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  • April 17, 2008 |

    City firms renew lobbying and step up local hiring as Indian Bar reform stalls

    A delegation of City lawyers headed to India this week as partners predict further delays in opening up the legal market to foreign firms while the country prepares for a general election. Talks about liberalising the legal sector are set to take a back seat as the Indian Government looks at prioritising wider issues such as poverty and infrastructure.

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2008 |

    Minority students struggle to get a foot in the door at top firms

    Ethnic minority and female students are still struggling to make their way into the UK's top law firms, comprehensive new research has found, despite attempts by commercial practices to tackle diversity. The annual Legal Week Intelligence Law Student Survey has found that while 25% of Legal Practice Course (LPC) students are from ethnic minorities, just 18% of training contracts are being taken by those from ethnic minority backgrounds.

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2008 |

    Budding lawyers give A&O the thumbs up for work experience

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has been voted the UK's most popular firm for students and graduates looking to become a solicitor, according to new research. Sixty-four percent of more than 1,400 students and graduates polled rated A&O as 'excellent' and said that the firm provided the best work experience and internships, in the survey by graduate jobsite targetjobs.co.uk.

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2008 |

    Duck the downturn

    Legal Week's career clinic recently received an anxious message from a newly-qualified corporate associate at a US firm. No doubt having heard stories of the gruelling hours put in at such firms, the associate expressed surprise - and concern - that they were not exactly run off their feet. "I am concerned that the lack of work coming into the department will mean that heads will start to roll and I may be picking up my P45 sooner or later."

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2008 |

    Commentary: Q1 deal market sees predictable gloom but holds the doom

    The first quarter of 2008 ends with few surprises or cheer for deal lawyers. Glancing at the deal leagues, M&A activity fell substantially on both value and volume measures to levels last seen during the quieter moments of 2004. As expected, North America and Europe bore much of the brunt of that slowdown and big-ticket private equity deals pretty much vanished. According to Mergermarket, leveraged buy-outs constituted seven of the 10 largest deals in the first half of 2007 but not a deal so far in the largest bids of 2008.

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2008 |

    Remember me!

    As president of the University of Sheffield's Edward Bramley Law Society, I have been the student coordinator for law firm events and sponsorship for the past year. This has put me in a good position to weigh up the balance between students trying to impress the law firm and the law firm trying to impress us.

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2008 |

    Brave new world

    The Government has bold plans to allow systemic change to the legal profession through the Legal Services Act. This is vital to know about at interview, and crucial in understanding what shape the law firm of the future will take, says Derek Bedlow

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2008 |

    Online special: Partners hail gay initiatives

    More than 90% of leading lawyers believe the profession has improved its record on supporting gay staff, as highlighted by a number of law firms recently launching their own lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups. Emma Sadowski reports

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2008 |

    High society

    What are student law societies for? Free booze or good career advice? Paul Evans reports on the sometimes debauched, sometimes serious world of university law societies

    1 minute read

  • April 16, 2008 |

    High society

    The eminent legal historian and Harvard professor Morton Horwitz described the law as "an odd profession that presents its greatest scholarship in student-run publications".

    1 minute read