The 12th annual LawCareers.Net Training & Recruitment Awards were held in London’s Gibson Hall, in the heart of the City, on Thursday 21 May.

A panel of 18 firms and chambers has been set up to provide free legal advice to athletes, coaches, team officials, national Olympic committees, national Paralympic committees and international federations at the 2012 Olympics.

An initiative to aid law firms in addressing the climate crisis was launched by eight commercial law firms this month.  

Following a recent change in the law, broadcast news channels will air judges’ sentencing remarks from the Crown Court for the first time.

India has abandoned its ban on foreign law firm offices in the country, leaving the Indian market open to overseas lawyers.

Workers are striking over a number of reasons including wages, underfunding, pensions, job losses and contractual agreements, with each sector dealing with its own individual complexities. From the cost-of-living crisis to the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, strikes relate to a wide array of areas and in ways you may never have thought of, so let’s unpack their impact.

In this week’s round-up, we take a look at the COP28 summit (which began today), train strikes, controversy surrounding Nigel Farage and Spotify wrapped. Find out more in the round-up.

On 8 June 170 guests from 72 law firms attended the eighth annual LawCareers.Net Training & Recruitment Awards (the TARAs).

The backlog at crown courts in England and Wales has hit a new high of 64,015 unresolved cases, according to data published last week by HM Courts and Tribunals Services. 

Growth in the legal sector could be halved if Britain leaves the EU without a deal, says the Law Society as it releases economic forecasts in collaboration with Thomas Reuters to predict alternative Brexit scenarios.

Trainees should be paid £23,122 outside of London and £26,068 in London, the Law Society has said as part of the annual minimum salary review.

Launched at the start of September, the Law Society’s new three-year professional ethics programme and web hub have been designed to offer a “safe space” to help members to balance commitments to clients and wider society. 

Sun’s out, shades out! The LCN team enjoyed a lovely stroll down Blackfriars Bridge this afternoon – modelling our trendy sunnies, baking in the warmth and feeling like we were in Spain – (let us dream!).

Our round-up of the first commercial developments in 2017 picks up very much where 2016 left off. The maverick methods of President-elect Donald Trump are having a marked impact on the thinking of major businesses, while tensions between China and other economies continue to increase. There is also a mixture of encouraging and not-so-rosy omens for the UK economy to pick through. 

Pannone, Freeth Cartwright and Cripps Harries Hall have dropped out of the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to work for list, leaving only five law firms featured in the rankings.

Develop your commercial awareness with the help of this weekly round-up of key business stories from LawCareers.Net.

It might be freezing cold outside at the moment, with parts of the US experiencing temperatures of up to -37C this week, but this collection of commercial news stories is sure to keep you warm and light a fire of business excitement within you (LCN cannot be held accountable for physical warmth caused by business news). So pull up a chair, grab a cup of tea, and catch up with the financial world.

The number of firms adopting contextual recruitment practices is growing, but structural inequality and a lack of representation at senior levels mean that Black candidates continue to face additional barriers to becoming lawyers.