As we lurch into July, the pressing matter of training contract applications may be foremost in your minds. It is worth considering that part of making a convincing application – and more importantly, being a convincing candidate at interview – is the development of your commercial awareness. To help, you need look no further than this selection of recent business news stories.

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has released its findings into how pupillages were advertised and the selection criteria used by barristers’ chambers in 2018.

Close to 60% of women lawyers have experienced inappropriate gender-based comments from male colleagues or know other women who have, according to research by the First 100 Years Project.

CILEX Law School has been approved to deliver the new CILEX Professional Qualification (CPQ) – a training route that is open to those without a university qualification and has been redesigned to ensure it produces lawyers that have the skills necessary to adapt to the ever-changing demands of the legal market.  

Half of working mothers in the legal profession are taking on more childcare responsibilities than their partners during the UK’s lockdown, a survey conducted by the team behind the First 100 Years Project reports.

The Bar Council has released research showing that for employed barristers, some of the key factors behind the decision to go in house include financial security, a good work/life balance, pension arrangements, and an interesting and diverse range of work.

As a new season and month dawns, your thoughts may be turning to the academic year ahead. If so, why not turn over a new (autumnal) leaf and commit to learning more about the business world that your future clients may inhabit. Here is a lovingly curated selection of news stories from the past week to get you started.

The small window of time between the football-related jubilation of Tuesday night and the football-related anxiety of Saturday afternoon is the perfect opportunity to distract yourself with some of this week’s biggest business stories. Here is our collection for this week.

The Bars of the UK and Ireland have doubled down on their commitment to the cab bank rule ahead of the Four Jurisdictions Conference in Belfast. 

A recent study has revealed that 37% of legal professionals worked on their days off last year, a figure predicted to rise to 50% in 2023.  

Pro bono charity LawWorks has celebrated the outstanding contributions of students and law school staff to pro bono work at its annual awards ceremony.

Student volunteers in Bristol have overturned 95% of the decisions made by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in their area regarding 200 claimants who had wrongfully been ruled ‘fit for work’.

An “alarming” number of survivors of domestic abuse in the UK are being forced to represent themselves in court due to limited access to legal representation.

Hugh James is offering 18 full-time, one-year, paid work placements to students at Cardiff University’s School of Law and Politics. The aim is to enable students to gain experience of legal practice, providing them with the chance to apply their academic knowledge in a practical context. 

The Bar Council has extended its outreach programme, the Bar Placement Week, to Liverpool. It has been running in London for eight years, as well as in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Leeds for shorter periods.

International law firm Dentons has for the first time appointed a ‘shadow executive team’ made up of junior lawyers. The team is designed not only to expose younger lawyers to executive decision making at senior leadership, but also to allow the firm’s leaders to listen to a range of perspectives and experiences from across the business.

With less than a week to go until the biggest training contract application deadline of the year – 31 July – you may be head down, furiously working away on your applications. Take a brief pause to read this week’s selection of business and economic news – there’s every chance that you’ll be asked about some current news stories in an interview, so it’s worth keeping on top of what’s going on.

Liz Truss has been replaced as justice secretary by David Lidington, the MP for Aylesbury who has consistently opposed LGBT rights and also voted in favour of repealing the Human Rights Act.