I, like many of you reading this, have just finished exam season. The relief is palpable! But once the post-exam elation becomes slightly less new and shiny, it's easy to feel a bit empty. After all, you’ve worked extremely hard for a sustained period and for the first time in a while you have more choice about how you spend your time.

LawWorks has announced the winners of the 18th LawWorks and Attorney General’s Student Pro Bono Awards, sponsored by LexisNexis. The awards celebrate the best pro bono activities undertaken by students and law schools.

Professors Jonathan Choi and Daniel Schwarcz conducted a study using GPT-4 to examine the effect of using AI on student’s work. The study found that the results of low performing students improved by 45% when using AI, while higher performing students were affected negatively by the use of AI.

The University of Law has announced an exciting partnership with Themis Bar Review to offer a Themis Global Advantage programme, which has been designed for University of Law students and alumni who want to sit the Uniform Bar Exam in New York.

The BBC has opened applications for its 2023 solicitor graduate apprenticeship scheme which will enable four graduates to work in the BBC’s legal team to qualify as a solicitor through the Solicitors Qualifying Exam route.

Growing firm Fletchers Group appears to be going against the grain by moving towards the partnership model while other firms seem to be doing the opposite. 

Clifford Chance has launched a new range of diversity and inclusion targets around gender, ethnicity and LGBT+.

After announcing that the opening date of the Pupillage Gateway application system would be moved from April to January from 2016 onwards, the Bar Council has now U-turned to say that the current timetable will remain in place (with applications being made in April and offers being sent out in August) until further notice.

The government plans to build 14 new Nightingale courts to tackle outstanding court cases caused by the pandemic, according to a statement from Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland.

A-level students are not the only ones poring over results and figures today to see what that means for them. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that consumers’ retail spending rose 1.4% in July following the June vote for Britain to leave the European Union, a much higher increase than economists predicted.

The Law Society is the independent professional body for solicitors in England and Wales. We’re run by and for our members. 

What should lawyers know about money laundering?

LawCareersNetLIVE application season is here (apply now).

Climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion will conclude their fortnight of creative disruption this afternoon, but not before several protestors glued themselves to the entrance of the London Stock Exchange. Fortunately, law students don’t need to take such drastic measures in order to improve their commercial awareness – just take a look at our round-up of this week’s business news stories.

International law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) has launched sector-specific training contracts in real estate and financial services as part of its plan to “increase sector experience for the firm’s future lawyers”. 

University law schools across the country are beginning to grapple with the use of AI models such as ChatGPT in the classroom, as students begin to use the programme to aid their work.

Solicitors should refuse clients’ instructions if they are discriminatory, the Law Society has said after an Afghan-born woman barrister was asked to return her instructions because the client wanted “a white male barrister”.