The Commerce & Industry (C&I) Group is pressing ahead with plans to launch a support group for in-house banking lawyers in the City.

The industry body for in-house lawyers is currently in the early stages of developing the support group, which it hopes to officially launch at the end of the year.

The group will provide lobbying, support and training for in-house banking lawyers currently under pressure to hit budgets and maintain headcount in the wake of the global economic meltdown.

The group is being launched by David Kemp, the vice-chair of the group's London arm.

The news comes three years after the C&I Group officially launched its mentoring scheme, which saw 25 senior in-house lawyers sign up to help junior lawyers with career advice and development support.

In-house counsel from organisations such as Nestle UK, Carillion, 3i, RWE and BEA Systems are participating in the scheme.

The C&I Group was formed in 2001 by a group of in-house lawyers and represents in-house counsel across the UK, working closely with The Law Society.

The banking group currently has 412 members in London from 64 international organisations.

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