Commercial awareness: Commercial awareness

Trained on vast datasets, Generative Artificial Intelligence models can produce impressively sophisticated outputs − some of which are perhaps indistinguishable from human-created works. However, these new tools raise significant legal quandaries, particularly for copyright law.

Commercial Question

AI Act approved by the European Parliament – what comes next?

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AI Act: what are the legislative and political challenges that could arise?

A guide to commercial awareness

Boost your commercial awareness at LCNLIVE!

Our legal careers conferences are designed to give you an insight into top law firms.

COMMERCIAL CONNECT: interest rates, streaming services, TikTok

Listen to the latest episode of our podcast series where we speak about business news stories.

Trending commercial issues to know about in 2024

Let’s break down the top stories that made headlines in 2023 and consider what you should look out for in 2024.

Everything you should know about this vital skill

Commercial awareness is one of the key skills that law firms look for in future trainees.

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BNG regime and nationally significant infrastructure projects

Prior to the introduction of the mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG) regime for nationally significant infrastructure projects in November 2025, does a developer need to be considering BNG in relation to an application for a Development Consent Order made in the next 12 months?

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The PACCAR decision and the future of litigation funding

How has the landscape of litigation funding changed in respect of recent changes and how will this impact access to justice?

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AI in the legal landscape

What role does AI play in facilitating corporate fraud?

Top up your commercial awareness

A guide to law firm mergers

Mergers can be an extremely effective way for law firms to expand and reduce costs. Therefore, you’re never too far away from a story about a law firm merger – either contemplated, being negotiated or completed.

What are the types of law firm partnership?

Find out how law firms are structured with this Feature.

The law firm as a business

I know that I need to understand how a law firm operates as a business to be commercially aware. What exactly does that involve?

Your commercial news round-up

Be sure to check the News every Thursday for this weekly commercial news round-up

News

Your commercial news round-up: Revolut, Apple, shop prices, wind projects

Ready for a whirlwind of this week’s commercial news? Revolut is facing potential legal action from Republic Europe over a blocked share sale, while consumer organisation Which? has launched a £3 billion legal claim against Apple regarding its iCloud service. Meanwhile, JD Sports’ chair has warned of price hikes due to new tax rises and German energy firm RWE is cutting its offshore wind investment following Donald Trump’s re-election. Read on to uncover all the details!

News

Your commercial news round-up: US election, interest rates, UK house prices

As Tuesday 5 November marked the 60th quadrennial presidential election in the US, the world awaited the results with bated breath. In this week’s commercial news round-up, we outline the impact of Donald Trump’s re-election on lawyers across the world and take a look at US shares, the dollar and predictions for the UK’s economic growth. Plus, we provide an update on the Bank of England’s decision to cut interest rates; and the state of house prices in the UK.

News

Your commercial news round-up: autumn budget, NHS, Google, Shell

Are you up to date on this week’s commercial news? The government has announced a new budget, which sees a number of changes to taxes, pay and pensions, and increased spending for the NHS. Meanwhile, Alphabet has put investor worries about its AI development to rest, reporting increased profit for its cloud business. Plus, Shell is facing backlash after reducing its spending on green energy. Read on to discover more!

Commercial awareness blog posts

Understanding commercial awareness: why it's essential for you

Commercial awareness is the ability to understand the context in which organisations operate, including their clients, customers and suppliers, as well as the internal and external challenges they currently face and those that may arise in the future.

Ghostbots: who ya gonna call?

At this point, I assume most of us are at least vaguely aware of Generative AI, most likely in the form of natural language models and image generators. However, a somewhat obscure, and rather more macabre application of GenAI has been developing for a few years now, in the form of ‘ghostbots’ − AI-powered digital recreations of the dead.

The pros and cons of working at an international law firm

Coming from an international background, I've always thought an international law firm would be the perfect fit − mimicking the culturally diverse contexts in which I grew up.

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COMMERCIAL CONNECT podcast

King Charles, wages, Taylor Swift, Amazon

The King's speech on Labour government's legislative plan, UK wages, the 'Taylor Swift effect' on inflation and an update on Amazon workers.

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COMMERCIAL CONNECT Podcast

Sainsbury's Bank, Just Stop Oil protests, Amazon

Natwest's purchase of Sainsbury's Bank, recent Just Stop Oil protests and Amazon's Coventry warehouse making steps to unionising.

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COMMERCIAL CONNECT podcast

Interest rates, streaming services, TikTok

In the latest episode of COMMERCIAL CONNECT, Bethany and Ellie from LawCareers.Net sit down to discuss some recent business news.

Videos

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Masterclass | AI in the legal profession - with Shoosmiths

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Meet the Lawyer | Nik White - Brabners LLP

Wrestle with PESTLE

These LCN Says articles are part of LawCareers.Net’s ‘Wrestle with PESTLE’ series, which looks at various business case studies using the PESTLE technique

LCN Says

John MacKenzie - Wrestle with PESTLE: Access to justice and the role of legal aid

John MacKenzie

This article will analyse the implications of access to justice and the role of legal aid through the PESTLE framework. I believe this issue is a great way to explore the interaction between public policy and the practical realities of the justice system and legal practice.

LCN Says

Olivia Partridge - Wrestle with PESTLE: Taylor Swift – The Eras Tour

Olivia Partridge

Can we write a PESTLE analysis on (arguably?) the world’s biggest popstar? We’re going to give it a go. Are you ‘…Ready For It?’

LCN Says

John MacKenzie - Wrestle with PESTLE: cybersecurity – threats in the digital age

John MacKenzie

Digital technologies pervade every aspect of our lives. From social media to critical government infrastructure, cybersecurity is of increasingly great concern for individuals, corporations and nations. Cybersecurity threats are complex and adaptive, requiring a holistic approach to understand, mitigate and remediate.