What’s to be done when you feel that your commercial awareness is lacking? Here’s an idea: try absorbing what our Feature has to say on maximising your chances at interview by honing your commercial awareness skills well in advance – and that means now. In addition, check out the following key business/economic stories from the past week.

A woman who alleges that she was raped and sexually assaulted by her ex-husband has been left alone in court without legal representation or support to face her alleged abuser, in another distressing example of the crisis in the justice system caused by cuts to legal aid funding.  

The Bar Council has extended its outreach programme, the Bar Placement Week, to Liverpool. It has been running in London for eight years, as well as in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Leeds for shorter periods.

This round-up is big on banks; they seem to have featured heavily in the past week’s news cycle. For tales of their varying woes, plus much more, read on.

The now compulsory Black Friday frenzy provided lots of shoppers with (perceived) bargains this past week, but does it really make economic sense for retailers in the lucrative pre-Xmas shopping rush? Some resisted the urge to discount, claiming that the Black Friday phenomenon is “bonkers” and that it simply moves the traditional January sales period to November. For more on this, and other business stories, read on.

With vacation schemes in full swing, and the major training contract deadline of 31 July just over a month away, there has never been a better time to up your commercial awareness game. Taking an interest in what’s happening in the business world is the foundation for a successful career as a commercial legal adviser. No time like the present – read on.

In a sweep of BPTC related news, the Bar Standards Board has published statistics about students and providers of the BPTC, revealed changes to the centralised BPTC exams and deferred the Bar Course Aptitude Test until at least March 2016. 

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned that firms found to be inadequate at taking continuing professional development seriously can expect enforcement action “where necessary”. 

Two leading City firms have delayed partner promotions due to pandemic pressures.

Ashurst has delayed partner promotions until later this year due to “continuing market uncertainty”. 

Irwin Mitchell LLP and Walker Morris LLP have both announced record-breaking financial results for the tax year ending 30 April 2025, following a trend of strong performances across the sector.

The planned Solicitors Qualifying Exam stage one skills assessment will be changed or abandoned after the results of a pilot showed that it disadvantaged BAME candidates.

The justice system will have to absorb further budget cuts over the next five years, meaning that the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) budget in 2023 will be half what it was in 2010 when the Conservatives came to power, centre-left think tank the Resolution Foundation has warned.

With less than a week to go until the biggest training contract application deadline of the year – 31 July – you may be head down, furiously working away on your applications. Take a brief pause to read this week’s selection of business and economic news – there’s every chance that you’ll be asked about some current news stories in an interview, so it’s worth keeping on top of what’s going on.

The National Association of Licensed Paralegals has revealed that the Level 3 Paralegal Apprenticeship Standard is being completely overhauled. 

While you may be breathing a sigh of relief that the biggest vacation scheme deadline of the year has now passed, there is no time to rest on your laurels when it comes to improving your commercial awareness – if you get invited to interview, you need to have a few aces up your sleeve. The best place to start is by keeping an eye on the big business stories of the day – a task that we are only too happy to help with.

The big story this week has been the spectacular collapse of Carillion, and the fallout from its compulsory liquidation. The construction and facilities company hasn’t just put its private sector building projects in jeopardy – it also had many public sector contacts which now need fulfilling. For this and other big business news, look no further.

New rules governing how prospective barristers will train and qualify are expected to come into effect in early 2019.

Crime barristers have threatened to walk out and leave the criminal courts in chaos in protest at a new legal aid payments scheme, with many barristers feeling overwhelmed and at “breaking point”.

The Bar Standards Board has published its framework for the development of education and training in response to the Legal Education and Training Review.