Despite the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s withdrawal from the Voluntary Code to Good Practice in the Recruitment of Trainee Solicitors, it has been announced that the code will continue to be upheld by its other signatories.

Trainee solicitors’ average pay has decreased since the Solicitors Regulation Authority abolished its minimum salary rule, while the change has disproportionately affected BAME lawyers, the trainee gender pay gap has widened and social mobility has reduced, a survey has revealed.

As you’ll learn, being a good lawyer is so much more than advising on legal technicalities – it is understanding and absorbing what drives your client and then helping them with practical solutions that resonate with their unique set of business concerns and constraints. Want to know what some of those things might be? Read on.

City law firm Kingsley Napley LLP has announced a new enhanced ‘Time-off for Dependents’ policy, which surpasses the UK’s statutory obligations.

This weekly round-up is designed to help you develop your commercial awareness by being informed about the issues affecting the world of law and business. Let’s get started.

Full-service law firm Shakespeare Martineau LLP has welcomed 11 new trainees, as part of its largest ever cohort. 

On Monday 13 January, the government published an AI Opportunities Action Plan, which has been welcomed by Law Society President Richard Atkinson. Atkinson said that the plan “demonstrates the UK's commitment to invest in AI and digital infrastructures, but above all in people and talent”.  

Starting your first legal role can be quite daunting. Well, don’t fear! I’m here to ease those thoughts and to help you understand the role of a legal assistant or paralegal.

Browne Jacobson LLP has partnered with one of the world’s leading virtual work experience platforms Forage to launch a brand-new programme that aims to improve diversity and inclusion within the legal sector.

Phew, it’s fair to say that it’s been another unprecedented week in British politics, and it looks like this unpredictability and chaos will continue until 31 October, and undoubtedly well beyond.

We’ll keep it short this week as many of you are completing vacation scheme or pupillage applications. Commercial awareness is a key attribute that you must demonstrate in your applications as recruiters want to see that you have a knowledge of what is going on in the business industry, and how key issues might affect the law and the businesses that operate within it.

As the Tory leadership contest sees the four candidates whittled down to the final two today, and tensions between the US and Iran escalate, there really is never a dull moment on Planet Earth. Draw your focus for five minutes to the business world and you’ll see that there are many places that politics, economics and the law intersect.

Growing firm Fletchers Group appears to be going against the grain by moving towards the partnership model while other firms seem to be doing the opposite. 

MPs have called for employment tribunal fees to be “substantially” reduced after it was found that such fees have badly reduced the public’s access to justice since they were introduced. 

Two magic circle firms have broken ranks with their peers to include partners in their gender pay gap reporting.

With MPs embarked on a marathon, five-day debate about Theresa May’s Brexit deal with the EU ahead of a crucial vote on Tuesday on whether to accept the terms or not, the issue of Brexit is dominating the business sections more than ever.

London-based civil liberties, human rights and legal aid firm Hodge Jones & Allen (HJA) has become the first law firm to be entirely owned by its employees.