News

Law schools report rise in pro bono work as public turn to student-staffed clinics for legal advice
Most popular areas include employment, family and housing

BARBRI strikes SQE partnerships with Sussex Uni and national paralegal group
Tie-ups come as regulator defends super-exam’s MCQ format

Addleshaw Goddard cuts 19 lawyer roles following consultation
Redundancies in real estate team

Top commercial chambers rally to save criminal pupillages cancelled due to pandemic
Group follow Keating's lead in offering emergency funding for training spots

Lambo lawyer loses legal fight to keep ‘offensive’ number plate
Cops seize controversial ‘LGOPNR’ reg

Majority of SRA investigations involve male solicitors
92% of individuals struck off in 2018/19 were men, new report finds

Travers Smith restarts lawyer salary reviews and increases pay
Business services and support staff salaries remain frozen

Litigation, crime, property, immigration are legal sectors hardest hit by pandemic, report finds
But the likes of tax and employment are growing
Monday morning round-up
The top legal affairs news stories from this morning and the weekend

Don’t just give SQE trainees ‘repetitive admin tasks’, regulator warns law firms
SRA seeks to protect rookies qualifying under new regime

Baker McKenzie tells lawyers to keep Wednesdays meeting-free to ‘combat Zoom fatigue’
And 1-2pm on other work days

Best of the blogs
Weekly round-up of the top legal blogosphere posts

Clifford Chance restores NQ lawyer pay following COVID cut
Exclusive: £100k package returns

Virtual student event TODAY: An afternoon with Mayer Brown’s London managing partner, Sally Davies
Friday 11 December, 2pm to 4pm, taking place virtually

Prioritise terminally ill during COVID vaccine roll-out, urges Pinsent Masons comms chief
Fred Banning has stage four bowel cancer

More law firms pay back furlough funds
DAC Beachcroft and Bevan Brittan follow host of City firms in returning government cash

Virtual student event TODAY: Exploring the challenges and opportunities for Black lawyers in the COVID-19 age — with Shearman & Sterling
Thursday 10 December, 4pm to 5pm, taking place virtually

Clifford Chance ditches ‘Dear Sirs’ and ‘Chairman’ in inclusivity push
Magic circle player calls time on gendered language in legal correspondence following similar moves by Freshfields and Quinn Emanuel

Underpaid, stressed and bullied: Experiences of BAME solicitors laid bare in new report
Law Society research compares experiences of black, asian and minority ethnic solicitors with white counterparts

Home-working: 3 out of 4 solicitors experiencing feelings of isolation and lack of motivation
Cracks beginning to show in WFH model, particularly among juniors, report finds

Starts Monday: The Legal Cheek Winter Virtual Vacation Scheme
Monday 14 December to Wednesday 16 December