It feels like we’ve been saying it a lot recently, but it really has been an unprecedented week in British history, with stories such as the fall of Thomas Cook (see below for more) almost immediately overshadowed by the Supreme Court’s ruling that Boris Johnson’s recent prorogation of Parliament is unlawful.

It’s a week in which the UK finally left the EU, fears about the deadly coronavirus spread across the globe and Donald Trump was acquitted in his impeachment trial.

Sam Townend KC, the new chair of the Bar Council, has called the “need for significant investment” in the criminal and family justice systems “urgent”. 

Social mobility advocates, a new group of barristers from across England and Wales, have joined the Bar Council’s award-winning social mobility campaign – #IAmTheBar.

The Council for Licensed Conveyancers is set to join the government’s AI Growth Lab, an advisory sandbox aimed at supporting the development of AI products by helping organisations navigate existing regulatory frameworks.

National law firm Foot Anstey LLP has expanded it parental leave policy to include six months full parental leave to employees of all genders – “a vital step towards achieving greater equality in caregiving responsibilities”.

Beyond Compliance Limited and Clerksroom launched an anonymous survey last month, which aims to acquire details from prospective pupils regarding their experiences, and offer them the chance to share their thoughts on the training and qualifying processes at the Bar, as well as the current challenges surrounding pupillage. 

Metro Bank has become one of the first in-house legal teams in the financial services sector to support aspiring solicitors through the Solicitors Qualifying Examination on their way to qualification.

Wigs have been worn by the legal profession in court since the late 17th Century as barristers were viewed as being part of the middle-class society.

CILEX has awarded £123,000 in bursaries and scholarships this year as part of its CILEX Foundation scholarship programme, which supports those from under-represented and/or socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Seven students were awarded scholarships worth up to £13,200 each.

The Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) discussions about reforming barrister training should be made more urgent by its latest statistics report, which shows that over 60% of those who complete the prohibitively expensive Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) never go on to secure pupillage.

A-level students are not the only ones poring over results and figures today to see what that means for them. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that consumers’ retail spending rose 1.4% in July following the June vote for Britain to leave the European Union, a much higher increase than economists predicted.

In its report on judicial appointments, the House of Lords Constitution Committee has found that a more diverse judiciary would increase public trust and confidence in the country's justice system.

This week’s best economic news is that the year-long squeeze on wages is nearing an end, at least according to the Office of National Statistics, which has released figures showing that people’s pay is now catching up to inflation. However, reports from elsewhere in the world show that the global economic situation remains precarious.

Clifford Chance and Irwin Mitchell are the latest firms to reveal their gender and ethnicity pay gap figures, with both reporting a decreased gap compared to previous years.

The senior presiding judge for England and Wales, Lord Justice Edis, has delayed the sentencing of convicted criminals on bail due to overpopulation in prisons. As a longer term solution, the government plans to send prisoners overseas and build more prisons.

After five months of strikes, criminal barristers in England and Wales voted to end strike action on Monday 10 October, accepting a government pay rise of 15% on legal aid fees.