LawCareers.Net’s recent early career lawyer diversity survey has found that 76% of aspiring or junior lawyers agree or strongly agree that law firms often contain ‘old boys’ clubs’, while nearly 70% believe firms aren’t doing enough to promote diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. 

Now that the vacation scheme and training contract application cycles are in full-swing, I thought it would be a good time to write a post on how to submit a well-researched and impactful application.

In the wake of the recent UK referendum vote to leave the European Union, what issues have been raised for those working in European offices of international law firms?

AI Act: what are the legislative and political challenges that could arise?

Following last year’s Race at the Bar report, the Bar Council has published an interim report to outline the actions being taken to address race inequality across the Bar. 

Networking is a vital skill – not only for aspiring lawyers looking to gain employment or work experience,  but also throughout a qualified lawyer’s career. Solicitors and barristers are always looking to bring in new business, make useful connections and learn more about the legal and business worlds, so networking is a key part of any lawyer’s working life.

Networking is a vital skill – not only for aspiring lawyers looking to gain employment or work experience, but also throughout a qualified lawyer’s career. Solicitors and barristers are always looking to bring in new business, make useful connections and learn more about the legal and business worlds, so networking is a key part of any lawyer’s working life.

Networking is a vital skill – not only for aspiring lawyers looking to gain employment or work experience, but also throughout a qualified lawyer’s career. Solicitors and barristers are always looking to bring in new business, make useful connections and learn more about the legal and business worlds, so networking is a key part of any lawyer’s working life.

Barrister wigs have been a long-standing tradition since the 17th Century, but is the dress code outdated and alienating aspiring barristers from pursuing careers at the Bar?

Contextual recruitment practices like upReach’s REALrating are being increasingly adopted by law firms to enable employers to identify hidden talent and monitor socioeconomic data. 

Traditionally, law firms have been run by partnerships – a group of senior lawyers who put their own money into the firm in return for a share of the profits. However, in the modern legal profession there are many different types of partnership, with huge variety in terms of how firms are structured.

A survey of pupils has revealed that students still feel the course is too expensive, despite the average cost per student dropping by £4,700 in 2022, compared to 2019 (amount adjusted for inflation).

What are the legal issues raised by the operations of taxi company Uber?

Isabella Lewis (she/her) is a senior associate who works in debt finance at A&O Shearman. In this profile, Isabella discusses her area of focus, trade and commodities finance, how extensive research led her to decide on a career in law and the importance of business development. 

I think the combination of mentors, confidence and consistent hard work is what drove me to the pinnacle of BigLaw. So, to all aspiring socially mobile lawyers, here are my top pieces of advice to succeed in BigLaw.

The coffee market is growing. As of January 2025, there were 11,456 branded coffee chain outlets, a 5.2% increase over the 12 months to January, according to Allegra World Coffee Portal’s 2025 Project Café UK report.

Rare has confirmed that Ashurst and Herbert Smith Freehills are the latest two firms to sign up to its contextual recruitment system, which allows recruiters to identify outstanding candidates regardless of their background.

The Law Society’s annual statistics report 2020 offers a snapshot of the profession in the 12 months to 31 July 2020, with women outnumbering men plus concerns regarding ethnicity reporting and monitoring as most newly qualified solicitors do not disclose “their ethnic origin on the mySRA website”. 

The Edward Bramley Law Society is the largest law society at The University of Sheffield and one of the largest in Europe. It holds a special place in many law and non-law students' hearts at the university due to the incredible opportunities we offer and the tight-knit, inclusive community we strive to cultivate.

International firm Ropes & Gray has launched a new contextual, CV-blind trainee recruitment process aimed at reducing unconscious bias to ensure that all applicants are assessed on their merits, not their backgrounds.