Welcome to 'What's the Big Deal?' – a series where I'll be breaking down big deals in the capital markets sphere for rookies like me. If you're interested in capital markets, corporate mergers & acquisitions (M&A), or working for a law firm with a corporate law offering – watch this space!

These are mainly located in the City of London. 

Are earlier UK IP rights still applicable in the EU?

The Law Society of England and Wales has welcomed changes proposed in the new Sentencing Bill, which had its second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday 16 September. 

On 7 November 2023, King Charles III gave his first King’s Speech since becoming monarch, outlining 21 new proposed laws, including a Sentencing Bill, Criminal Justice Bill, and Victims and Prisoners Bill. 

Travers Smith LLP and Linklaters LLP both launch new AI training programmes to boost employee understanding, improve the expertise of their lawyers and keep up with the fast-paced nature of the evolving technology space. 

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has stepped up its scrutiny of how law firms manage client money, with new figures highlighting accounting breaches as a leading cause of firm closures.

MyKindaFuture will deliver a series of digital workshops across Autumn 2020 – with 23 law firms already signed up to host 25 two-hour workshops – to support students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue a career in the law.

CILEX (The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) is a step closer to giving the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) power to oversee legal executives, following two consultations that supported this proposed change.

Thousands of criminal barristers and solicitors chose not to attend court yesterday morning in the latest display of opposition to the proposed cuts to legal aid being put forward by the Ministry of Justice and Justice Minister Chris Grayling.

There has been much in the press recently about the rise of China as an economy. What does this mean for commercial law firms and their clients?

How is corporate social responsibility driving nature markets in the UK?

A Bar course is the mandatory vocational stage of training for aspiring barristers before they commence pupillage.

The Law Society has called for further investment into the justice system – especially civil and criminal legal aid, which wasn’t mentioned in the recent autumn budget. The Law Society President Richard Atkinson said: “The message that the Lord Chancellor should be hearing is spend to save.”

City solicitors have warned that firms may require all trainees joining from 2022 onwards to pass the new ‘super exam’, despite the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s indication that transitional arrangements allowing students to qualify through the old system may be in place until 2031. 

The Association of Law Teachers has criticised the Solicitors Regulation Authority over the regulator’s “disingenuous” reporting of the widespread criticism of its plans to introduce a new Solicitors Qualifying Examination.  

AI adoption in the legal sector has accelerated over the past year, with software company Clio reporting that 89% of lawyers use it “in some capacity” and 70% saying they began doing so in the past 12 months.

The Law Society of England and Wales has called the recent Legal Aid Agency (LAA) data breach “extremely concerning” and highlighted “the need for sustained investment to bring the LAA’s antiquated IT system up to date and ensure the public have continued trust in the justice system”. 

“AI has very high potential to help firms, consumers and the wider justice system,” according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) latest Risk Outlook series.