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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.

One of the oldest legal advice centres in the country has been given a boost by taking advantage of the new path to qualifying as a solicitor by employing six apprentices.

The suspension of office working under lockdown has helped improve the mental and physical health of disabled lawyers, research has indicated.

Female solicitors undergoing the menopause have expressed concern about the impact it can have on meeting their billing targets, with firms urged to do more to understand the symptoms and their effects.

Solicitors from lower socio-economic backgrounds take around 18 months longer to reach partner at major City law firms than those from higher ones, a major study has concluded.

The early signs are that the performance of Bar students in last month’s controversial exams was “broadly in line” with the average, the Bar Standards Board said yesterday.

Students could save as much as £38,000 when qualifying as a solicitor following the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination next September, a report has estimated.

The decision on whether to approve the Solicitors Qualifying Examination has been delayed amid a call from groups representing more than 4,000 legal academics to reject it.

City giant Hogan Lovells has endorsed the launch of a charity’s government-backed advice line to help employers support staff experiencing or at risk of domestic abuse.

The Australian state of Victoria has launched a review into sexual harassment in the legal profession following a “deeply disturbing” survey that found that a majority women had faced it.

Demand for partners who specialise in white collar crime will increase just as dramatically after the pandemic as it did after the financial crisis in 2008, a report has predicted.

The number of chambers delaying pupillages that were due to start this month or next is likely to have a knock-on effect on the supply of places until 2022, the Bar Standards Board said today.

A will-writing business was entitled to fire a member of staff who accidentally left a message on a potential client’s voicemail about getting drunk and littered with swear words, a tribunal has ruled.

The Bar Standards Board has launched a pilot reverse mentoring scheme, in which Bar students and junior barristers from BAME backgrounds mentor senior White barristers.

Law firms and in-house teams have done “tremendous work” in improving their approach to diversity and inclusion and should now aim for “cultural equality”, a leading general counsel has said.