Keeping Abreast of the Law
updated on 06 April 2004
Dear Oracle
I'm a second year non-law student hoping to pursue a career in law. Are there any weekly law publications that I should be reading so that I'm aware of commercial developments and prepared for interviews next year?The Oracle replies
There are a range of information sources you should be keeping an eye on. The are three major law publications published on a weekly basis. First, The Law Society Gazette, which is the newspaper all solicitors receive (but don't necessarily read!) from their professional body. It deals with news and matters of interest to the whole profession. Second, The Lawyer and Legal Week are weekly newspapers with a more commercial and international outlook; both display rather more tigerish (grrr) journalism than the Gazette. All of these publications have websites so there's no need to spend any money - you may get the news a few days later than print subscribers but that's no loss. Third, note that most of the broadsheet newspapers have law sections. The Times on Tuesdays is the best known of these.Finally, if you're interested in commercial law it's vital that you read the business pages of the broadsheets and have a grasp of at least the major stories. Consider where lawyers may fit into these stories and remember to think of them also as business advisers with particular expertise in the law.
There are plenty of other resources around. Use your initiative to find them.
