Thomas Egger is set to continue its legal apprenticeship programme with a new hire after its first apprentice successfully progressed to the role of trainee legal executive.

Thomas Cromwell, a lawyer by profession, worked as a statesman for King Henry VIII, holding various positions over a decade-long career. Most notably, his role involved giving legal effect to Henry’s wishes and declarations. His contribution to the English Reformation was considerable, allowing the king to break away from Rome’s papal authority by drafting the legal reforms.

It’s been a tumultuous week in British politics and it’s guaranteed that headlines, and our worries, will be very much dominated by Brexit over the coming weeks. We’re highlighting the commercial side of this week’s news, however. Here’s our round-up of the big stories.

It feels like we’ve been saying it a lot recently, but it really has been an unprecedented week in British history, with stories such as the fall of Thomas Cook (see below for more) almost immediately overshadowed by the Supreme Court’s ruling that Boris Johnson’s recent prorogation of Parliament is unlawful.

As Parliament prepares itself for a special sitting to decide the future of Brexit next Saturday 19 October, and leaked phone calls report German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying “nein” to the current Johnson deal, cast your minds towards the business world which has faced as much turbulence as the political one recently. 

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has released its findings into how pupillages were advertised and the selection criteria used by barristers’ chambers in 2018.

The Legal Action Group has established a commission to examine the consequences of cuts to the legal aid budget and suggest solutions to ensure access to justice for all members of the public.

In this LCN blog post I will introduce to you a novel AI architecture capable of accurately predicting the convictions and penalties of real-life criminal cases given only the facts.

Nearly two thirds of junior lawyers (63%) surveyed by the Junior Lawyers Division (JLD) felt that LawTech was not having an impact on their day-to-day work and current job responsibilities. Almost half of respondents answered that they did not know what LawTech was before answering the survey.

Litigation funding: the future of commercial disputes or an inappropriate form of disputes financing?

As you start the third year of your university degree (law or non-law), you are one step closer to reaching your legal career aspirations. There are lots of things to be doing at this crucial time. Here is a checklist to help you stay organised in your final year.

Nearly 33% of partners at firms with 50 or more lawyers are “actively considering an initial public offering” (IPO) within the next 18 months.

Is there anything you can't say online?

There are four main things that all recruiters want to see on application forms and you should make sure you're covering all of these before you hit send. 

Having to start from square one and do the next training contract cycle all over again can be so tough. In this video I explain four things I wish I told myself when I was going into the next training contract cycle.