The introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam in 2021 could enable four times as many graduates to become solicitors than currently qualify every year, according to Mark Edwards of online legal advice provider Rocket Lawyer.

Despite pressure from students, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) will not reinstate spring Bar Professional Training Course exams. The regulator said it would be impossible to create a “suitable, secure alternative” to in-person assessments by April.

Legal education provider The College of Legal Practice has partnered with leading Midlands law firm Wright Hassall LLP to enable all employees from all parts of the firm to train and qualify as solicitors via the Solicitors Qualifying Exam.

Entries are open for the National Paralegal Awards, which is now in its fifth year.  

BPP University law students have launched a new pro bono legal advice clinic in London, for people going through residential property disputes.

Nottingham Law School has rebranded its award-winning teaching law firm to reflect its status as a regulated law firm.

As National Apprenticeship Week 2018 launches, Browne Jacobson – one of the profession’s earliest adopters of legal apprenticeships – has announced plans to add to its stable of apprenticeship programmes. Over 100 new positions will be offered across the firm’s various offices in two new schemes, with a commitment to invest 100% of its apprenticeship levy into the new programmes.

More than 800 teams and 12,000 walkers took part in the London Legal Walk 2022 last Tuesday 28 June in aid of supporting access to justice. Those completing the 10km route through central London have so far raised £590,000.

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.