The commercial Bar covers a broad range of practice areas, including banking and financial services, sale of goods and shipping, insolvency, professional negligence and civil fraud, insurance/reinsurance and oil and gas law.

Leading commercial firm DAC Beachcroft has launched an “in-house chambers”, with plans for it to become “the biggest model of its kind” by the end of the year, according to Sahar Farooqi, one of the two barrister partners leading the project.

Each year LawCareers.Net conducts a user survey to gather feedback on the tools available to those seeking a career in law and to assess the mood of those entering the profession.

In this post I will share my experience with commercial negotiation competitions and explain why I would wholeheartedly recommend them.

Why commercial awareness? Why not! Start here with our carefully selected compilation of thought-provoking and conversation-starting business news.

The much-discussed triggering of Article 50 has happened, and two long years of negotiation now stretch ahead. At the end of that period, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union, regardless of whether an agreement has been reached. Any certainty on what it all means is entirely elusive at this point, but the Law Society has published a short explanation of some of the implications for lawyers. For Brexit and more, read on.

With news this week that Article 50 will be triggered on 29 March, the reality of what a departure from the European Union will mean for the economy is likely to start firming up. 

Last week’s NationalLawLIVE conference confirmed once again that the ability to deliver commercial legal advice to clients is essential – we heard from a panel of partners about its centrality to their practices, from recruiters about how to demonstrate it, and a myriad of workshop topics that delved into its role in today’s law firms. We expect that this message will be affirmed once again at CityLawLIVE tomorrow. As a way to start developing your commerciality, read on for this week’s selection of top business news.

The now compulsory Black Friday frenzy provided lots of shoppers with (perceived) bargains this past week, but does it really make economic sense for retailers in the lucrative pre-Xmas shopping rush? Some resisted the urge to discount, claiming that the Black Friday phenomenon is “bonkers” and that it simply moves the traditional January sales period to November. For more on this, and other business stories, read on.

Sadiq Khan has kicked off Thursday with predictions that centre on a “lost decade” of lower employment and reduced investment that would result from a hard Brexit. Specifically, a study commissioned by the mayor estimates the loss of half a million UK jobs and nearly £50 billion in investment by 2030. For more big business news, try these on for size.

Application season is upon us and part of your preparation should be developing your commercial awareness – namely, an interest in the business world and how the issues that affect clients will also affect and shape the advice that you, as their lawyer, will give. There’s also every chance you’ll be asked to comment on something topical in an interview, so best to be prepared! For a selection of this week’s most interesting commercial news stories, read on:

As details of the laborious and confusing Brexit negotiations continue to seep out – today’s highlights alone include the possibility that UK will remain under EU judicial remit and warnings that an absence of EU workers will seriously damage the economy – there is much to consider about where we will be from an economic point of view when the split becomes final. For news on this, and more, read on.

The UN General Assembly headlined the news this week, as did Theresa May's peace talks with her own foreign secreatry Boris Johnson. In the meantime she has an even more serious issue to consider on which we’ll provide a starting point for your further reading below, as well as a round-up of the week’s other commercial stories.

Although you would expect the news to be in full-on “silly season” mode, there are still a good number of scintillating business stories to keep an eye on – here are just a few.

Spring may have sprung, but that is no reason to neglect your commitment to self-improvement and progressing your legal career. This week’s selection is a real mixed-bag of commercial stories that should serve to pique your interest in the business world.

The big news this week is yesterday’s budget – the BBC provides a useful outline of the key points, which include the removal of stamp duty for first-time buyers on properties up to £300,000; £1.5 billion to be devoted to addressing universal credit concerns; and new measures to crackdown on tech giants which route their profits through low-tax countries (otherwise known as the “Google tax”).

Philip Hammond delivered his first budget yesterday, and it was a mixed bag to say the least. While the UK’s growth forecast has been upgraded for 2017, it has been downgraded for subsequent years. Self-employed workers face a significant hike in their national insurance payments, but fuel duty has been frozen for another year. An additional £2 billion is to go to social care funding, but the NHS remains woefully underfunded. The BBC has provided a useful summary of these and other key points. For a selection of other big commercial stories that made headlines this week, take a look at these:

The big story this week has been the spectacular collapse of Carillion, and the fallout from its compulsory liquidation. The construction and facilities company hasn’t just put its private sector building projects in jeopardy – it also had many public sector contacts which now need fulfilling. For this and other big business news, look no further.

When the US intelligence community is reportedly withholding information from its own commander in chief due to a belief that he and his circle are beholden to a hostile foreign intelligence service, and this is all happening against the backdrop of nuclear escalation in North Korea and the return to the great obsession of war hawks and neo-conservatives, confrontation with Iran, you know it’s time to sit up and engage with far more than just the latest business developments. However, the business world never stops moving even when more existential concerns push it off the front pages, and here is this week’s round-up of the big commercial stories.