Cooley has announced that it is offering all partners and staff £45,000 for fertility treatment as part of its new ‘family forming’ perk.

The Law Society has called the recent UK-EU summit a “welcome starting point” in rebuilding post-Brexit ties. 

It’s vacation scheme season and that means it’s the perfect time to take a glance at the business world and ensure that your commercial awareness is up to scratch. Our commercial awareness page is a great place to start working out how to develop your understanding of the business environment and how to demonstrate this in applications, but first take a quick read of some interesting commercial stories from this week.

The UK’s legal sector has seen continuous growth. This trend is set to continue despite macroeconomic issues such as inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.

Multinational law firm Dentons – recognised with Menopause Friendly Accreditation in 2024 – continues to build on menopause awareness in the workplace with a MenoVest™ simulator event in collaboration with award-winning agency Over The Bloody Moon.

Is the Supreme Court ‘on-demand’ service the Netflix of the legal world?

In 2018 while studying the Legal Practice Course, I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease. Instead of focusing on applications, I spent my time managing symptoms of my condition, regular hospital appointments and medicines with severe side effects. I spent nine months doing seemingly nothing, with no prospects of a training contract and no idea of when I would feel well enough to return to the world of work.

When the pandemic hit back in 2020, and most of the country started working from home, people rejoiced at being able to work remotely – including me!

In a monumental transatlantic legal collaboration, renowned magic circle law firm Allen & Overy LLP is set to merge with New York-based Shearman & Sterling LLP. 

Taking into account the credit crunch, does money make the world go round?

Commercial law firm Hill Dickinson LLP has launched a returners’ initiative to improve diversity within the firm.

Big changes are sweeping the legal profession - not least to the ways in which you can become part of it and how you will be trained once you get there.

A Bar course is the mandatory vocational stage of training for aspiring barristers before they commence pupillage.

What has been the response of insurers to the threat of terrorism?

The Pupillage Gateway opened on Monday 5 January 2026. Prospective barristers now have a month to apply for pupillage vacancies at barristers’ chambers before the Gateway closes on Thursday 22 January 2026. Meanwhile, some other sets have earlier application deadlines.

Magic circle law firms are taking different approaches to their trainees’ Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) exam results, following the recent round of results released for those who took the SQE1 assessment in January.

Magic circle firm Slaughter and May has set social mobility targets, aiming to increase the representation of lawyers and other employees from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in the firm. 

The charity LawCare has urged the solicitors’ profession to change its culture after a junior solicitor who had committed dishonesty offences was allowed to continue practising because her firm had failed to support her when she began showing signs of anxiety and stress. 

Partner profits at City law firms rose by 12.12% in 2025, while regional firms faced tougher conditions, with profits declining by 10.82%, according to a new report from audit, tax, advisory and consulting firm Crowe.