The value of the planned new Solicitors Qualifying Examination which all solicitors would have to pass in order to qualify has been questioned in the House of Lords.

The Co-operative Group has pulled out of a £750 million deal to buy 632 high street branches from the Lloyds Banking Group.

With people in the Midlands and the North of England in “dire need of early legal advice”, the Bar Council has called for the government to invest in local court systems ahead of today’s spending review.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded to pressure from women’s groups and MPs by promising that his government will revive a key domestic abuse bill that would have introduced protections for victims, but was cancelled due to his decision to shutdown Parliament.

Law schools may be forced to postpone LPC exams after the Solicitors Regulation Authority said that law schools assessments may not move online. Government social distancing guidelines mean that normal examinations cannot take place.

Following UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement last Thursday, junior barristers have said that the support package for self-employed people unable to work because of coronavirus measures is “woefully insufficient” and has advised the Bar Council to challenge the government’s criteria.

UK judges will now use preferred pronouns as a “common courtesy” in cases that involve transgender people.

Global disability network The Valuable 500 has reached its target to get 500 global businesses to add disability inclusion to their business leadership agenda, including several law firms.

A survey by Bolt Burdon Kemp revealed that 46% of the British public did not understand the legal aid system or how they can get legal support and 51% said there were too many barriers to legal aid funding.

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.

The president of the Supreme Court and the chair of the Bar have both warned that cuts to legal aid must be reversed to some extent if the justice system is to function properly and the public are to be able to access their legal rights. 

A new report shows that two-thirds of junior lawyers want the right to refuse work for ethical reasons. However, the research, which was led by Dana Denis-Smith and published by Obelisk Support, found that this right is currently provided at only 18% of the respondents’ workplaces.

The Legal Services Board has launched an investigation into whether the Solicitors Regulation Authority is sufficiently independent – a move that will put further pressure on the Law Society, which remains the approved regulator of solicitors.

The United Nations’ (UN) expert on poverty and human rights has highlighted cuts to legal aid among the government policies causing “the systematic immiseration of millions across Great Britain”.

Sexual harassment and discrimination is still happening at the Bar, a wide-ranging survey of women barristers has found. 

London-based law firm Hodge Jones & Allen (HJA) has partnered with the charity Pathway, a homeless healthcare service, to provide legal assistance to homeless patients as they seek accommodation after being discharged from hospital. 

Elizabeth Rimmer, chief executive of charity LawCare, has called for law firm partners and other senior figures to “take responsibility for protecting mental health at work”, following growing concerns about lawyers’ wellbeing.

Burges Salmon LLP is “thrilled to report” that all of the firm’s 24 qualifying trainees have accepted roles at the firm.

The government is in consultations to cut a further £220 million from criminal legal aid despite widespread opposition across the legal profession.

The Bar is considering whether to scrap a student aptitude test that removes fewer than 1% of candidates, after deciding that it is “not operating as an effective filter”.