The National Paralegal Awards, hosted by the Professional Paralegal Register, is taking place on Thursday 22 September at the Iconic Grand Hotel in Birmingham. This is the fourth year the awards has run.

Entries have opened for The National Paralegal Awards, which set out to find the best paralegals in the UK and businesses that support the industry.

In July 2010, this central ‘hub’ in Chancery Lane was created to bring together the legal profession’s pro-bono work, helping individuals and community groups within England and Wales.

Sponsored jointly by the Law Society, the Bar Council and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx), National Pro Bono Week 2016 (Monday 7 to Friday 11 November) begins today, celebrating and highlighting the provision of free legal advice to those in England and Wales who would otherwise not be able to get the legal advice they need. 

Virtual events taking place across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will celebrate the legal profession’s pro bono efforts as Pro Bono Week enters its 19th year.

The legal profession’s annual celebration of the important work done in the pro bono sphere has launched, as National Pro Bono Week begins today and runs until 6 November. Events during the week highlight the contribution of lawyers engaged in pro bono and raise awareness of pro bono opportunities and issues.

Beyond London, the most active cities are Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Liverpool, Cardiff, Newcastle and Nottingham. 

Graduate Recruitment Manager Sam Hope of Shoosmiths describes why you shouldn’t be terrified of law firm assessment days and why using social media is a great way to network with graduate recruiters.

General Manager Louise Lumley of Irwin Mitchell offers her top tips for becoming a great lawyer – namely, be client focused and have a personality!

Litigation partner Maxine Davies of Addleshaw Goddard LLP explains how you can use your existing non-legal work experience to demonstrate commercial awareness, but also why legal work experience remains important.

Graduate Recruitment and Development Manager Mel Brooking of Nabarro LLP offers useful insight into how to impress on what is essentially a three-week interview.

Gareth Saynor, partner at Nabarro and member of the “Law firm as a business” panel at NLL16, discusses the importance of putting legal advice into the context of clients’ needs and why the desire to learn is crucial to success as a trainee.

Sam Hope, graduate recruitment manager at Shoosmiths and member of the “Key advice for applicants” panel at NLL16, offers her top tips for online application forms.

Keely Nelson, talent engagement adviser at BLM, discusses what you might expect to do during your time on a vacation scheme, top tips for how to secure a place, and ways to stand out during a scheme.

Barbara Rollin, partner at Shoosmiths and keynote speaker at NLL16, talks about the gender imbalance in the legal profession, the need for greater flexible working, some of the characteristics of the lawyers of the future, and why resilience is so important.

The Times has teamed up with leading barristers’ chambers 2 Temple Guardians to launch the Times Law National Student Mooting Competition.

Who pays for earthquakes and oil spills - why is insurance law important?

The National College of Legal Training has announced that it will not recruit intakes for the GDL or LPC in 2013-14 because of a decrease in applications for the courses.

LawCareers.Net’s user survey found that 89% rate LCN ‘useful’ or ‘very useful’, with respondents praising “how accessible it is” and “how much useful information there is, especially for free”.

Taking the total of authorised ABSs to five, this week has seen a number of ABS announcements from the SRA, including the first ABS in Wales and an application for a licence from an Italian firm.