Speechly Bircham and Withers are in discussions to merge.

Speechly Bircham and Charles Russell have confirmed that they are in preliminary merger talks.

With 31 December looming, Brexit negotiations ongoing and Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spending review, there’s lots of important news to take in this week. Catch-up below with LCN’s round-up.

Events such as the World Cup can be a brand owner's dream, but how can they be prevented from becoming a nightmare?

Sports law involves the legal issues at play in the worlds of both amateur and professional sport.

Among the different types of client are professional athletes and performers; their managers, coaches and agents; the creators of artistic works; sports clubs and governing bodies; the owners of theatres and festival grounds; broadcasters, distributors and advertising agencies; and the big brands that sponsor tournaments or individual stars.

The fifth annual Sport Resolutions conference took place last week, with this year’s focus on the key industry issues of anti-doping, gambling addiction and racism in sport.

LawCareers.Net spoke to Josh, a GDL student who has secured a training contract with a magic circle firm, about his application experiences and converting to law.

LawCareers.Net spoke to Apply4Law's Kate Stevenson about negotiating law firm application forms and useful tools to make the application stage easier.

Isla Grant, LawCareers.Net’s senior editor, describes how she upped her commercial awareness game and why you should do the same.

Sarah Dyke, training partner at Dentons, talks about the corporatisation of commercial law firms and how trainees can acclimatise with this.

LC.N asked Ince & Co's recruitment manager, Rebecca Withers, for advice on making the most of your law fair experience and the best ways to make a good impression with employers.

Matthew Broadbent, publisher of LawCareers.Net and The Training Contract & Pupillage Handbook, shares his tips on how to get the most out of networking opportunities.

Amelia Spinks, Field Fisher Waterhouse's graduate recruitment manager, dispels the myths surrounding the use of psychometric testing to vet training contract candidates.

LC.N asked the Kent Student Law Society's President and Vice-President on opportunities to boost your CV, learn more about the profession and socialise with like-minded students.

Sarah Warnes, trainee recruitment manager at Cooley LLP, discusses how best to tailor applications when targeting commercial law firms for a training contract.

Gemma Baker, head of the careers service at Kaplan Law School, gives LC.N her advice on the tough reality of competing for a training contract.

Matthew Broadbent, LC.N’s veteran of hundreds of law fairs, gives his essential advice on how to approach these essential events.

March newly qualified retention rates at the top 30 UK law firms are up by an average of 10% - a good sign that there's new life in the legal recruitment market after the economic downturn.