As recent changes to the law move to reflect wider society's growing embracement of diversity and LGBT equality, more lawyers are making LGBT rights part of their practices.

Leicester-based legal advice charity The Community Advice and Law Service has become the first not-for-profit organisation to establish an alternative business structure.

The University of Law has announced that it will be running the Bar Professional Training Course at its Leeds centre from September 2016.

Following on from publication last week of the Lammy Report on racial bias in the British criminal justice system, the chair of the Bar Council’s Equality and Diversity and Social Mobility Committee has responded by saying that report makes an important contribution to the “urgent task of securing a fair and equal criminal justice system”.

Junior lawyers are being invited to apply for a short-term scheme with the High Court of England and Wales to assist judges with family and civil court cases.

As part of the Sound Off For Justice campaign, three London black cabs have been transformed into mobile ‘sound-off’ booths in which residents of the capital can speak out against the government's plans to cut legal aid.

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.

After setting up a £150 million funding pot, DLA Piper has become the biggest City law firm to join the third-party litigation financing market.

Almost constant disagreements between the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Law Society may mean there is a need for a change in the rules governing the two regulators’ relationship, the Legal Services Board has said in its latest consultation. 

Lord Neuberger, president of the UK Supreme Court, has said in an interview with the BBC that legal aid cuts could make people feel they cannot access justice and then "take the law into their own hands".

Many firms offer to pay their future trainees’ PGDL and SQE fees if they’ve been recruited at undergraduate level. 

The BBC’s legal apprentice programme is running again after a successful launch in 2014 – the corporation is currently seeking three apprentices to join its London offices and one apprentice to join its Salford site.

Legal Week reports that the Legal Services Board (LSB) has authorised the introduction of an aptitude test for those seeking a place on the BPTC.

Top London chambers One Pump Court is introducing mandatory “anti-oppression” training for all members.

Some 20% of current legal roles are likely to be lost to the progress of automation and artificial intelligence over the next 20 years, the Law Society’s research unit has predicted. 

The University of Law (ULaw) and the University of Sheffield have announced a proposed partnership which would see ULaw deliver the Russell Group institution’s postgraduate vocational law courses.

International firm Hogan Lovells has joined the DiversCity mentoring scheme, the first programme specifically designed to provide informal support to LGBT students who aspire to a career in City law.

Professional support charity LawCare has released its annual statistics from 2015, revealing that it received just over 900 calls to its helpline, made by 496 individuals.

The Modern Law Awards last week honoured the chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives, Diane Burleigh OBE, for her lifetime of achievements in the legal profession.

UK top 50 firm Pinsent Masons has revealed its latest partner promotions, which have enabled the firm to meet its target of women making up at least 25% of its partners by 2018.