Law firms have seen demand in services drop globally over the first half of 2022, according to new research by Thomson Reuters.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has indicated in a letter to the chair of the Justice Select Committee that he would allow choice of solicitor to continue and would consider the Law Society's suggested alternative model to price competitive tendering.

Commerciality is an important part of being a successful lawyer, but law firms won’t expect you to be a fully formed, business guru when you arrive as trainee – they appreciate it takes years to develop. However, what they will expect is that you have started to gain some understanding of what is required to advise your clients in a business-appropriate way. The best place to start is by keeping up with big business news stories of the day; examples to follow.

HM Revenue and Customs and Carillion Advice Service have both separately announced the expansion of their legal apprenticeship programmes, as legal apprenticeships continue to take off among law firms and companies’ in-house legal teams. 

Leading experts from several international law firms have given their verdict on MPs’ rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal to exit the European Union (EU), which leaves the UK on a default course to exit the EU without an agreement on 29 March.

Candidates from working class backgrounds are being locked out of the legal profession, says Alan Milburn, chair of the Social Mobility Foundation and a former cabinet minister.

The SRA is set to begin granting its first alternative business structure licences in early 2012, now that the House of Lords has approved legislation regulating the disclosure of criminal convictions for non-lawyer owners of ABSs.

Lawyers and sane people have heavily criticised Lord Chancellor Liz Truss after she failed to defend the integrity and independence of the judiciary after three judges were branded “enemies of the people” by the right wing press.

As reported in the Telegraph and the Guardian, Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly has handed responsibility for regulating claims management firms to Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke after a conflict of interests was exposed.

New legislation has passed allowing Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) members to apply for a range of senior judicial positions for the first time.

The UK’s status as a global hub for legal services will continue after Brexit, but securing a “bespoke” deal that gives UK and EU lawyers maximum mutual access to each other’s markets is key for future growth, a City lobby group has said.

New research has revealed that almost half of the 85,000 partners and employees working in the top 50 UK law firms are now on LinkedIn, the professional networking site.

Boris Johnson’s landslide general election victory has in the words of the prime minister confirmed Brexit as the “unarguable decision of the British people”, but uncertainty for businesses remains due to questions left open about his withdrawal agreement, City firms have warned.

City law firms and accountancy firms are updating their application guidelines to consider the use of AI, with some prohibiting the technology and others celebrating it.

Formidable new powers to enforce equality legislation are needed to prevent Britain returning to the rigid class inequalities of the 1930s, David Isaac, the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has said. 

Contextual recruitment practices like upReach’s REALrating are being increasingly adopted by law firms to enable employers to identify hidden talent and monitor socioeconomic data. 

Law firms signed for more than 380,000 square feet of office space in the third quarter, which is 52% higher than a year ago, according to property consultancy Knight Frank. This recent increase in demand is largely down to US firms’ expansions.