I want to network with my colleagues but I don’t want to drink alcohol – what do I do?

Hogan Lovells has unveiled the details of its diversity plan, which includes an emphasis on retaining and advancing the careers of women lawyers to ensure greater gender equality among its partners.

In more National Apprenticeship Week news, CILEx Law School has been retained to provide training to all of Irwin Mitchell’s new legal apprentices, due to start in September 2016.

The London managing partner of Jenner & Block LLP, Christine Braamskamp, has updated the law firm’s parental leave policy to promote equal opportunities for both women and men.

A global network for crypto-related fraud has been launched by a group of legal industry professionals, including lawyers from Osborne Clarke and RPC, barristers and forensic accountants. 

Among the different types of client are professional athletes and performers; their managers, coaches and agents; the creators of artistic works; sports clubs and governing bodies; the owners of theatres and festival grounds; broadcasters, distributors and advertising agencies; and the big brands that sponsor tournaments or individual stars.

Year 12 students interested in a career in law and eligible for the Pathways to Law scheme have one week until the application window closes.

The eighth annual LawWorks & Attorney General Student Awards are underway, with nominations now being accepted for those law students and law schools undertaking great pro bono work.

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has published the responses to its consultation on the future training of barristers.

The News of the World saga continues, with an announcement that Lord Justice Leveson will conduct the hacking inquiry in the Royal Courts of Justice.

Law Society president Linda Lee has written a letter to the Daily Mail in response to a recent article it published claiming that legal aid is responsible for the increase in the number of UK lawyers.

DLA Piper UK LLP, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, Reed Smith and Ashurst LLP have become the latest law firms to increase their newly qualified (NQ) lawyer salaries. 

The College of Legal Practice (the College) has been accepted onto the national Apprenticeship Provider and Assessment Register, meaning organisations can now use the College to train their graduate solicitor apprentices. 

After a long and acrimonious battle, both in and out of court, the High Court has ordered the publisher of the 'Solicitors from Hell' website, Rick Kordowski, to remove entirely the site from the Internet.

Applications are now open for the LawCareersNetLIVE careers conferences taking place in November and December later this year.

Three legal apprentices have just started at the BBC, joining its in-house legal team on a two-year advanced apprenticeship course that will lead to a Level 3 CILEx Certificate in Law and Practice.

The SRA will be making unannounced visits to 100 "randomly selected" law firms in order to assess their compliance with diversity reporting requirements, it was announced at the Law Society Firms Diversity Forum meeting in September.

Plans to reform barrister training could see solicitors and academics being exempted from doing a traditional pupillage, but the Bar Council has reacted with fury at the proposals.

The Ministry of Justice has been allocated an extra £30 million, not to address the legal aid crisis, but to prepare for the possibility of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.