The Bar Council has released research showing that for employed barristers, some of the key factors behind the decision to go in house include financial security, a good work/life balance, pension arrangements, and an interesting and diverse range of work.

From September 2023, magic circle firm Linklaters LLP will take up to six solicitor apprentices in its London headquarters. Linklaters is one of several firms in the City to embrace solicitor apprenticeships as an alternative pathway to the traditional qualification route.  

Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) exams will be moved online, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has revealed.

Having delayed exams as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, the BSB recently confirmed that assessments for the BPTC (soon to be replaced by a new range of Bar courses), as well as exams for the Bar Transfer Test, will now take place online in August, with resits scheduled for December.

The number of practising solicitors in England and Wales has grown in the last year while the number of registered training contracts has fallen slightly, the Law Society’s annual statistics report has revealed.

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.

Mishcon de Reya is bringing a case on behalf of an anonymous group of clients against the government in a bid to ensure that Article 50, which would signal the United Kingdom’s intention to leave the European Union, is not triggered without the appropriate parliamentary process being followed.

The Government Legal Department (GLD) has announced in its Business Plan that it wants over 25% of senior employees to be from ethnic minority backgrounds, by 31 March 2022.

The Legal Education Foundation has established the Justice First Fellowship Scheme to boost careers in social welfare law; in the first round of recruitment, seven training contracts will be available with host organisations in England and Scotland.

It’s the story that just runs and runs; the week was again dominated by what’s been happening in Greece.

What with the sadness of last night’s World Cup defeat, the arrival today of the Donald, and the chaos surrounding this week’s government resignations and non-existent Brexit strategy, you could be forgiven for thinking that there’s really no reason to carry on. Don’t give up! There remain many reasons to be cheerful, not least the prospect of a fulfilling legal career. To help you make that a reality by boosting your commercial acumen, read this week’s selection of business news stories.

Barristers are taking more risks as a result of commercial pressures, while some senior barristers may be abusing their power over women, pupils and junior barristers, the Bar Standards Board has found.

The legal profession is facing a new challenge as leading barristers defy Bar rules by pledging not to prosecute peaceful climate protesters or represent companies involved in fossil fuel projects.  

It’s been a rough week: Glastonbury is over for another year, England’s Lionesses were knocked out of the World Cup by the USA and to top it all off, Facebook and Instagram have been hit with a glitch that prevents images from loading on the social media sites.

The winner of the 27^th Bar Mock Trials National Competition final which took place last month is Wilmslow High School in Cheshire.

The Law Society of England and Wales Annual Statistics Report 2015 provides an in-depth breakdown of the numbers, location and gender make-up of training contacts in the 12 months to July 2015.

Herbert Smith Freehills has announced a new internship programme offering graduates with autism a chance to work at the firm for eight weeks.

The regulatory arm of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives is examining whether its processes can be streamlined to help more paralegals make the jump to become chartered legal executives – specialist lawyers capable of setting up their own firms and working independently.

In the wake of recent discussion over whether to implement aptitude tests for postgraduate law courses, the chair of the Bar Standards Board Baroness Deech has said that many who take the BPTC are "wasting their money" because they are "not up to it".