Ahead of new Legal Services Board regulations that will require the publication of diversity data next year, Shearman and Sterling has released its diversity stats – the first US firm in London to do so.

What is the future of divorce proceedings in the United Kingdom?

After setting up a £150 million funding pot, DLA Piper has become the biggest City law firm to join the third-party litigation financing market.

A “fully flexible work space” is available to all staff working in DLA Piper’s Birmingham office, following its move to the Paradise Birmingham Development – a move which was in the works before the pandemic hit last year. 

New trainees at DLA Piper are being offered £10,000 to delay starting work until August 2021. Staggered start dates have been implemented at the international firm, which recruits around 70 graduates each year – one of the City’s biggest intakes, according to the Law Gazette.

Gajendran Balachandran, an associate in the litigation and regulatory department at DLA Piper UK LLP, shares his experience of initially qualifying as a lawyer in Malaysia and his subsequent journey to working in English and Welsh law. Gajendran also outlines the importance of the firm’s Mosaic group and offers his advice for budding solicitors.

Find out about DLA Piper’s insight programme and summer internship with Petra Smith, the firm’s graduate recruitment manager.

How does the ruling in DnaNudge v Ventura Capital impact the future of venture capital and private equity transactions?

If you’re interested in any client-facing role, it’s inevitable you’ve heard both firms and individuals stress the importance of commercial awareness. However, the legal profession is broad and diverse in the types of work that lawyers do. Does this mean that every type of lawyer needs to be commercially aware? This article explores both sides of this question.

What is the business case for ensuring that organisations are diverse and inclusive?

If you’re starting out with a career in law, it’s likely that you’ll be looking for your first role. Typically, temporary paralegal positions are a great way to start.

Do same sex and heterosexual married couples have the same pension rights in occupational pension schemes? 

A recent Financial Services Authority (FSA) study on market cleanliness estimated that one in four takeovers in 2005 was preceded by suspicious trading activity, so just how clean are London's financial markets? And what are the FSA's powers to investigate and prosecute insider dealing in the City?

Does it matter if I wait until the deadline to submit my training contract application?

The new attorney general has sparked fears that the government will try to reduce the independence of the judiciary after criticising “unelected, unaccountable” judges in an article published before her appointment.

The Legal Services Board has launched an investigation into whether the Solicitors Regulation Authority is sufficiently independent – a move that will put further pressure on the Law Society, which remains the approved regulator of solicitors.

Can trustees of UK pension schemes take into account ethical considerations when investing scheme assets, or must they only be concerned with financial factors?

Law firms may soon be changing their web addresses to take advantage of a new domain, '.law', which is likely to be authorised by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the body that coordinates internet addresses.

Following the Domestic Abuse Bill’s second reading in the House of Commons last week, the Law Society says the bill must do more to protect victims. It recently passed a significant stage in its path to becoming law and will now be examined by the public bill committee.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded to pressure from women’s groups and MPs by promising that his government will revive a key domestic abuse bill that would have introduced protections for victims, but was cancelled due to his decision to shutdown Parliament.