Co-operative Legal Services has announced that it will apply to the Solicitors Regulation Authority to become an alternative business structure on 3 January 2012.

The Co-operative Group has pulled out of a £750 million deal to buy 632 high street branches from the Lloyds Banking Group.

The Co-operative Group launched its family law operation on 20 September, further evidence of the crucial role this organisation is playing in the post -Legal Services Act world.

The Co-operative Group's announcement of its intentions to create 3,000 jobs in the legal sector is the latest and clearest sign that alternative business structures are set to have a big impact on the legal profession.

Co-operative Legal Services plans to halve the workforce of its 120-strong personal injury department by making up to 60 redundancies.

The Co-operative Legal Services has entered into a partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University to establish a new learning academy, which will provide legal training that is designed to accommodate current and future changes in the legal profession, including the rise of alternative business structures and non-traditional career paths.

Co-operative Legal Services has announced that it is to enter the family law market, supported by three leading family law practitioners from TV Edwards LLP.

Further to news that Co-operative Legal Services is to offer family law services as part of its expansion into the legal market, the organisation has indicated that it will also be offering training contracts.

The Co-operative Legal Services has confirmed an operating loss of £5.1 million for the first half of the year, as reported by Legal Futures.

DWF has announced its intention to buy Manchester firm Cobbetts, which revealed earlier in the week that it had filed for administration, and was looking to sell the business "due to difficult trading conditions in the professional services sector". KPMG have been named as administrators.

Further to news last week that Cobbetts planned to go into administration, with DWF intending to buy the ailing firm, the deal has now gone ahead.

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The College of Law and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives have teamed up to deliver a 'one-stop shop' for the legal profession's training requirements.

The College of Law and European law firm CMS Cameron McKenna have together announced the launch of a bespoke Legal Practice Course tailored toward training in international and corporate legal services.

Both The College of Law and Kaplan Law School have published figures on how many of their 2010 LPC graduates had secured employment in the legal profession.

The College of Law has announced details of its 2013 scholarship programme, to help its students with their course fees.

Career-changers interested in a career in the legal profession will be interested to know that The College of Law in Birmingham is holding a series of events, called Switch to Law, aimed at people without a law degree who want to become lawyers.

The College of Law is encouraging attendees to its series of open days promoting its new two-year LLB, due to start in September 2012 at the College’s London Bloomsbury, Birmingham and Chester centres.

The College of Law is holding a series of open days in October and November at each of its eight UK locations, designed to give students and graduates an insight into what the CoL has to offer and what’s going on in the legal profession.