Live streaming of open court hearings and online access to hearing documents will greatly increase transparency, but how important is it that all the barristers in open court should ‘look the part’ by wearing wigs and gowns?
There were heated watercooler conversations when the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) responded to suggestions of a surge in British employers looking to microchip their staff. The story, they said, made “distinctly uncomfortable reading” and the trend was full of “obvious risks”. One firm claims to have fitted 150 […]
Diversity at the Bar is improving, but how should a solicitor respond when a client insists they only instruct a ‘white male barrister’? A recent incident has caused outrage in the legal industry.
Lord Hain’s decision to name Sir Philip Green as the man whose settlement of harassment claims was protected by NDAs raises questions over privilege.
After the government enacted the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 it considered abolishing or phasing out civil partnerships altogether. Instead, it will now extend them to heterosexual couples, as Paul Magrath explains.
The final report of the Lammy Review, published in September 2017, highlighted a number of concerns over the treatment of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals by the criminal justice system. It made numerous recommendations, some of them radical. A year later on, Paul Magrath looks at what effect it has had.
A few weeks ago, I was asked by a paralegal at my firm whether or not they should apply be applying for vacation schemes or if they should go straight to the training contract applications. To be frank, it stumped me, as it’s something I’d not given much thought to since qualifying. It brought to […]
When I first started making training contract applications I concentrated heavily on my ‘diverse’ background. I realise now I was wrong to do so.
How can you demonstrate your commitment to a firm without just repeating what’s on its website? One graduate recruiter shares some tips…
Here are 10 possible topics – some common, some not – that may come up for discussion in a training contract interview.
Let me tell you why I’ve written this, and why you might want to read it. For over 20 years, I worked in the same law firm. It became – no thanks to me – one of the most successful law firms in the world. When I was a partner there, I was asked to join the group […]
Interviewing at a firm with a big property practice? Impress your interviewers with your knowledge of these three real estate trends.
Two years on from the collapse of KWM’s UK arm, The Lawyer has tracked down the trainees who were working for the firm at the time to see what became of them.
Macfarlanes has set up a trainee legal innovation network as part of its aim to embed technology and entrepreneurship in its culture. The firm is encouraging trainees to join a forum in which they will meet regularly to explore new ideas and offer their take on current client projects. “The trainees bring a new, fresh […]
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has pushed back the introduction of the Solicitors Qualification Exam (SQE) by another year, following feedback from universities and law firms. The SRA originally said the new way of qualifying as a solicitor should be in place by 2019; however, that estimate was later pushed back to autumn 2020. It now anticipates […]
Stewarts has expanded its trainee intake, taking on its largest number ever, and launched a seat in knowledge management and compliance. Stewarts has a large number of paralegals and recruits its trainees directly from that pool. Nine new trainees, eight in London and one in Leeds, have joined the litigation boutique this autumn, up from seven […]
In 2018, a new trend has emerged among law firms for offering graduate schemes with a tech flavour. Here are the ones that have come to light so far.
Slaughter and May has increased its trainee salaries for the second time in a year. The firm last boosted pay on 1 January 2018, moving first-year trainees up from £43,000 to £44,000 and second-years from £48,000 to £49,000. From 1 October salaries will rise again. First-years will now take home £45,000, while second-years get a […]
Macfarlanes has announced a salary rise for newly-qualified solicitors for the forthcoming year. The City firm will now pay its NQs a base salary of £80,000, up from £75,000, with “potential for additional individual and firm-wide bonuses.” The firm has also announced that it will retain 21 of its 23 trainees qualifying in September, giving it […]
Addleshaw Goddard is revolutionising its trainee programme to promote legal technology as a potential career path for the next generation of lawyers. Starting from September, the firm will offer a seat to trainees that will allow them to work within the in-house innovation and legal technology team as part of their standard training contract’s rotation. […]
Clifford Chance has launched an technology-focused internship for some of its future trainees, partnering with a lawtech start-up Lexoo, an online legal marketplace. The two-month internship, which began in June, has an initial cohort of two future trainees who have just finished their first year at university. Both were selected from the 2017 Springboard programme, Clifford Chance’s […]
You’ve bought the best suit money can buy and spent hours perfecting your hair. You may now look the part for vacation schemes but, as career coach and business skills trainer Husnara Begum explains, actions are just as important when trying to create a good first impression.
While you may have your foot in the door, converting your vacation scheme to a coveted training contract offer isn’t a formality. Here are some tips on how to go about it.
CMS has launched a new “next generation” vacation scheme for 63 students, based in its Cannon Place HQ in London.
Powered by Lexis Nexis, and featuring experts from the University of Law and Bird & Bird, this webcast explores the future of the legal profession. It looks at the developments currently taking place in the legal market, what those changes will mean for the future, and how students can develop the skills that will be […]
Is there still a social mobility problem in the UK legal profession? How can applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds get ahead? And what effect will the forthcoming to legal education and training have? Experts voice their opinion in our webcast
In this webcast, our expert panel discusses burning trainee concerns, such as: how to go about choosing your area of law, what support to expect from your law firm developing your business and commerce sense should you take a year out after an LPC? how not to feel intimidated by the unfamiliar work environment The panel […]
Powered by Lexis Nexis, and featuring experts from the University of Law and Herbert Smith Freehills, this webcast will help candidates make themselves employable in the eyes of law firms and barristers’ chambers, and land that first job in law. The content covers how to build a CV that can’t be ignored, personal presentation and […]
Harini Iyengar is a barrister at 11KWB, specialising in employment, discrimination and equality, education, partnership, data protection and procurement law. She is the Women’s Equality Party’s candidate for Vauxhall in the upcoming general election.
Christine Cordon has had a varied and unusual career. The first in her family to go to uni, she didn’t do a training contract but was an associate at Ashurst and has worked in America and in-house at the big banks. Now she’s the top lawyer at the holiday start-up Secret Escapes.
Shami Chakrabarti says she was surprised that the January 13 announcement of her imminent departure from civil rights charity Liberty attracted so much attention. Sandwiched between the deaths of singer David Bowie and actor Alan Rickman, the news made the front page of several national newspapers, notably left-leaning duo The Guardian and The Independent. Chakrabarti, […]
