The Lawyer
Husnara Begum Editorial
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The high cost of cheap training
19 September 2011
One of the perennial problems faced by law firms is predicting how many trainees and newly qualified lawyers (NQs) they are likely to need, because they hire graduates two years in advance of them joining.
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Trainees for hire: SRA backs revolutionary plan
19 September 2011
New training scheme aims to cut upfront costs for law firms
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SJ Berwin admits fault for student all-nighter
1 August 2011
he Lawyer’s exclusive story last week about the SJ Berwin summer student who was ’asked’ to work until the early hours of the morning has divided opinion across all levels of the legal sector.
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Herbies, Ashurst tap Stonewall, Freshfields for new diversity heads
28-Jul-2011
Ashurst and Herbert Smith have both made heavy-hitting diversity appointments as the Legal Services Board (LSB) forges ahead with plans to force firms to disclose statistics in relation to social mobility.
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Freshfields launches probe into business support team
12-Jul-2011
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has launched an internal investigation into one of its business support functions.
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Battle for students as LPC take-up dwindles
4 July 2011
Enrolments on the LPC have plummeted across the market, with the University of Huddersfield seeing a 68 per cent drop in student numbers for the 2010-11 academic year.
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Magic circle rivals aim to ease Southern Cross financial pain
20 June 2011
Clifford Chance, Eversheds, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Lovells have all scooped roles to help Southern Cross Healthcare secure a rescue package that will prevent the stricken care home operator from going into administration.
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SNR Denton cuts trainee places by nearly half over four-year period
20 June 2011
The number of training contract vacancies at the UK’s top law firms has dropped by 10 per cent since the start of the financial crisis.
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Clifford Chance loses four-partner funds team to Weil Gotshal
13-Jun-2011
Weil Gotshal & Manges has raided magic circle firm Clifford Chance for a four-partner funds team.
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NCH’s £18k-a-year private law degree sparks new battle of the law schools
13 June 2011
College of Law (CoL) chief executive Nigel Savage has hit out at the UK’s newest private university, which plans to offer a law degree costing £18,000 per year.
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Kirkland doubles City trainee intake as first batch qualifies
3-Jun-2011
Kirkland & Ellis is planning to double its trainee intake as the first-ever group of graduates who joined the firm’s London office are all offered newly qualified (NQ) positions.
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CoL gives £300k to flagship charity in same year CEO earns £440k
27-May-2011
College of Law’s chief executive Nigel Savage earned a greater sum in its last financial year than the course provider donated to its flagship diversity scheme, The Lawyer can reveal.
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HSBC legal chief dragged into 'informal internships' row
27-May-2011
HSBC’s legal department is at the centre of the ongoing controversy surrounding ’informal’ work experience.
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CoL, Kaplan lift lid on LPC graduate success rates
23 May 2011
The College of Law (CoL) and Kaplan Law School have bowed to market pressure and disclosed statistics on the final destinations of their LPC students.
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A&O, Links set the tone with associate pay freeze
16 May 2011
Associates hoping for bumper pay rises will be left disappointed if rival firms do as expected and follow the lead of Allen & Overy (A&O) and Linklaters.
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From toilets to torches: Freshfields’ Olympic procurement team has it covered
16 May 2011
As London gears up to host the greatest show on earth, a team of lawyers is hard at work behind the scenes drafting vital contracts that will ensure every need of both the athletes and spectators at the Olympics is catered for.
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Top firms get street smart on social mobility
2 May 2011
The legal sector is finally starting to take social mobility seriously.
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Mature candidates evince true grit
25 April 2011
Every autumn law firm graduate recruitment teams pack their suitcases, hit the road and travel to university campuses across the UK in a bid to promote their wares to the cream of the undergraduate population.
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Weightmans merger threatens Mace & Jones’ recruitment policy
28 March 2011
Mace & Jones’ innovative trainee recruitment programme is under threat following the firm’s decision to merge with Weightmans.
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The tomorrow people
14 March 2011
With mounting concerns about next year’s rise in university tuition fees, it is understandable that students from less well-off backgrounds may feel tempted to throw in the towel.
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Money, money, money
10-Mar-2011
Fact. The cost of training as a lawyer is becoming increasingly expensive.
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CoL slammed for refusal to repay non-starter fees
27 September 2010
Complaints about ’unfair’ treatment of transfer students as college holds onto payments
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L2B event caters to mature applicants
27 September 2010
The Lawyer’s sister title Lawyer 2B is launching a new event for mature applicants.
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Opinion divided over ‘two-tier’ City LPCs
27 September 2010
Clifford Chance’s plans to launch a fast-track LPC have left many students asking why such an offering is not available for all aspiring solicitors.
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Linklaters decides against ditching grad recruitment brochures
19-Aug-2010
Magic circle law firm Linklaters has ditched plans to scrap its graduate recruitment brochure after research revealed that students favour paper-based products over their online equivalents.
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Norton Rose faces hiring battle in wake of new Govt visa quota
16 August 2010
The Government’s new points-based work permit scheme hinders law firms from hiring overseas talent
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Halliwells: future Manchester and London trainees left jobless
22-Jul-2010
No room for future trainees at HBJ Gateley Wareing or BLG; Hill Dickinson offers lifeline
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Halliwells trainees face uncertain future as firm files to go into administration
25-Jun-2010
The future of dozens of Halliwells’ trainees is hanging in the balance after the Manchester-based firm files its intention to appoint an administrator.
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Freshfields shifts application deadline for conversion students
3 May 2010
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is bringing forward its training contract application deadline for non-law students after seeing a surge in applications.
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Bingham shocks market with NQ salary of £100K
15 February 2010
Bingham has emerged as one of the most generous US firms in London, paying its newly qualified (NQ) lawyers a salary of £100,000.
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Bilp prepares for Bristol rivals with cut-price LPC
4 January 2010
The Bristol Institute of Legal Practice (Bilp) is shoring up its defences in response to the forthcoming invasion of the city by the College of Law (CoL) and BPP Law School by joining forces with Central Law Training (CLT) to launch one of the cheapest LPCs on the market.
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Gifted state school students invited to Lawyer 2B Careers Day
4 January 2010
The Lawyer’s sister title for students Lawyer 2B is hosting a careers event for promising A-level students attending state sixth-form colleges who are interested in training as solicitors and barristers.
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BPP parent Apollo Group in SEC accounting probe
23 November 2009
For-profit educator’s business model under scrutiny
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Chambers divided over 2010 pupillage pay hikes
26 October 2009
A number of chambers are keeping their 2010 pupillage awards at this year’s levels despite One Essex Court’s decision to up its payment by 33 per cent, which prompted a mini-pay war at the bar.
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SRA defends work-based training pilot
21 September 2009
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has reassured City firms that its controversial work-based learning pilot is on track, and will address their concerns about being forced to hire trainees as permanent employees.
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Law Society starts campaign to scare off wannabe lawyers
3 August 2009
The gulf between the number of students completing the LPC and the availability of training contracts is not a new phenomenon.
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BSB aptitude test in doubt after OFT dig
27 July 2009
The Bar Standard Board’s (BSB) plan to introduce a compulsory aptitude test for entry onto the BVC has been thrown into disarray after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) dubbed the move anticompetitive.
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Weil Gotshal cuts NQ salary to £85,000
6-Jul-2009
Weil Gotshal & Manges’ City arm has become the latest law firm to take the axe to its newly qualified (NQ) salaries.
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Profession welcomes mature students into ranks
22 June 2009
Many people in their 50s are just getting round to thinking about retirement. But Last Cawthra Feather trainee Steve Willey has other ideas. Willey, who bagged a training contract with the Yorkshire-based firm aged 56, is looking forward to qualifying as a solicitor specialising in employment law in March 2011.
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Herbies' NQ retention rates plummet
18-Jun-2009
Herbert Smith’s retention rates for trainee solicitors due to qualify in the autumn has dropped to 74 per cent. .
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Fresh blow for trainees as A&O shuts up shop early
18 May 2009
Prospects for aspiring trainees have taken a turn for the worse with Allen & Overy (A&O) becoming the latest firm to close its applications before the traditional July deadline.
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Kaplan adds Manches to list of LPC clients
18 May 2009
Kaplan Law School has signed Manches to its Legal Practice Course (LPC) client list less than a month after it struck a similar deal with Trowers & Hamlins.
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Training vacancies plummet as deferrals rise
18 May 2009
Vacancies for training contracts for 2011-12 are set for a dramatic fall as the number of law firms deferring trainee start dates continues to rise.
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SRA gets a roasting as deferrals leave students out in the cold
20 April 2009
Stories about law firms asking their future trainees to defer their start dates have dominated The Lawyer’s student website Lawyer2B.com in recent weeks. Barely a week has passed without at least one firm conceding it has asked future trainees to push back their start dates.
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Nabarro set to trial student speed-dating
6 April 2009
Nabarro has spiced up its vacation scheme application process by introducing a speed-dating inspired networking exercise to its assessment centres.
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Training contract deferrals force Generation Y to learn patience
6 April 2009
During the 2007-08 hiring round, law firm graduate recruitment teams’ focus centred on accommodating the demands of Generation Y. Fast forward one year and the mood on campus could not be any more different.
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Travers offers trainees £10,000 to defer
27-Mar-2009
Travers Smith has emerged as the most generous law firm so far in relation to deferring trainee solicitor start dates.
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Weil Gotshal cuts US internships and defers start dates
27-Mar-2009
Weil Gotshal & Manges has become the latest American law firm to slash its US associate programme and defer the start dates of its incoming associates in response to the global economic slump.
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Shearman slashes NQ salaries by 8 per cent
25-Mar-2009
Shearman & Sterling is slashing newly qualified (NQ) solicitor salaries by more than 8 per cent and is freezing trainee and associate pay in the UK, Asia and Middle East.
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Lawyer 2B/BPP essay competition winners announced
25-Mar-2009
Congratulations to Sonia Burgess and Joanna Saunders who emerged victorious from the gruelling selection process in the annual Lawyer 2B/BPP Law School essay competition.Saunders who has a degree in European Studies and Modern Languages from the University of Manchester, and is currently working for the Charity Commission, scooped a free place on BPP’s Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) in London.Burgess, who won a place on the Legal Practice Course, is currently ...
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BPP lays off three BVC lecturers after consultation
25-Mar-2009
BPP Law School has made three full-time Bar Vocational Course (BVC) lecturers redundant following a slump in the number of students enrolling.The law school, one of the biggest BVC providers in the country, confirmed that it was in consultation with 11 of its BVC tutors in December last year.The provider, which is owned by BPP Holdings, saw a 17 per cent drop in the number of students enrolling on the BVC, with just 247 students taking up a spot this year compared ...
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Slaughters in early closure of non-law applications
23 March 2009
Slaughter and May has closed training contract applications to non-law students earlier than usual, while those studying law still have time to apply for a place on the 2011-12 intake.
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The war for talent: will A&O's pay hike convince assistants to stay?
17-Oct-2005
City will be forced to respond as exodus to investment banks sees magic circle firm take drastic action to retain lawyers
