In a significant development in the world of legal aid, Justice Minister Ken Clarke announced last week that he has postponed major reforms to the legal aid system that were due to be implemented in October 2012.

Paralegal work’s reputation for being a dead end to career advancement may soon be put to bed, as plans to implement formal qualifications and training opportunities for an advanced paralegal apprenticeship accelerate.

A short week means a short round-up, but still packed with interesting (albeit uniformly depressing) news.

The majority of Manchester-based firm Pannone's business has been acquired by Australian firm Slater & Gordon for a total of £33 million, it has been announced.

With Pupillage Gateway now open for applicants to browse pupillage vacancies, Bar students are busy completing application forms and researching different sets.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland has contradicted suggestions from the top levels of the government that judges are politically biased and not truly independent.

US firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher (UK) LLP and global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright have both raised the salaries for their newly qualified (NQ) solicitors in London to £170,000 and £135,000, respectively. 

What with Brexit and Trump v Clinton, there is a lot of juicy news to fill newspaper columns at the moment.

Want to know what’s been happening in the business world that might be of interest to your future clients? Look no further than this collection of interesting business stories.

As predicted, the SRA has announced that the minimum salary for trainees will remain frozen at 2009 levels.

Yesterday’s budget is on everyone’s lips, with analysis of who will benefit, who will suffer and general comment on what it means about the state of the UK economy.

CILEx Regulation has been granted the right to license new alternative business structures, in a development touted as good news for legal executives, who could benefit from expanded career opportunities.

The government has announced the closure of 86 courts across England and Wales - almost one fifth of all courts and tribunals in the country.

Prominent barrister Michael Mansfield QC has argued against imposing a limit on the number of Bar Professional Training Course places.

The Times has teamed up with leading barristers’ chambers 2 Temple Guardians to launch the Times Law National Student Mooting Competition.

Magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has launched a networking programme for solicitors of all genders to connect with women barristers, with the aim of increasing instructions and client recommendations to women advocates.

Following publication of the 2017 Judicial Diversity Statistics, the Chair of the Bar Council's Equality and Diversity Committee, Robin Allen QC, has demanded there be greater action on judicial diversity.

Appearing in court by video-link makes it harder for some defendants to understand what is going on and participate, a survey by Transform has shown. 

Shearman & Sterling has announced that it is keeping on all 13 of its September 2015 qualifying trainees, while fellow US-headquartered firm Latham & Watkins is retaining 20 of its 21 autumn qualifiers.

Multinational law firm Eversheds Sutherland has defied covid-19 worries as it revealed its 86% trainee retention rate for 2020.