Are pirate ransoms legal and should we pay them?

I’m an aspiring solicitor who is having trouble deciding the right law firm for me. What do I do?

As Tuesday 5 November marked the 60th quadrennial presidential election in the US, the world awaited the results with bated breath. In this week’s commercial news round-up, we outline the impact of Donald Trump’s re-election on lawyers across the world and take a look at US shares, the dollar and predictions for the UK’s economic growth. Plus, we provide an update on the Bank of England’s decision to cut interest rates; and the state of house prices in the UK.

What key skill do all firms want to see in their future lawyers? That’s right: commercial awareness. Building your commercial awareness will be a lot easier if you’re reading and keeping on top of an issue that you’re genuinely interested in. Get started now…

Who owns the goods?

In this week's round-up, find out about the Meta layoffs, Barclays' payment protection insurance (PPI) breach, Vodafone’s sale of its mobile-phone masts business, housing prices and a look into law firms’ future employment plans. 

Rental laws are being reformed, PwC is in trouble with the Australian government, Sadiq Khan wants Labour to freeze rental prices, and a government committee wants to class cryptocurrency as gambling. Before we dive into this week’s round-up, we here at LawCareers.Net want to take a moment to wish all our readers a happy and stress-free Mental Health Awareness Week. 

In my previous article, ‘POV: you're a graduate non-law student with no training contract’, I wrote about what circumstances led me to pursue a Master’s in Law (LLM) online, from home, to convert my English undergraduate degree.

Government proposals to increase Asylum and Immigration Tribunal fees by more than 500% could constitute unlawful discrimination, the Law Society has warned.

Legal Aid Minister Shailesh Vara has told the All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal and Constitutional Affairs that the planned £220 million legal aid cuts will not reduce the quality of lawyers operating in the field.

Thursday’s here again, and although the LCN team is mostly spending all its energy prepping for – and getting excited about – NationalLawLIVE tomorrow and CityLawLIVE next week, there’s still time to devote to learning what the big business stories of the past week were. Read on for our selection.

Hundreds of legal aid lawyers have given examples of poor decision making by the Legal Aid Agency, the body set up by the government to decide which cases receive legal aid funding.

The Law Society has announced that it will attempt to find new firms for trainees at Dewey & LeBoeuf, which is considering scrapping its UK operations amidst a stream of departures.

The Law Society has told the House of Commons Justice Select Committee that the Ministry of Justice's proposed fee cuts for criminal legal aid pose "significant risks" to the criminal justice system.

As reported on Legal Futures, a Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) review into the continuing professional development (CPD) of solicitors is considering whether ethics training should become compulsory.

The overlap between the legal and commercial world continues to grow, as BPP Law School announces a 15-week programme for LPC and BPTC graduates to enter their training contracts and pupillages with a master’s qualification in business, launching in January 2012.

Commerciality; as far as law firms are concerned, you can never have too much of it, nor start developing it too early.

Amid the building excitement around Halloween, don’t get so entirely caught up with how to be the most convincing zombie at the party that you forget what October is really all about – preparing to meet future employers at law fairs and wow them with your commerciality.