Herbert Smith Freehills LLP is poised to merge with the US law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, establishing a new transatlantic powerhouse that’ll employ 2,700 lawyers and generate more than £1.5 billion in revenue.

Law firms and their staff have been putting in extraordinary efforts to support their local communities during the coronavirus pandemic, according to reports.

As a new season and month dawns, your thoughts may be turning to the academic year ahead. If so, why not turn over a new (autumnal) leaf and commit to learning more about the business world that your future clients may inhabit. Here is a lovingly curated selection of news stories from the past week to get you started.

On Wednesday 5 February, the Law Society launched its Diversity Access Scheme (DAS), which has so far invested £3.5 million into supporting more than 300 aspiring solicitors.

Following the mishandling of sexual harassment allegations by several law firms, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has begun consulting on how to make it clearer when firms need to report serious breaches of its rulebook.

British judge weighs up the pros and cons of AI, after using ChatGPT to write a ruling. Lord Justice Birss, a Court of Appeal judge, had confidence in ChatGPT’s answers but urges others not to rely on the AI tool for topics where they have no background knowledge.

Legal Practice Course (LPC) pass rates have declined while gaps in attainment remain between BAME and white students, as well as pass rates at the best and worst-performing law schools, research reveals.

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.

Pro bono clinics are under increasing demand for free legal advice, reports the legal charity LawWorks as it calls for people to be given early access to legal help.

International law firm Reed Smith has joined forces with BPP Law School to launch a bespoke MA qualification, to be piloted in September 2012, which integrates the LPC with business learning.

Spark 21, the charity behind the First 100 Years project that works to celebrate, inform and inspire future generations of women lawyers, brought together leading women from the world of law and beyond at its annual conference on Wednesday.

Leicester-based Premier Property Lawyers (PPL) - one of the largest conveyancing firms in the country - has made history by becoming the first to register as an alternative business structure (ABS) after new rules came into force.

The Law Society City Legal Index, which tracks those deals that the top 50 UK law firms have been involved with, has released figures which show that the total number of deals decreased in the first half of 2015.

Changes sweeping the legal profession will mean that a third of the current top 300 UK firms will no longer exist by 2022 unless firms become more competitive and transparent on the price of services, a law firm finance expert has forecasted. 

Global law firm DWF has launched a work placement scheme for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates pursuing careers in law.

What better way to round off the week than with a few topical business news stories, collated with the intention of getting you to think about the broader commercial issues that law firms’ clients may be grappling with. No, no – you don’t have to thank us.

The Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates is unlawful and intended to undermine the fundamental principles of barristers' independence, the High Court has heard as the judicial review of QASA gets underway.

The Alternative Business Structure model has facilitated two more firsts for the profession with the granting of ABS licences by the Solicitors Regulation Authority to long-standing advocates of the new ownership approach, Knights Solicitors and Quindell Portfolio.

The College of Law and the International Bar Association have teamed up to offer four £2,500 scholarships to students on the CoL's LLM in international legal practice, which runs from September 2012.

Commerciality remains top of many recruiters’ list of ideal traits for their future trainees - where better to develop that skill than with a small collection of topical business news stories, designed to help you to start thinking like a lawyer.