HM Revenue and Customs and Carillion Advice Service have both separately announced the expansion of their legal apprenticeship programmes, as legal apprenticeships continue to take off among law firms and companies’ in-house legal teams. 

The big news from this week has to be Sports Direct founder (and all-round nice guy) Mike Ashley snatching up troubled department store House of Fraser mere minutes after it announced its collapse into administration last Friday morning.

The World Cup may well be taking a lot of your time and energy at the moment – and fair enough – but spare a thought for concerned pub and bar owners worried that the shortage of CO2 in Europe could mean a lack of beer and food during what is a very lucrative trading period. The horror. For other commercial news of interest, read on.

The BLD Foundation (BLD) recently held a reception at the House of Commons to raise awareness of the need to increase diversity in, and access to, the legal profession.

Nearly 19,000 students graduated with law degrees from universities in England and Wales in 2021 – the highest number on record – while the number of firms in England and Wales fell to a record low.

Everyone knows that aspiring lawyers are not expected to be ready-made economists, but they should have a solid understanding of how the business world is moving and which stories are impacting the world more broadly.

The number of in-house lawyers will have grown much further by 2020, while technological advances could mean a legal profession with fewer solicitors and more paralegals and computers, a landmark report by the Law Society has predicted.

This post recounts the tale of Goldilocks, a mischievous little girl who gets herself into trouble with a family of bears by breaking into their house. What some see as nothing more than a children’s story is actually an overview of the legal system.

European law firm Fieldfisher has launched a two-week legal work experience programme aimed at candidates who are from underrepresented backgrounds in the legal profession. 

As summer draws to an end, that ‘back to school’ feeling is certainly lingering. Why not top up your commercial awareness before returning to university next month? This week’s commercial news round-up covers a variety of business news stories you should know about.

News just in this morning about House of Fraser’s decision to close nearly half of its stores is shocking; not just for the 6,000 jobs that will be lost, but for what it signifies for high street retailers generally. Among other locations, the company’s flagship Oxford Street store will close, presenting as it does an “existential threat” to the rest of the company. Yikes. For a flavour of other business news, cast your eye over this selection.

If commercial awareness means keeping up with the latest commercial news stories affecting law firms and businesses, then there can be no more timely news than that of the Brexit mayhem currently taking place.

DWF Group Limited partner Sarah Mir speaks about her work in catastrophic injury insurance, why she was drawn to this area of the law and the array of opportunities at DWF. 

Why do private equity houses invest where they do?

Is too much red tape preventing the UK drone industry from flying high?

Is current inheritance tax legislation fit for purpose? And can we expect to see change?

Jeremy Hunt considers scrapping the non-domiciled tax status and property sales are forecast to rise. Plus, BBC Verify has raised concerns about how car insurance quotes vary between areas and crypto firm Gemini has agreed to return $1.1 billion to customers following a settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Find out more in this week’s commercial news round-up.