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City law firms are considering an additional requirement that candidates will need to gain some “City-specific” training on top of passing the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) when the new ‘super exam’ comes into effect.

The College of Legal Practice has become the first fully virtual training provider to be awarded new degree awarding powers by the Office for Students, making it a fully accredited postgraduate law school. 

Barrister apprenticeships are set to be introduced next year in an effort to improve access to the profession. It’s hoped that the proposed new route to qualification will enable aspiring barristers to earn while they learn, avoiding the costly fees required to attend university and then Bar school.

International law firm DWF has reported that the impact of coronavirus was balanced out by the firm’s strong trading in the first three months of the new financial year.

The first group legal aid trainees to have been sponsored through their training contracts by the Legal Education Foundation’s Justice First Fellowship have qualified as solicitors. 

Following the government’s pledge to end the cross-examination of domestic abuse victims by their perpetrators in court, a long-overdue and ‘enhanced’ version of the Domestic Abuse Bill recently returned to Parliament.

The Law Society has launched its new Access to Justice campaign, aiming to “defend the rule of law in an environment where legal advice is becoming more expensive and difficult to obtain”.

Legal apprenticeship specialist Damar Training and legal education provider BARBRI have announced a new technology partnership that embeds BARBRI’s learning technology into Damar’s solicitor apprenticeship programmes.  

An “overdose of testosterone” is driving talented women barristers to leave the Bar, leading barrister Lord Pannick QC has warned.

The University of Law has announced the launch of a new Trainee Solicitor Development Programme in partnership with the Bank of England. 

Approximately 75% of junior lawyers have said they wouldn’t join a firm “whose values didn’t match with their own, even if they were offering more money”, a recent survey published by Obelisk Support reveals.  

White & Case LLP, Gowling WLG (UK) LLP and Taylor Wessing have each revealed increases in salary for their newly qualified (NQ) lawyers, as pay rises for NQs continue to be announced across the profession. 

Solicitors could face new competence checks as the Legal Services Board published fresh expectations for regulators to ensure lawyers stay up to date on the knowledge, skills and behaviour required to be a solicitor and provide good quality legal services. 

As reported in the Law Gazette, the Legal Services Board Consumer Panel (LSBCP) has received a huge response from the legal profession and members of the public to its recent call for evidence on whether regulating the will-writing industry would be in the best interests of consumers.

The Legal Services Board (LSB) has published a consultation with proposed regulatory measures to strengthen ethical standards in the legal sector.

International firm Kingsley Napley has adopted the Halo Code – which “explicitly protects employees who come to work with natural hair and protective hairstyles associated with their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities” – and has formally incorporated the code into its dress and appearance policy.

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