LGBT rights charity Stonewall has named nine City law firms as top employers for their commitment to employment equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans staff. The law firms make up more than half of the total shortlist, which named 17 organisations in total.

On 1 May the largest ever merger in the UK legal services market went live, with CMS UK, Nabarro and Olswang joining together to create a new super-firm

The University of Law’s Employment Promise is now offered to its LLM Legal Practice and Business School students. The promise will see students receive 100% of their course fees back if they do not secure a job nine months after completing their course.

Reed Smith has agreed to become the first law firm to place all of its work experience opportunities on www.GoThinkBig.co.uk, an initiative which aims to make thousands of diverse work experience opportunities available to anyone with access to the Internet.

The gender pay gap has widened, with female lawyers earning roughly a third less than their male colleagues, a Law Society study of 2012 pay levels has revealed.

Leading civil liberties and legal aid firm Hodge Jones & Allen hosted Year 12 Students for a discussion about careers in the access-to-justice side of the legal profession earlier this month. 

A £1 billion court modernisation programme aims to save £250 million a year and cut thousands of jobs, consultation papers sent to judges and magistrates have revealed.

LawCareers.Net and The University of Law have teamed up to launch a series of virtual events to kickstart student's legal careers.

A new podcast by the First 100 Years project has launched its first episode in a series of 10 which will explore the history and achievements of women in law, decade by decade.

The three regulators who were the prime movers behind the Legal Education and Training Review have dismissed the suggestion of setting up a formal Legal Education Council, instead preferring to refer to their commitment to "greater collaboration".

The legal healthcare charity LawCare’s review of 2012 has reported that stress issues continue to be the most frequent reason that lawyers call its helpline.

Kaim Todner, an eminent London criminal defence firm, is to close this month.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP is set to recruit its first solicitor apprentices in September 2025, joining Linklaters LLP and Allen & Overy LLP as the third magic circle law firm to embrace this alternative route. 

The support charity LawCare has recently published its review of 2013, revealing that almost one in five lawyers complaining of stress are being bullied in the workplace.

Central Applications Board figures leaked to The Lawyer have revealed that LPC take-up has plummeted across the market, with most providers experiencing a double-digit decrease in students.

Two mergers went live on 1 February. Howard Kennedy and Finers Stephen Innocent have rebranded to become HowardKennedyFsi following their merger, while Oxford firm Henmans has merged with leading regional firm Freeth Cartwright to become Henmans Freeth.

John Latham has joined The University of Law as its provost and CEO, following previous roles at Laureate Education Inc and Russell Group universities.

In a recent report, Shoosmiths found that 82% of in-house senior lawyers expect to increase spending on legal disputes over the next three years.

As reported in Legal Week, Norton Rose has joined forces with Sponsors for Educational Opportunity in order to encourage more black and ethnic minority individuals to sign up for its summer vacation scheme.

CMS will be offering 95 training contract places in the coming recruitment year, making it the second-highest training contract provider in the UK.