The legal mental health charity LawCare has reported has reported that calls to its helpline have increased by 11% on last year.

As summer takes its last official gasp today, and we look towards autumn and all that brings (new term, law fairs, vacation scheme applications), there is just time to reflect on the business stories of the past week – look no further than this sparkling collection.

Crime solicitors have lost their appeal against the government's plans to cut the number of duty solicitors' contracts by two thirds – a decision which the Law Society has said could lead to vulnerable people being denied access to justice.

Insurance super firm Plexus Law has launched its own apprenticeship, which incorporates a government-backed scheme, with the first intake set to start in September 2013.

London law firm Mishcon de Reya has launched a programme to offer free legal advice and mentoring to early-stage tech businesses.

A new alternative business structure created by two family law barristers is believed to be the first service to allow divorcing couples to use the same lawyer.

The much-discussed triggering of Article 50 has happened, and two long years of negotiation now stretch ahead. At the end of that period, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union, regardless of whether an agreement has been reached. Any certainty on what it all means is entirely elusive at this point, but the Law Society has published a short explanation of some of the implications for lawyers. For Brexit and more, read on.

The Next 100 Years, a project founded by Dana Denis-Smith, has launched a new £100,000 scholarship campaign, Paving the Way, “to give the next generation of game changers help on the first step of their journey into a legal career”.

Liz Truss has become the first woman to hold the post of lord chancellor in the thousand-year history of the role, after replacing the sacked Michael Gove as justice secretary in Theresa May’s new cabinet. 

LawCareers.Net has teamed up with diversity organisations Aspiring Interns and upReach to offer free places to LawCareersNetLIVE.

A specialist group of technology experts has been formed at international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills in order to tackle the growing changes that technology is bringing to the legal profession.

DWF has announced an exclusive partnership with The College of Law that will see the firm's future trainees study their LPC at the institution from September 2011.

Want to know what’s been happening in the commercial world that might be of interest to your future clients? Look no further than this collection of interesting business stories from the past week.

Dentons has set a 20% partner diversity target for its UK, Ireland and Middle East partnership in response to the Black Lives Matter protests.

City law firm Addleshaw Goddard has announced that its salaries for newly qualified (NQ) lawyers will remain at £100,000, as it opts to allocate an extra £1 million to bonuses at the company instead. The firm’s bonus pot is now worth a total of £19 million.

International firm Clyde & Co has vacated one of its two City offices to reduce workspace as part of its transition to ‘hybrid’ working, which will see employees eligible to work from home for up to three days a week.

Pinsent Masons and the Crown Prosecution Service were named on the Working Families’ Top Ten Employers 2021 list.

A senior family court judge has admitted that it feels “shaming” to preside over cases where people are forced to represent themselves, in the latest warning about the social costs of legal aid cuts. 

The Bar Pro Bono Unit has announced that it is undergoing a number of reforms to modernise its service for the 21^st Century and from today (22 October, the first day of Pro Bono Week) has changed its name to ‘Advocate’.

Three teams from the College of Law have made the national finals of the prestigious Negotiation Competition, which will be held at the CoL's York centre on 23 March.