How should I ask for feedback after a vacation scheme or training contract interview?

Things aren’t looking so good for John Lewis at the moment, even if it has launched the most fantastic Queen-inspired advert for its new rebrand, as the retailer reports a profit slump of 99% for the first half of 2018. 

Slightly off piste, but we thought this was too good not to share. This article from the Guardian has excellent networking tips, especially for those of us not naturally inclined to forcing our way into conversations and being charming, all while balancing a plate and drink aloft.

Barristers from ethnic minority backgrounds are more likely than their white counterparts to have complaints raised against them by the Bar Standards Board (BSB), according to a study by the regulator. 

The Legal Services Board (LSB) has published a consultation with proposed regulatory measures to strengthen ethical standards in the legal sector.

The Times recently released its Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality list, with the likes of Addleshaw Goddard, TLT LLP, Linklaters LLP and DWF Group Limited, among other law firms, named on the list.

The limited information published about the recent Solicitors Qualifying Exam stage one pilot means that it is “impossible” to tell whether the new ‘super exam’ will work as intended, the Association of Law Teachers has warned.

BPP University has announced a partnership with Future Finance that will offer BPP undergraduate and postgraduate students competitively placed loans to finance their studies while at the institution.

As teachers across the country prepare to welcome back students into the classroom for the first time since March, there are a number of other important updates for you to catch up on in this week’s commercial news round-up.

Time to really get to grips with what firms are looking for from their future trainees – we published this feature recently, and among the long list of attributes, commercial awareness is pivotal. It is essential that you take an interest in the world around you and particularly the way in which the law and business sectors intersect. For this week’s selection of topical stories, read on.

City law firms and accountancy firms are updating their application guidelines to consider the use of AI, with some prohibiting the technology and others celebrating it.

The 2010-11 Pathways to Law annual report has revealed that 47% of the first cohort of pathways participants was admitted to a Russell Group or 1994 Group university.

Magic circle firm Linklaters has adopted the Halo Code – the UK’s first Black hair code, which “explicitly protects employees who come to work with natural hair and protective hairstyles associated with their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities”.

City law firms are considering an additional requirement that candidates will need to gain some “City-specific” training on top of passing the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) when the new ‘super exam’ comes into effect.

The Criminal Bar Association has announced that some of its members will not attend crown courts on the morning of 6 January, the first day of the new court term next year, in protest at the government’s legal aid cuts.

As the UK continues to reopen society – albeit with a lot more hand sanitising stations, face coverings and distance markers – law firms are following suit. But unlike the virtually overnight move to working from home, the move back to working in the office will be slow, and perhaps may not ever happen for some.

Future-focused law firm Osborne Clarke LLP has selected BPP University Law School as its education provider of the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE).