UK economic growth slows but beats expectations, Rolls-Royce eyes nuclear-powered AI dominance and Russia takes actions against WhatsApp and Telegram. Meanwhile, fake Labubu dolls spark safety warnings across the UK. Catch up on the latest headlines in this week’s commercial news round-up.

Here’s LawCareers.Net’s 26-step guide to the training contract application process, plus 10 mock interview questions to help you prepare.

According to research conducted by Legal Week, Norton Rose and Allen & Overy are top of the list of firms that lawyers would like to work for, outside of their own.

Non-law students often worry that their degree is an invisible barrier between themselves and the legal profession. This simply isn’t true.

What can we do about the energy crisis hitting the UK?  

From unlikely cinema pairings to surfing on plastic bottles and a social media rebrand, which is more than just a name change, we’re covering a range of commercial news stories this week to help expand your knowledge – so, buckle up and enjoy the ride.  

Find out how Gowling are investing in diversity and inclusion as parts of its central vision.

How will the Employment Rights Act's unfair dismissal reforms impact employers? 

While the shortened week may necessitate a more compact selection of stories, it is just as vital that you know about them. Read on, with all haste.

A new social impact start-up, 30 Minute Chat, aims to break down barriers for aspiring lawyers trying to get into the legal profession by connecting students and paralegals with high-profile lawyers for one-off 30-minute chats.

Ramp up your efforts towards achieving commercial amazingness by keeping up with current affairs and casting your eye over these interesting business news stories from the last few days.

It’s certainly been a busy week of scandals, hefty fines, hacks and Christmas stockpiling!

Without further ado, let’s tuck into this week’s headline-grabbing commercial news stories.

What does the future hold for small reactors in the UK’s nuclear power industry?

Hephzibah is a newly qualified associate in the corporate transactions and advisory group. She joined the firm and started her training contract in 2019. Here she talks about some of the most motivating moments of her training contract, lessons she's learned along the way and gives her advice to future trainees.

The Law Society has concluded, via results from its recent member survey, that the vast majority of pro bono work is done by solicitors in private practice and by senior practitioners who have "more autonomy to undertake unpaid work".

People in need of legal services are now able to find regulated paralegals on the Professional Paralegal Register, which was launched on 6 July.

Is the court system a laggard or just being cautious?