UK inflation has risen, house prices have fallen, train ticket machines are charging customers significantly more than online retailers and Apple has taken Samsung’s place at the top of the smartphone market. Find out more in this week’s commercial news round-up.

In recent years the four Inns of Court have dished out millions of pounds in awards.

Will the final implementation of the Companies Act 2006 mean the law is now clearer and more accessible?

The majority of courses are delivered in two stages. 

The majority of courses are delivered in two stages. 

Twenty law firms and organisations have now been granted alternative business structure status, which allows legal services providers to be owned and/or managed by non-lawyers and operate in conjunction with other services.

The Co-operative Group's announcement of its intentions to create 3,000 jobs in the legal sector is the latest and clearest sign that alternative business structures are set to have a big impact on the legal profession.

City law firms are considering an additional requirement that candidates will need to gain some “City-specific” training on top of passing the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) when the new ‘super exam’ comes into effect.

The aftershocks of Carillion’s collapse are still being felt a month on, not least by its former employees. Magic circle firm Clifford Chance has taken on Carillion’s in-house legal team, saving the jobs of around 60 specialist paralegals. 

Operation Early Dawn has been reintroduced to ease prison overcrowding in the north of England, following the sentencing of rioters who engaged in violent unrest across parts of the UK earlier this month. 

A midlands firm, Talbots Law, has recruited nearly 100 staff to expand its business.

Leading regional firm Coffin Mew has completed its merger with Charles Lucas & Marshall. 

New alternative business structure entrants to the legal profession are winning a lot of business through major affinity and partnership deals with non-legal companies, a report has revealed.

The government should not abandon access to physical courts in its drive to digitise the justice system because of the impact it would have on the poorest in society, leading judges and academics have warned.

Co-operative Legal Services has announced that it will apply to the Solicitors Regulation Authority to become an alternative business structure on 3 January 2012.

The new Level Four Higher Apprenticeship in Legal Services is now open for registration.