Simon Stephen, legal director at Gowling, opens up about how being honest about his mental health over the years has made for a better working environment.

Commercial litigators represent and advise commercial clients when disputes arise from joint venture projects, contracts, civil fraud, commercial and banking transactions, corporate governance, financial services regulation and professional negligence.

More than 1,500 students each year study for the Bar course in the hope of achieving their goal of becoming practising barristers. Many students are left disappointed without any real understanding of why they couldn’t secure pupillage.

When friends and I think back on our law school experiences, our first year often comes to mind. I wanted to share my learnings with anyone who’s about to enter law school.

Early careers recruitment advisor Anna Rutowicz offers application advice, details on Hogan Lovells’ vacation scheme and discusses the firm’s DE&I strategy. Plus, find out why demonstrating commercial awareness is so important in your applications.

If you’re aiming for a career in business or law, whether it’s in an international or City firm or just generally, commercial awareness is a concept you’ll come across frequently. But what does it really mean? Simply put, it’s about understanding the inner workings of businesses and staying updated with current market trends.

I used to get slightly irritated at the mention of commercial awareness. To me, it seemed like an esoteric buzzword, reserved only for those who had been strategically attentive to the trends and updates of different business industries over the years.

Ingrid Yun is a Korean-American lawyer who sits in the mergers and acquisitions department of an elite New York law firm, where she has been working for six years.

Italy is removing same-sex parents from children’s birth certificates, the NHS is worse off than it was in 2011, Just Stop Oil protests continue, the government is increasing the demand for physical education in schools and anger rises regarding the two-child benefit debate. There’s lots to unpack in this week’s commercial news round-up.

People may choose to use medication to manage ADHD presentations. While the UK is in the middle of a national ADHD medication shortage, which is likely to continue until at least December 2023, people are having real difficulty accessing their prescribed medication to help them manage their presentations.

Commercial lawyers operate at the nexus where law meets business, facilitating revenue growth and managing risk.

Hear from Ed Weidman, graduate recruitment partner at leading media and commercial law firm Simkins LLP, as he shares his advice on what the firm wants from its future lawyers and how you can impress in applications. 

Dear reader, a few LCN blogs later, I have officially completed and received the results for my first exam season for law!

Working as a paralegal, or in any day-to-day legal support role, is often seen as just a steppingstone to qualifying as a solicitor. However, particularly in the UK, paralegals are increasingly valued for the legal work they perform. Many firms are using paralegal roles as talent pipelines for trainee solicitors and barristers. This blog explains how to extract maximum professional value from routine paralegal duties, boosting your legal knowledge and enhancing employability.

It’s 2024! Cue the ‘new year, new me’ vows, right? But maybe this is the year for ‘new year, less garbage from the last year’. Maybe 2023 was a rough year for you, or maybe it went great. Either way, there’s no doubt there are some habits we should leave in 2023.

Identifying the lasting effects of changes occurring within the business and legal worlds is crucial to demonstrating good commercial acumen. Think about the impact that such changes might have on a particular industry, your target firm’s clients and the firm itself. Choose to analyse stories that interest you as this will make staying up to date with changes much easier and more enjoyable. Read this week’s commercial news round-up for insight into some of the news stories from the past week.

I felt completely out of place walking into County Hall for the LawCareersNetLIVE event. However, once I started talking to people from all walks of life, everyone admitted that they felt the same imposter syndrome.

What’s the legal basis behind Dragons' Den?

To what extent must directors and other professionals consider climate risks in discharging their duties?