Two mergers went live on 1 February. Howard Kennedy and Finers Stephen Innocent have rebranded to become HowardKennedyFsi following their merger, while Oxford firm Henmans has merged with leading regional firm Freeth Cartwright to become Henmans Freeth.

Leading solicitors’ firm Leigh Day is advertising for black applicants to apply for solicitor apprenticeship vacancies, as part of a move to address an imbalance of “many fewer Afro-Caribbean and African qualified staff than we ought to have for our geographical area”.

The new chairperson of the Bar Council, Maura McGowan QC, has set out her vision for the Bar’s future in her inaugural address.

Small and medium-sized firms are increasingly turning to mergers as a way of coping with a lack of growth, research has suggested.

Leading regional firm Michelmores has launched an exclusively London-based training contract, with the first intake of trainees set to start in September 2019.

City firms are expecting an increase in the amount of corporate merger & acquisition work thanks to some recovery in the business economy.

Baroness Hale is to become the first female president of the Supreme Court, taking over from Lord Neuberger in October this year. She will earn £225,000 a year as head of the court.

The legal sector is set for another decade of change, with increased consumer protection and provision high up the agenda in the Legal Service Board’s (LSB) new 10-year strategy.

A recent survey has revealed that 29% of legal aid practitioners and 38% of criminal practitioners are uncertain about whether to renew their practising certificate in 2021.

As part of the Sound Off For Justice campaign, three London black cabs have been transformed into mobile ‘sound-off’ booths in which residents of the capital can speak out against the government's plans to cut legal aid.

In what is thought to be a first in the United Kingdom, a High Court claim has been served via Facebook.

Media organisations will be able to broadcast crown court judges’ sentencing remarks to the public for the first time under new draft legislation brought forward by the government.

Paralegals will regulated for the first time through a voluntary scheme which it is hoped will prove their credentials to wary employers and members of the public.

At the recent CILEx awards, honouring excellence in study, practice and practical training, Bond Dickinson won the award for CILEx Employer of the Year Award in relation to its apprenticeship programme.

Pro bono legal assistance provided by Eversheds has saved children's charity, the Lane End Farm Trust, from closure.

Nabarro LLP, Simmons & Simmons and Slater & Gordon have been singled out for praise at the National Council for Work Experience Awards 2013, marking them out as some of the UK's best internship providers.

Solicitors representing young people in the youth courts are to receive specialist support from the Solicitors Regulation Authority to help them meet the needs of their young clients. 

The government’s £1 billion courts modernisation project will be probed again by MPs, it was announced yesterday.

The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) has launched its inaugural National Awards to celebrate the best and the brightest among its members. Among other things, the awards will recognise those who have promoted access to the profession, shown leadership, and championed diversity and inclusion.