The University of Law will offer the Bar Practice Course and BPC LLM at Newcastle University from September 2022 as part of its ongoing legal education partnership with the university. 

People who attended state schools are still underrepresented in the legal profession, with criminal firms employing the highest proportion of state-educated solicitors and corporate firms the lowest, research by the Solicitors Regulation Authority reveals.

With MPs embarked on a marathon, five-day debate about Theresa May’s Brexit deal with the EU ahead of a crucial vote on Tuesday on whether to accept the terms or not, the issue of Brexit is dominating the business sections more than ever.

Diversity, equal opportunity and the end of the ‘old boys network’ remain a long way off in the legal profession, a study by the Sutton Trust and PRIME showing that three quarters of judges and 71% of Queen’s Counsel (QC) barristers were privately educated has revealed. 

Only a small percentage of students on Legal Practice Courses are succeeding in their pursuit of a training contract.

The Bar Standards Board has published its framework for the development of education and training in response to the Legal Education and Training Review.

The Solicitors Qualifying Exam has been granted final approval by the Legal Services Board, confirming that the new route to qualifying as a solicitor will be introduced in September 2021.

A new study, published by the Department for Education, found that of the occupations most exposed to AI, solicitors ranked 12th on the list when considering exposure to all AI applications and second for exposure to large language modelling.

Young Citizens, proud supporter of Public Legal Education, announced the launch of the Big Legal Lesson 2022 – a national campaign that includes free classroom resources to help more young people learn about the law. 

Parliament may be prorogued, but the business world keeps turning and this week there are several news stories that aspiring lawyers should be keeping up with. Spending a couple of minutes researching each of these stories will result in a broader knowledge of the industry and should lead to some questions about where the law – and your future employers – might fit in.

Staff at the magistrates’ court are set to begin a nine-day strike from the 10th to the 18th of September, adding to existing disruption in the UK’s criminal justice system. 

The Bar Council is this week celebrating a decade of its flagship social mobility initiative, Bar Placement Week, as well as launching a related online campaign, entitled ‘I am the Bar’.

The Law Society of England and Wales provided its updated guidance on social media use, outlining the risks of the rise of AI-generated content, and the ethical considerations for solicitors posting and interacting online.

On Saturday 25 March, UK schools went head-to-head in the National Bar Mock Trial Competition Final, which took place at The Royal Courts of Justice. 

A legal apprentice currently training at international firm Kennedys has won the Legal Apprentice of the Year award in her category at the BPP Apprentice of the Year Awards 2017. 

Following the Domestic Abuse Bill’s second reading in the House of Commons last week, the Law Society says the bill must do more to protect victims. It recently passed a significant stage in its path to becoming law and will now be examined by the public bill committee.

BARBRI has announced the innovative funding initiative, BARBRI Bridges, to support and enhance diversity inclusion and wider access to the legal sector.