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International Edition

Shearman London office keeps on all bar one of September qualifiers

Shearman & Sterling has become the first firm in the City to announce its September retention rates, with the US firm set to retain 11 of its 12 of its qualifying trainees. Shearman has offered 11 positions to its September qualifiers, equating to a retention rate of 92%. All trainees who were offered a job accepted the offer.
2 minute read

International Edition

Bar regulator puts forward plan to double barristers' CPD hours

Barristers could see their required continuing professional development (CPD) hours doubled following a review by the Bar Standards Board (BSB). The BSB opened a consultation today (6 June) following a 16-month review, with issues up for debate including a recommended rise in the required number of CPD hours for barristers from 12 to 24 per year.
2 minute read

International Edition

An interview for a training contract at Muttley Dastardly LLP

Eva Braun, Matt Muttley's PA, elegantly dressed as always in a tailored black suit and high heels, led a young man into the Partner's Boardoom and seated him at the opposite end of the long boardroom table. He had a brown paper bag over his head. Dr Erasmus Strangelove, director of Psyops, Strategy and Education, looked up from his iPad 2, which held the applicant's curriculum vitae and the security clearance report provided by a leading specialist security firm, and put his first question.
5 minute read

International Edition

Should blogging (and even tweeting) be allowed to count for CPD hours?

Yesterday's article by Alex Aldridge on Guardian.co.uk - Why barristers balk at the 'box-ticking' of continuing professional development - has sparked a furious (well, furious-ish) debate in the comments section and Twitter over whether legal blogging and tweeting should be included in barristers' compulsory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours. My view is that legal blogging, and possibly even legal tweeting, should be included in CPD, and currently the former almost certainly is. But this may change soon if the Bar Standards Board's (BSB) proposals are accepted, cutting blogging out of CPD completely. This is a bad idea, for reasons I will explain.
8 minute read

International Edition

College of Law set to cut up to 20 jobs following staffing review

The College of Law has confirmed that it has launched a redundancy review, with 20 full-time roles at risk of being cut. The college began the consultation last week (26 May), with the cuts set to affect tutor staff members. The redundancies come on the back of a staffing review which found that some of the college's eight centres were overstaffed, with others understaffed.
2 minute read

International Edition

Student research ranks Oxford ahead of Cambridge as top uni law faculty

The University of Oxford has emerged as the top-ranked university law faculty according to a major study of student perceptions carried out by Legal Week's research arm, with the institution ranked 'excellent' by significantly more of its students than its nearest rival, the University of Cambridge. Legal Week Intelligence's 2011 Law Student Report, which surveyed more than 3,700 law students at leading UK universities and Graduate Diploma in Law course providers, found 78% of Oxford students rated its teaching as 'excellent', with Cambridge University placing second, with 69.5%.
3 minute read

International Edition

US law firms score high marks for London vacation schemes

Three US firms have been rated among the best vacation scheme providers in the UK market, with Legal Week research also seeing Allen & Overy (A&O) identified by students as the most prestigious global law firm for the second year running. The Legal Week Intelligence 2011 Law Student Report saw Latham & Watkins and Baker & McKenzie take the top two spots for UK vacation schemes, with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton coming in fourth place behind Ashurst.
3 minute read

International Edition

Blog a job - can an online presence enhance your career prospects?

If you asked for a show of hands in your average law school class as to what type of online activity people took part in, you would get a near 100% affirmative answer for Facebook. For Twitter, the number would be far smaller, and the number of students with a blog might be negligible or even non-existent. These activities might be useful when it comes to making plans with friends – many peoples' social lives are helped by the ease of communication that social networking enables – but in the search for a job, are we all doing everything we can to secure 
that elusive training contract 
or pupillage?
6 minute read

International Edition

University of life - introducing young people to a life in law

From court tours to career workshops, a trio of City firms are backing an initiative to introduce more students to the world of law. James McCreary outlines the impact Career Academies UK can have on teenagers' futures
2 minute read

International Edition

Herbert Smith and A&O mull TCs for staff in Belfast nearshoring bases

Herbert Smith and Allen & Overy (A&O) are both considering offering training contracts to legal assistants employed at their Belfast nearshoring ventures. Herbert Smith is looking at whether it should offer training contracts to some or all of the 10 legal assistants it employs in Belfast to provide lower-cost support to the litigation practice. The firm is yet to make a decision on whether or not it will introduce the route to qualification in Northern Ireland.
2 minute read

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