The chairman of the Legal Services Board, David Edmonds, has indicated that a single regulator for solicitors and barristers could be created in the not-too-distant future.

A long weekend can mean a short attention span, but stay focused - here is a handful of news stories to get you thinking about the issues that affect commercial entities (and thus clients) every day.

The Pegasus Access Scheme, a social mobility initiative for prospective barristers, is now open for applications.

Leicester-based legal advice charity The Community Advice and Law Service has become the first not-for-profit organisation to establish an alternative business structure.

Fees for the Bar Professional Training Course have risen again this year amid warnings that millions of pounds are being spent by students who do not go on to secure pupillage.

The College of Law (CoL) held an event entitled 'Diversity at the Bar' on Monday 16 April, at which leading barrister and human rights expert Baroness Helena Kennedy QC was the keynote speaker.

Leicester-based Premier Property Lawyers (PPL) - one of the largest conveyancing firms in the country - has made history by becoming the first to register as an alternative business structure (ABS) after new rules came into force.

Junior lawyers across the legal profession are to be asked whether they have suffered from work-related mental health issues in the last 12 months, after the same survey last year found that one in four rated their stress levels as ‘severe’. 

A group of six City law firms have partnered with BPP University Law School to develop a new course that will prepare future trainees for the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE).

Global law firm DWF has launched a work placement scheme for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates pursuing careers in law.

Here we are on another Super Thursday (ie, when several key economic announcements are made on the same day) and everyone is watching the Bank of England nervously to see if it will drop interest rates – the first time since 2009.

The justice secretary, Liz Truss, has confirmed that it is the government’s intention to go ahead with plans to implement a British Bill or Rights, although no timescale has been revealed.

Pro bono organisation LawWorks has announced that nominations are open for its annual LawWorks & Attorney General Student Awards.

Norton Rose has announced an impending merger with US firm Fulbright & Jaworski, which is set to be completed on 1 June 2013.

Justice secretary Chris Grayling has lauded the UK legal profession and the value of City law firms to the country's economy.

The Co-operative Group has bought up the Sheffield-based Collective Legal Solution Group – the retailer’s first legal acquisition since launching its legal services offering in 2012, when the Co-Op became the joint-first organisation to gain an alternative business structure license.

The Legal Education Foundation has announced the appointment of two new governors, while confirming that its latest round of grants total over £500,000.

With just a week to go until the general election, the news cycle is dominated by politically linked stories, many of which also have a business/economic slant.

For the second year in a row, The College of Law and the International Bar Association are offering scholarships towards fees for the full-time LLM in International Legal Practice, which runs at CoL's Moorgate and Manchester centres.

Norton Rose Fulbright has announced its partnership with the Financial and Legal Skills Partnership through the 'Get In Get On' initiative.