Leading regional firm Coffin Mew has completed its merger with Charles Lucas & Marshall. 

The College of Law has launched an online 'virtual open day'.

The College of Law's Future Lawyers Network is running a series of podcasts, entitled Brief Chats, featuring "top legal professionals" and offering tips and advice on how to get ahead in the world of law.

The College of Law will provide a programme which combines Legal Practice Course and Master of Laws qualifications from 2013.

The College of Law's new two-year LLB, which focuses on boosting students' employment prospects and professional skills, will launch this autumn at the CoL's Birmingham, Chester, Guildford and London Bloomsbury centres.

My name is Colin Hornby. I’ve recently passed the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) – SQE1 and SQE2. I’m now a consultant solicitor at national firm Taylor Rose MW.

The College of Legal Practice (the College) has been accepted onto the national Apprenticeship Provider and Assessment Register, meaning organisations can now use the College to train their graduate solicitor apprentices. 

‘Commercial awareness’ is a term you’ve probably heard thrown around a lot by law firm recruiters.

How is commercial awareness from a regulatory perspective applicable to acquisitions?

What does commercial awareness really mean to your clients and to your supervising partner?

The phrase “despite the impact of covid-19” embodies the overarching theme for M&A deals in 2021 for large international law firms. There has been a complete turnaround where deals, and especially megadeals, are de facto doing better than during pre-covid time. Deals are at a 10 year high in the first quarter of 2021 in the US. 

Subsequent to the Internet 2.0 with the rise of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Twitter, the new revivification of the Internet will be the emergence of the Internet of Value.

How can you articulate commercial awareness as a graduate?

Leading commercial set 20 Essex Street has become the first barristers’ chambers in the country to adopt Rare’s contextual recruitment system (CRS), an approach to assessing applicants that is designed to be fairer to candidates from diverse and less-privileged backgrounds.

With news this week that Article 50 will be triggered on 29 March, the reality of what a departure from the European Union will mean for the economy is likely to start firming up. 

The now compulsory Black Friday frenzy provided lots of shoppers with (perceived) bargains this past week, but does it really make economic sense for retailers in the lucrative pre-Xmas shopping rush? Some resisted the urge to discount, claiming that the Black Friday phenomenon is “bonkers” and that it simply moves the traditional January sales period to November. For more on this, and other business stories, read on.

The UN General Assembly headlined the news this week, as did Theresa May's peace talks with her own foreign secreatry Boris Johnson. In the meantime she has an even more serious issue to consider on which we’ll provide a starting point for your further reading below, as well as a round-up of the week’s other commercial stories.

Spring may have sprung, but that is no reason to neglect your commitment to self-improvement and progressing your legal career. This week’s selection is a real mixed-bag of commercial stories that should serve to pique your interest in the business world.

The big story this week has been the spectacular collapse of Carillion, and the fallout from its compulsory liquidation. The construction and facilities company hasn’t just put its private sector building projects in jeopardy – it also had many public sector contacts which now need fulfilling. For this and other big business news, look no further.