after any relevant
discussion. An inability to commit to one view may be seen as a sign of non-understanding.

Conclusion: This should follow from the application and be consistent with it. This shows
logical thinking.

Note: The ILAC scheme is intended as a conceptual framework for analysis when you’re
thinking through a problem, not as a written format. If you attempt to write the above out
in distinct paragraphs, you might become too repetitive and that would not be an efficient way
to go about writing your solutions to a legal problem. DO NOT OVERELABORATE ‘ILAC’
BY DISTINCT PARAGRAPHS WITH HEADERS: ISSUE, LAW etc. Rather, your
summarised answer should cover these points in a few quick sentences.

Written by © Associate Professor (Dr) Steven Ang, 2020

Adapted by Associate Professor Erin Goh-Low Soen Yin January 2024
Adapted by Associate Professor Lum Kit-Wye January 2025