The big news from this week has to be Sports Direct founder (and all-round nice guy) Mike Ashley snatching up troubled department store House of Fraser mere minutes after it announced its collapse into administration last Friday morning.

With people in the Midlands and the North of England in “dire need of early legal advice”, the Bar Council has called for the government to invest in local court systems ahead of today’s spending review.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded to pressure from women’s groups and MPs by promising that his government will revive a key domestic abuse bill that would have introduced protections for victims, but was cancelled due to his decision to shutdown Parliament.

Autumn tends to bring with it a renewed sense of vigour and the chance for a fresh start – make one of your autumn resolutions a commitment to honing your commercial awareness skills in a bid to impress future employers. Where to start? Look no further than this selection from the past week.

The digital court reform programme is designed to transform the UK’s justice system and how it operates.

A report funded by the Bar Council has strongly criticised the trend of legal executive advocates and solicitor-advocates.

Following UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement last Thursday, junior barristers have said that the support package for self-employed people unable to work because of coronavirus measures is “woefully insufficient” and has advised the Bar Council to challenge the government’s criteria.

Magic circle firm Allen & Overy LLP retained 37 of its 40 trainees, revealing a 93% autumn retention rate – all 40 of the firm’s trainees applied for newly-qualified solicitor roles, with 37 offers being made and accepted. 

The Bar Standards Board is planning to make written pupillage agreements compulsory to combat “inappropriate behaviour”, citing its 2016 ‘Women at the Bar’ report in which 40% of women barristers reported experiencing harassment at work.

MPs have sharply criticised the government’s courts modernisation programme because it “risks excluding the most vulnerable in our society from access to justice,” and called for a halt in the process of court closures.

Slater & Gordon will close its London office after announcing that remote working will become the norm for its almost 2,000 staff once lockdown restrictions are lifted.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett has authorised 65 retired judges, half of whom are in their 70s, to oversee cases in an attempt to reduce the backlog of 63,000 cases. 

Barristers are being encouraged to donate money to an emergency hardship fund, following a prediction from the Bar’s representative body that the demand for financial help will exceed supply.

Quotas are needed to address the overwhelming and continuing male dominance of legal, political, media and arts roles, the Fawcett Society has said.

Despite reports that the government has postponed gender pay gap reporting for 2019/20 due to the coronavirus outbreak, UK firm Irwin Mitchell shared its recent data which shows that its gender pay gap has shrunk.

Another week, another bumper crop of commercial news to consider. If your ultimate plan is to succeed as a legal professional, an interest in the business world – and the world generally – is a must. As everyone digests the news that the Bank of England is again leaving interest rates where they are (with the Guardian reporting that some analysts have called Mark Carney an “unreliable boyfriend” due to his habit of changing his mind), here is a selection of other stories for your edification.

The Ministry of Justice tried to stop the publication of research that expressed crown court judges’ misgivings about the number of people representing themselves in criminal cases due to cuts to legal aid.

It’s a tale of many takeovers this week, as you’ll see from below. Read on to discover more about the machinations related to buying and selling companies – as well as news that TSB is in an IT-related pickle.