City law firm Addleshaw Goddard is set to move to the heart of London’s square mile having signed a 15-year lease on a new office opposite the Bank of England. 

Nearly 19,000 students graduated with law degrees from universities in England and Wales in 2021 – the highest number on record – while the number of firms in England and Wales fell to a record low.

Stress, workload and a lack of work-life balance caused by funding cuts are taking a heavy toll on barristers and are leading some to seek a career change, according to a new report. 

The Solicitors Regulations Authority and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives have signed up to the government’s Trailblazer project, which will standardise legal apprenticeships across the profession.

Global law firm DWF has published its annual UK gender pay gap report, including information on the impact of the firm’s initial public offering on its gender pay and bonus gaps.

Thirteen City firms have launched the ‘Noticed toolkit’, alongside inter-firm diversity network Noticed, to tackle racism.

Beyond London, the most active cities are Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Liverpool, Cardiff, Newcastle and Nottingham. 

Linklaters launched its Ally programme earlier this month – the firm’s first LGBT-focused network supporting minority groups.

In a week that marked International Women’s Day, the staggering lack of equality for women in terms of pay and positions of seniority was widely reported. Clearly on board for change were the senior law firm leaders that called for 40% female leadership within the next three years.

Shoosmiths has announced the winners of its law fair video competition, who have won a place on the firm's summer vacation placement scheme.

Ahead of new Legal Services Board regulations that will require the publication of diversity data next year, Shearman and Sterling has released its diversity stats – the first US firm in London to do so.

A history undergraduate has secured first place in BPP University Law School’s Advocate of the Year 2019 competition and a £6,000 scholarship toward his BPTC.

There’s only one story this week: VW. Things have gone badly wrong for the global automotive giant, as it admits that it “totally screwed up” and heads start to roll.

The first Skype-style video conferencing kiosk, which allows users to speak with solicitors and receive legal advice remotely, has been introduced at Queensgate shopping centre in Peterborough.

Another week, another opportunity to learn more about the commercial world and its impact on us all – including lawyers! Enjoy our digest of stories from the past week.

Ministry of Justice findings have revealed that court backlogs reached a record high of 74,651 cases at the end of 2024, with an 11% increase in backlogs between December 2023 and 2024 alone.

The consensus that the government’s legal aid cuts are a false economy has been further strengthened by new research released by Ipsos MORI.

More than a third of law firms in England and Wales are now majority-owned by women, showing continuing progress toward gender equality in the legal profession, the Law Society has said in marking this International Women’s Day.

For the first time, juries will be allowed to hear cases remotely in England and Wales due to the rising backlog of trials. 

Top law firms have announced their autumn retention rates, following the lead of Shearman & Sterling which revealed in June that it would keep on 11 of its 12 NQs.