Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (MUT)

WIFU Endowed Chair for Family Business Law

This course covers the legal background to practical business life. An overview of the German legal system is followed by an examination of the fundamentals of private commercial law. This includes an introduction to the theory of legal transactions and the fundamentals of company and commercial law.

A basic understanding of the law is essential in business practice. This applies both to day-to-day operations and to decision-making when complex issues need to be assessed. Against this background, the course aims to provide students with a basic understanding of business law.

Every business activity has tax implications. Against this background, this lecture provides an introduction to corporate taxation. It outlines the tax framework that forms the basis for business decision-making. This covers the entire life cycle of a business, from the tax implications of choosing a legal form and location at the time of incorporation, through the ongoing determination of profits (financing, depreciation options), to the winding up of the business.

The course covers the fundamentals of the ongoing taxation of limited companies and partnerships at both the company and associate levels, as well as selected issues relating to the determination of taxable profit under tax law, and provides an overview of the tax implications upon the termination of business activities in the respective legal forms.

These sessions build on the ‘Private Law’ module and are aimed at students who wish to write a Bachelor’s thesis with a legal focus. Following an introduction to legal research, students will develop the skills required to draft a legal text. Each student on the course then produces a seminar paper within six weeks, under the same conditions as for a Bachelor’s thesis; this, together with an (online) presentation to the class followed by a discussion and defence, constitutes the assessment.

Family and inheritance law plays a crucial role in business practice, not only – but particularly – in family businesses. Succession models cannot be properly considered without a basic understanding of this area of law. This course aims to bridge this gap and, in addition to providing an introduction to the subject matter, to explain the cross-references with tax law. The course content is taught using practical case studies.

This module provides an overview of the fundamental issues in the field of family business law. It covers topics relating to family law, inheritance law, company law and tax law. Discussions will take place both in a theoretical context and using practical examples. The aim is to clarify the specific issues that arise in the most common scenarios within the respective areas of law.

It is not possible to understand complex economic interrelationships without a knowledge of the relevant legal framework. This course therefore aims to provide a basic understanding of commercial and corporate law, as well as an introduction to procedural law. Building on this foundation, the course will examine the most significant Supreme Court rulings that have had a particular impact on business practice. Particular emphasis will be placed at all times on current developments in legal practice.

Together with Professor Dr Knut Werner Lange of the University of Bayreuth and Professor Rainer Kirchdörfer, we are organising an intensive seminar on business succession. Using a case study that examines the generational transition within a family business across several succession scenarios, the event will explore the issues relating to inheritance law, corporate law, tax law and psychology involved in this complex process. A family business owner directly affected by these issues will take part in the seminar and will personally outline the challenges they have faced and the solutions they have found. The event will take place at a country house in the Hunsrück.

Law degrees at the university are generally regarded as being out of touch with reality. To dispel this preconception, we organise (currently at irregular intervals) a so-called moot court for economics students. These involve realistic legal disputes heard before a (fictitious) court set up for this purpose . The event is organised in cooperation with Bochum Regional Court.

This course covers key competencies relating to the fundamentals of the law governing the organisation of the state. The focus is on the structure and functioning of state organs, the provisions on the state’s objectives, legislative powers, the legislative process and electoral law. Reference is made to legal remedies, the current case law of the Federal Constitutional Court and current events.

This course covers key competencies relating to the fundamentals of constitutional law. It focuses on the theory of fundamental rights and their significance as rights of defence against the state. The course examines the scope and limitations of individual civil liberties, as well as the general principle of equal treatment, drawing on recent case law from the Federal Constitutional Court. In addition, the course examines human rights as supranational rights to which all people worldwide are entitled, and their origins in international treaties and customary international law.

This course focuses on the legal foundations of inter-state relations. The two block sessions will provide an introduction to the fundamental sources of international law, the subjects of international law, international organisations and the enforcement of international law. In addition, students will gain an insight into European law (the legal framework of the European Union, its institutions, and the main features of primary and secondary European law). The block sessions will include many interactive elements. Students will then form small groups and, through creative group work, explore and develop a topic of their own choosing relating to international law or European law. The module will conclude with the presentation of this creative group project.

LINK (training journal, accessible to members of UW/H)

Link (The UW/H platform for law podcasts)

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