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Chambers should conduct race equality audits and, if necessary, introduce “positive action” to address the problems identified, as well as publish anti-racist statements, the BSB is set to say.

Some of the measures used by law firms to tackle a lack of gender diversity in senior roles could be “ineffective or even counter-productive”, a report has found.

Four-fifths of legal aid lawyers have experienced stress as a result of the pandemic, with more than half of them blaming longer working hours, according to a survey.

A global law firm is trialling a workflow app developed by one of its associates, who says it could save City practices up to £6m a year by making work allocation more efficient.

Law firm Shakespeare Martineau has become the first major business to sign up to a ‘Fair Redundancy Pledge’ to be transparent on their redundancy programmes for this year and beyond.

The new way of qualifying as a solicitor, including passing a centralised, two-part examination, will go live from 1 September 2021 after the Legal Services Board approved the reforms.

Almost a quarter of women in the profession have not seen their incomes return to pre-Covid levels with one in five still on less than their previous working hours, a survey has found.

A City solicitor who agreed to lower wages during lockdown has failed in his claim for full pay for his last month after handing in his notice.

General counsel have become so insistent in demanding that law firms give them Black candidates for secondments and legal work that they are in danger of draining them of Black talent.

Bullying, discrimination and harassment at the Bar is perceived to be tolerated “to a certain extent” due to its “adversarial, male-dominated culture and competitive nature”, new research has found.

A solicitor working in-house at a leading insurer has won his claim for unfair dismissal. But had it followed the correct procedure, the dismissal would likely have been justified, the tribunal said.

Flexible resourcing pioneer Obelisk Support has launched a new paralegal service for law firms and in-house teams, with plans to add 500 full-time paralegals and junior lawyers to its talent pool.

A niche law firm which advises on employee share ownership and executive pay has become the latest to convert to an employee ownership trust.

Bonuses for managers could be made contingent on improvements in social mobility and the representation of minority ethnic people in law firms, it was suggested yesterday.

Positive action – such as giving female barristers preferential access to briefs after returning to chambers from career breaks – can help address diversity problems, the Bar Council says.