Newly qualified lawyer salaries at firms in the UK and US have skyrocketed in recent weeks as law firms continue to fight to attract and retain future legal talent.

The Law Society has awarded 14 scholarships to aspiring solicitors through its Diversity Access Scheme (DAS), which supports aspiring solicitors who are facing social, educational, financial or personal obstacles to qualifying.

The University of Law has received a new “gold” rating in the new government-led Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The TEF panel judged that the institution “delivers consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students. It is of the highest quality found in the United Kingdom.”

CityLawLIVE and NationalLawLIVE, LCN’s one-day student conferences for aspiring solicitors, have announced that they are jointly extending their deadline to Sunday 5 November. Giving applicants an additional week in which to submit will hopefully attract those students who may not have had the time to get their applications in for consideration.

A host of firms have revealed their autumn trainee retention figures – meaning the number of trainees who secure permanent positions at the firm once they qualify as solicitors. 

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) will take a ‘tougher stance’ on chambers that fail to disclose how they calculate their fees.

Plans by the government to extend the hours at which courts are open to as late as 8:30pm have been met with resistance from across the legal profession.

The business world is waiting for important news from the Bank of England, which later today is expected to raise interest rates for only the second time in a decade. Investors are betting that the Bank’s monetary policy committee will increase rates from 0.5% to 0.75%, which would reap benefits for savers and affect millions of loans and mortgages.

The Ministry of Justice has published new proposals to ensure that barristers and other advocates receive fair pay when they work on publicly funded criminal cases.

Find out more on our dedicated 'Paralegal' page.

The justice secretary, Michael Gove, has said that rich lawyers and firms should do more to make justice available for all following the removal of access to justice for most of the public by his government’s legal aid cuts.

We know that it’s less than a week until the big training contract deadline of the year (31 July, in case you weren’t sure) and you’re probably furiously working away on the last few applications. To help, cast your eye over this week’s selection of business news.

Students on Manchester Metropolitan University's BTPC course and police trainees recently took part in a full-scale mock trial, offering both sets of aspiring professionals the taste of their career future.

Aspiring solicitors could be “exploited” under the new Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), warns the Junior Lawyer Division (JLD) in an open letter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) published this week.

Sample questions for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) stage 1 assessments have been released by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

The Black Solicitors Network has identified Shoosmiths as the country's most diverse law firm in its 2011 Diversity League Table.

On Saturday 25 February the first CityLawLIVE student conference was held in London, bringing together around 160 students keen on a career in the City with firm representatives and industry experts.

The Bar Council has warned that the government's plans to introduce competitive tendering for legal aid contracts and deny defendants the right to choose a lawyer will undermine the UK justice system's good reputation among the international community.