Allen & Overy LLP has introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot named Harvey to complete various tasks and save time “at all levels”. 

The number of practising solicitors in England and Wales has grown in the last year while the number of registered training contracts has fallen slightly, the Law Society’s annual statistics report has revealed.

Many young lawyers would like firms to embrace technology and transform outdated working practices in order to operate more like commercial businesses, according to new research from Eversheds.

The government’s plans to cut legal aid for people accused of crimes have been put on hold while the Court of Appeal considers a challenge from The Law Society, the Criminal Law Solicitors Association and the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association.

Justice Minister Chris Grayling, a former BBC producer, has defended his controversial legal aid cuts in a long interview in the Law Gazette, claiming to have received "lots of letters and emails" from people concerned about legal aid entitlement.

The Law Society of England and Wales has welcomed changes set out in the Department for Business and Trade’s recent consultation on flexible working rights, but urged that reforms must be “clear and fair for all”.

Ashurst LLP and Perkins Coie are set to merge to create a globally integrated law firm with combined revenues of around $2.8 billion, following a vote of approval from both firms’ partnerships. 

Earlier this year, I attended a vacation scheme at a firm that I’ve come to admire for its values, ethos, the people who make up the firm and the high-quality work its lawyers do. Proper preparation is key for something as important as this, as a vacation scheme is essentially a week-long interview. However, as an autistic aspiring lawyer, there are other things that I need in order to feel as prepared as I can. But how can firms help with this and make their vacation schemes more accessible?

Corporate fraud in the UK has seemingly been running wild, but the government is now challenging this issue with greater severity. As of 1 September 2025, a brand-new corporate offence is now live, ‘Failure to Prevent Fraud’. For any individual running or working for a large organisation, you should be asking yourself right now: are we ready for this? Because if you're not, the consequences just got a lot heavier.

Global fallout from the US-Israel war with Iran continues to ripple through UK consumers and businesses, from rising medicine prices to airlines slashing European routes as fuel costs soar. Meanwhile, concerns are growing that AI adoption is flattening entry-level recruitment and the pressure is mounting on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to honour Labour’s pledge to ban ticket touting. Read on for LawCareers.Net’s picks of this week’s top commercial stories.

There are an estimated 250,000 paralegals in the UK, a figure that has grown considerably in recent years. Paralegals play a vital role in legal businesses of all sizes, not only providing essential support to lawyers, but also working independently to manage cases and serve clients.

The Ministry of Defence’s plan to extend the concept of ‘combat immunity’ will lead to soldiers being unable to access justice and cover-ups, the Law Society has warned. 

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.

As law students will be keenly aware, January marks the onset of application deadlines for many vacation schemes and work placements.

The majority of practising solicitors are women, but men still occupy a disproportionate number of positions at partner level, according to the Law Society’s latest annual statistics report.

The Times recently released its Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality list, with the likes of Addleshaw Goddard, TLT LLP, Linklaters LLP and DWF Group Limited, among other law firms, named on the list.

Just as the solicitors' profession has a 'magic circle' of law firms, so too does London's commercial Bar.