The Solicitors Regulation Authority will hold four roadshows as part of its Training for Tomorrow 2014 programme, starting at the end of January.

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”.

Two Welsh universities are to begin providing legal training courses in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx).

A greater level of training for advocates in relation to the questioning of vulnerable witnesses in court is to be introduced in a joint initiative launched by the Bar Council, the Inns of Court, the Law Society, and the CPS.

The Legal Education Foundation is offering 11 training contracts as part of its 2016 Justice First Fellowship scheme, in conjunction with a number of firms.

The College of Law and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives have teamed up to deliver a 'one-stop shop' for the legal profession's training requirements.

As we refuse to mention the fact that it is Friday 13th today or that it is Valentine’s Day tomorrow, we are left with very little to theme this intro around.

The president of the Law Society has called the lack of women at senior level in the legal profession “deplorable” and “a significant worry” in an interview with The Guardian yesterday.

Reed Smith and Queen Mary, University of London have launched a ‘law degree and apprenticeship’ qualification, which combines a LLB with a year-long placement at Reed Smith.

Global law firm Kennedys has launched an alternative route for aspiring lawyers to qualify as solicitors, which enables UK graduates to begin earning immediately.  

You may well be in the midst of a training contract application frenzy, but don’t panic; one of the best things you can do to help your chances is hone your commercial awareness skills.

The new edition of The Training Contract & Pupillage Handbook was published this week and copies are winging their way to university campuses nationwide as we write.

Manchester-headquartered firm Horwich Farrelly has announced that it has taken on 10 new legal apprentices this year, making the insurance law specialist’s expanding apprenticeship programme one of the biggest in the North West.

In the wake of reports of increasing elitism in the legal profession, magic circle firms Allen & Overy, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May have backed a website designed to boost social mobility.

The World Cup may well be taking a lot of your time and energy at the moment – and fair enough – but spare a thought for concerned pub and bar owners worried that the shortage of CO2 in Europe could mean a lack of beer and food during what is a very lucrative trading period. The horror. For other commercial news of interest, read on.

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:

For the past 18 months, members of the Crown Prosecution Service, police chiefs, lawyers, the Ministry of Justice, and the HM Prison and Probation Service formed a working party to update guidelines for judges in what’s been labelled a “change in culture”. The guidelines were rolled out from 16 January.  

Following a vote to join the criminal Bar in protest action, more than 100 criminal defence solicitors will stop taking on low-paid work in response to the government’s criminal legal aid reforms.