The proportion of women and BAME people who make up the solicitors’ profession has increased in the last decade, the latest annual statistics report from the Law Society shows.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is once again considering whether to abolish the minimum annual salary for trainee solicitors.

Nineteen leading law firms have signed up to ‘the social mobility pledge’, an initiative aimed at tackling the depressing lack of upward social mobility in British society.

BARBRI Global and the O Shaped Lawyer have joined forces to ensure that BARBRI’s content goes further than just preparing candidates for the two-part Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) to incorporate essential human and business skills. 

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has predicted that the UK will sit among the worst performing economies of the rich world in 2023, second only to Russia.

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. 

There has been a recent increase in barristers’ chambers and law firms introducing mentoring for aspiring lawyers from underrepresented groups to boost diversity and inclusion.

Application season is upon us and part of your preparation should be developing your commercial awareness – namely, an interest in the business world and how the issues that affect clients will also affect and shape the advice that you, as their lawyer, will give. There’s also every chance you’ll be asked to comment on something topical in an interview, so best to be prepared! For a selection of this week’s most interesting commercial news stories, read on:

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”.

Linklaters, RPC and Taylor Wessing have revealed high trainee retention rates as we emerge from covid-19-induced lockdowns. 

The focus of the Legal Education and Training Review has been criticised as "unbalanced or worse" by the President of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger.

The Honourable Society of The Inner Temple has partnered with leading peer recruitment firm The Access Platform to adopt a pioneering technology platform to support aspiring barristers.

According to reports in The Lawyer, the Law Society has warned the owner of Solicitors from Hell to remove the website from the Internet or face High Court action.

Full-service law firm Shakespeare Martineau LLP has expanded its footprint in Edinburgh to accommodate its “rapidly growing team”. 

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has published a diversity strategy for the next two years after a report it commissioned found that much progress still needs to be made in opening up the barristers’ profession to people from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. 

Leading experts from several international law firms have given their verdict on MPs’ rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal to exit the European Union (EU), which leaves the UK on a default course to exit the EU without an agreement on 29 March.

The SRA is set to begin granting its first alternative business structure licences in early 2012, now that the House of Lords has approved legislation regulating the disclosure of criminal convictions for non-lawyer owners of ABSs.

Magic circle firm Allen & Overy LLP retained 37 of its 40 trainees, revealing a 93% autumn retention rate – all 40 of the firm’s trainees applied for newly-qualified solicitor roles, with 37 offers being made and accepted. 

Two Russell Group universities have dropped out of the top 20 places to study law in this year’s Guardian University Guide, but the overall picture reveals a mixed range of results for the group of universities traditionally regarded as the country’s elite.