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In this week's round-up, find out about the Meta layoffs, Barclays' payment protection insurance (PPI) breach, Vodafone’s sale of its mobile-phone masts business, housing prices and a look into law firms’ future employment plans. 

Rental laws are being reformed, PwC is in trouble with the Australian government, Sadiq Khan wants Labour to freeze rental prices, and a government committee wants to class cryptocurrency as gambling. Before we dive into this week’s round-up, we here at LawCareers.Net want to take a moment to wish all our readers a happy and stress-free Mental Health Awareness Week. 

In my previous article, ‘POV: you're a graduate non-law student with no training contract’, I wrote about what circumstances led me to pursue a Master’s in Law (LLM) online, from home, to convert my English undergraduate degree.

A long-running pilot scheme trialling a new way for students to qualify as solicitors has come to a close at Nottingham Law School.

Bright Network has released its research paper, "What do the brightest graduates want?", which among other conclusions reveals that law is in the top three sector preferences among its members, with female members placing it at number one.

The controversial draft Brexit deal agreed by UK and EU negotiators, if implemented, would allow UK lawyers to continue to operate in the EU throughout the transition period that runs until 2020, while one of the aims of a post-Brexit trade deal would be to make such “appropriate arrangements on professional qualifications” permanent.

A poll taken of 500 second and third-year law students in the UK has found that 80% believe applying for London-based firms is fundamental.  

The ability of international firms with UK offices to recruit from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) is crucial if London is to remain a leading global centre for legal services, the Law Society has told the independent government advisory body, the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC).

Key findings from the Law Society’s strategic workforce planning report include that the legal services market needs to adapt to changes such as deregulation of the profession, commercial pressures and the increasing adoption of technology.

According to research by legal software company Clio, 54% of UK law firms expect fixed-fee billing to increase over the next 12 months.

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. 

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

The government’s promise of £15 million of new funding for the criminal justice system will boost the fees of high-earning QCs but fail to address the problems faced by struggling junior barristers, the Law Society has warned.

Tens of thousands of lawyers nationwide took part in walks to raise vital funding for free legal services this month, culminating in the London Legal Walk 2018 in which 12,000 people participated.

The Legal Services Board will stop any proposals to limit law school places following the findings of the Legal Education and Training Review by issuing strict guidelines so that regulators only implement the LETR recommendations that it approves.