The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Education have jointly announced that the apprenticeship standards for the Trailblazers in Law initiative have been approved.

The UK government has announced a £24 million injection of cash into police station and youth court fees, marking the “start of the government’s work to support the sustainability of the justice system both now and in future”.

The justice secretary, Michael Gove, has said that rich lawyers and firms should do more to make justice available for all following the removal of access to justice for most of the public by his government’s legal aid cuts.

The justice secretary Michael Gove has abandoned a controversial new bidding scheme for legal aid contracts and suspended a further 8.75% fee cut for duty criminal solicitors who represent people suspected of crimes in police stations and magistrates courts.

As reported by Alex Aldridge in the Guardian and Neil Rose in Legal Futures, Yorkshire law firm Gordons has launched a legal apprenticeship that will allow school leavers to become qualified lawyers without first having to do a degree.

Publicly listed firm Gordon Dadds is in merger talks with Ince & Co, which if successful will create a major new international law firm.

Commercial firm Gordon Dadds has acquired fellow City practice Ince & Co in a deal worth £27 million, although the final agreement will see Ince’s affiliated overseas offices continue to operate under the Ince & Co brand.

Google Ventures has backed Lawhive in a £9.5 million funding round, taking a stake in the British legal technology start-up developing an ‘AI paralegal’.

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Goodwin Proctor is seeking validation from the SRA in order that it be able to take on trainees from collapsed firm, King & Wood Mallesons.

City law firm Ashurst LLP has announced pay rises for both its London-based trainee solicitors and newly-qualified lawyers.

Goldsmiths, University of London has announced plans to launch a new law degree that will incorporate the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE).

Lawyers and negotiating heads: burden or benefit?

The Law Society has warned that various proposals under consideration by the SRA that would change the way in which solicitors qualify could serve to damage the perception of the United Kingdom as a “global centre of legal excellence”.