National firm Shoosmiths has announced a major expansion in training contract recruitment and newly qualified solicitor vacancies.

New reports show that the employment tribunal backlog has risen alarmingly by approximately 28% over the past year, following the introduction of new workers’ rights in the Employment Rights Bill.

City firms should focus on retaining and developing BAME lawyers to ensure their workforces are diverse and multicultural, in addition to improving recruitment, the diversity network NOTICED has said.

International firm Pinsent Masons has expanded its training relationship with the University of Law to include programmes for its paralegals and legal apprentices.

LawCareers.Net recently conducted its annual survey of users, attempting to find out how our many thousands of readers use the information that is available to them.

Details of a new postgraduate law conversion course to replace the GDL when the Solicitors Qualifying Exam comes into effect in 2021 have been released by BPP University Law School.

There's no getting away from the fact that this week the business pages have been dominated by the "will they, won't they" saga of Greece's financial calamities and possible exit from the European Union.

The College of Law has recently published research that shows that vacancies for training contracts are likely to outnumber new LPC graduates within the next few years.

Global disability network The Valuable 500 has reached its target to get 500 global businesses to add disability inclusion to their business leadership agenda, including several law firms.

CMS has launched a two-year non-law graduate training programme called the Business Development & Marketing Graduate Programme, which will take on four candidates at the firm’s London office.

The College of Law has announced 100 new awards of up to £3,000 toward course fees for students with top academic credentials.

Baroness Hale, deputy president of the Supreme Court, has warned that the growing disconnect between the opportunities to study law and the number of legal jobs available makes it "very hard" for her to encourage young people to seek a legal career.

A gay couple that was refused a double room in a hotel in Cornwall has been awarded compensation by a Bristol county court judge in a discrimination claim under the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007.

LawWorks has announced that nominations for the LawWorks & Attorney General Student Awards 2012 have just opened.

The Legal Advice Centre at Nottingham Law School, dubbed a ‘teaching law firm’, has recovered over £3 million in benefits and compensation for its clients in five years.

Ropes & Gray announced it will be retaining all its newly qualified (NQ) London-based trainees this month.

Note: it is just over a week until the main training contract application deadline - 31 July - so it is certainly reasonable to be focusing on that right now. 

With the excesses of Easter behind you, it’s time to really commit to the task ahead: developing your commercial awareness and thus significantly improving your chances on the recruitment frontline. Start here with this week’s curated group of topical news stories.