Radical changes to firms’ approach to flexible working, improvements to parental leave and new mentoring and sponsorship programmes should be made top priorities to improve gender equality in the legal profession, according to women on the frontline.

Birketts LLP, a full-service law firm with office locations across the East of England, London and the South East, eyes plans to develop its international practice by using its City office as a “springboard”. 

The family justice minister has demanded an urgent review into the government’s legal aid cuts after a report by the children’s commissioner revealed that vulnerable children were being denied legal representation and access to their rights.

The SRA is set to begin granting its first alternative business structure licences in early 2012, now that the House of Lords has approved legislation regulating the disclosure of criminal convictions for non-lawyer owners of ABSs.

Trevor Sterling, a personal injury solicitor at Moore Barlow, has been elected as the first Black senior partner at a UK top 100 law firm.

Last week the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced that 20 Nightingale courtrooms, across nine venues, will remain open this year to tackle the huge number of outstanding cases. 

The University of Law has revealed its plans to reopen all its UK campuses for staff and students in September.

The lord chancellor has announced that criminal legal aid solicitors working in police stations and youth courts are due to receive a pay increase to reflect the “critical role” they play in “ensuring access to justice”. 

The digital court reform programme is designed to transform the UK’s justice system and how it operates.

The Legal Education Foundation (TLEF) is offering 19 trainee solicitor posts at leading social justice organisations across the UK, as part of its early 2022 Justice First Fellowship (JFF) scheme.

Addleshaw Goddard, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Hogan Lovells have made it into the Times' Top 50 Employers for Women list.

New research has revealed that almost half of the 85,000 partners and employees working in the top 50 UK law firms are now on LinkedIn, the professional networking site.

The Bar Standards Board has questioned the appropriateness of allowing wannabe barristers more than a single attempt at passing the soon-to-be-implemented Bar course aptitude test.

Boris Johnson’s landslide general election victory has in the words of the prime minister confirmed Brexit as the “unarguable decision of the British people”, but uncertainty for businesses remains due to questions left open about his withdrawal agreement, City firms have warned.

Slater & Gordon will close its London office after announcing that remote working will become the norm for its almost 2,000 staff once lockdown restrictions are lifted.

Legal aid firms are being urged to claim a potential £100 million in unbilled fees as they try to weather the effects of the coronavirus crisis, a minister reported in early May.

The Law Society has published its Annual Statistical Report, which seems to suggest that the pressure on practising solicitors is beginning to show.

The University of Law in Hong Kong has welcomed its first official cohort as students at the campus begin their part-time and full-time GDL courses.

The Bar Standards Board has agreed to change parental leave rules to enable all self-employed barristers to take leave, regardless of whether their spouse or partner has also done so.

DWF has been named one of The Times Top 50 Employers For Women for the second consecutive year.