Is working from home here to stay?

On 8 June 170 guests from 72 law firms attended the eighth annual LawCareers.Net Training & Recruitment Awards (the TARAs).

Welcome to the next topic in this series, where I attempt to make commercial awareness content for non-law students like myself.

Browne Jacobson LLP (alongside PwC) tops the UK’s Social Mobility Employer Index for the third time, with magic circle law firms Slaughter and May, Linklaters LLP and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP also featuring in this year’s top 10. 

White & Case LLP recently published a 100% retention rate for its trainees who are due to qualify in September, bringing the firm’s overall retention rate for 2024 to 87%.

Nearly 80% of UK employers have a gender pay gap that favours men in 2022-2023.  

BARBRI has announced the innovative funding initiative, BARBRI Bridges, to support and enhance diversity inclusion and wider access to the legal sector.

The Times recently released its Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality list, with the likes of Addleshaw Goddard, TLT LLP, Linklaters LLP and DWF Group Limited, among other law firms, named on the list.

The Windrush Legal Initiative, a pro bono advice scheme, has been relaunched in an effort to support more victims of the Windrush immigration scandal. 

Recent research suggests that nearly half of the top 200 UK law firms have won business directly through social media engagement, though fewer than a quarter of these have so far integrated social media into their marketing strategies.

Three US law firms are among the top five earning legal practices for UK corporate work, researchers at The Lawyer reveal, stating that the figures demonstrate further “Americanisation” of the UK’s legal market.

Magic circle rates held especially strong with 94% of newly qualified (NQ) solicitors at Linklaters (47 out of 50) accepting roles, while Allen & Overy revealed that 92% (34 of 37) of trainees are staying on post qualification.

Major law firms including Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Herbert Smith, Linklaters, Norton Rose, and Slaughter and May have pledged their support for a new work experience project designed to boost social mobility in the legal profession.

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. 

New research has revealed that privately educated lawyers still make up the majority of legal professionals at the country's top 20 law firms.

International firm Norton Rose Fulbright will introduce a new hybrid working policy, allowing staff to work remotely for up to 50% of the time once the pandemic has passed. Linklaters and Taylor Wessing have also introduced agile working strategies. 

The Social Mobility Foundation has opened applications for its 2014 programmes, including law, which provide young people from less privileged backgrounds with free mentoring, skills development, internships and support with university applications.