Legal Cheek
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Legal Cheek was founded in 2011. It has grown to become the UK's leading news source for junior lawyers and law students and has been described by The Sunday Times as a Popbitch for lawyers and The Telegraph as an irreverent, must-read tabloid law website. Each month their combination of news, analysis, career advice, and insider insight on the leading law firms and chambers operating in..
Legal Cheek
14h ago
‘Exclusionary spaces do not foster support between colleagues’
The Garrick Club, London – credit Ricardalovesmonuments/WikiCommons
The Bar Council has added its weight to the ongoing debate about The Garrick Club and its judge and barrister-laden membership.
Chair of the Bar Council, Sam Townend KC, has issued a statement on The Garrick Club and the position of its legal members, following a debate last week about the prevalence of judges and senior barristers within the exclusive clubs membership.
“At the heart of the Bar Council’s work, as the representative body for all barristers in Engla ..read more
Legal Cheek
20h ago
New TC option
Trowers & Hamlins has launched a new innovation seat for trainees, following similar moves by a host of other major law firms.
Starting from April this year, Trowers’ trainees will have the chance to undertake a six month stint with the firm’s innovation team, enabling them to contribute to the firm’s innovation strategy while enhancing their technical skills through the use of various legal tech and AI tools.
Training at the outfit, which takes on around 28 trainees each year on a starting salary of £45,000, is divided into four six month seats. Alongside working in the fi ..read more
Legal Cheek
20h ago
New scholarship
Amal Clooney: Credit WikiCommons
The University of Law (ULaw) has teamed up with Amal Clooney and her charity, the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ), to create a new scholarship fund specifically designed to support aspiring human rights lawyers
The funded scholarship, dubbed The Amal Clooney Scholarship for Human Rights Advocates, will offer the winner a fully funded place to study a postgraduate course with the law school giant.
Applicants for the new scholarship will need to “demonstrate a commitment to supporting and defending human rights”, ULaw said.
The recipient can ..read more
Legal Cheek
20h ago
Weekly round-up of the top legal blogosphere posts
If uni marks are going up, does that mean there’s a problem? [The Conversation]
Victims’ false expectations [A Lawyer Writes]
The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill and the Judicial ‘Disapplication’ of Statutes [UK Constitutional Law Association]
Why has LinkedIn become so weird? [The Guardian]
Scotland’s pound shop Stasi [The Spectator] (free, but registration required)
Women in prisons deserve better [The Critic]
New legal challenge aims to restrict private gender clinics for teenagers [NewStatesman] (free, but registration req ..read more
Legal Cheek
2d ago
Previously 50%
Gowling WLG has become the latest law firm to adjust its office attendance policy, increasing the minimum requirement from 50% to 60%.
The “small but important change” comes nearly three years after the firm trialed a variety of flexible working initiatives as part of scheme dubbed Agile+. Options included allowing lawyers to adjust their start and finish times, compress their working weeks, and allocate up to 50% of their time to work from home.
Gowling has now confirmed that “legal teams” will be required to spend at least 60% of their time in the office, with firm chair And ..read more
Legal Cheek
2d ago
Legal Cheek readers call for cheaper fees, better exam rooms, past papers and more
Since Legal Cheek exclusively revealed last week that law firms were rescinding training contract offers from students who failed the SQE on their first attempt, social media has been flooded with criticism of the solicitors’ assessment.
With this in mind, Legal Cheek took to its busy socials to ask its law student and lawyer followers: how do you think the SQE can be improved?
It’s evident from the responses we received that the cost of the exams is a source of annoyance. One lecturer and solicitor took to Li ..read more
Legal Cheek
3d ago
Building a personal brand? Christianah Babajide tells us how to utilise social media for this purpose
In today’s digital era, social media has become more than a platform for memes and cat videos; it has evolved into a powerful tool for young legal professionals to shape their careers. For aspiring lawyers, LinkedIn stands out as a pivotal platform offering vast opportunities for networking, personal branding, and career advancement.
Let’s delve into how future lawyers can harness LinkedIn effectively while navigating its nuances.
Building a brand with purpose
LinkedIn serves as a canv ..read more
Legal Cheek
3d ago
Needs SRA approval for law firm work
A paralegal who misrepresented his legal qualifications to his former law firm has been barred from working in the solicitors’ profession.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) found that Guillaume Kitumaini, “on his admission”, misled Manchester-based outfit firm Bexley Beaumont by presenting it with a “candidate profile/CV stating that he had obtained an LLM qualification with a merit”, despite not having done so.
According to the published notice, Kitumaini further misled the firm when it questioned him about the accuracy of the information provide ..read more
Legal Cheek
4d ago
Apparently mimicked TV character
A judge has been issued with formal advice after allegedly telling a barrister to “chill out”.
The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) said that the unnamed barrister had complained that His Honour Judge Nigel Gerald had apparently behaved in a “rude and aggressive manner” towards him.
The complaint also included the allegation that the judge told him to “chill out” and that he had “mimicked him [the barrister] in the style of a character from a television sitcom”.
The investigation that followed noted that while not all the allegations were made ou ..read more
Legal Cheek
4d ago
Personally liable
A new report authored by a group of leading barristers has warned companies and their directors about potential legal consequences should they cause harm to the environment.
The opinion, written by specialists from 4 Stone Buildings, Maitland Chambers, and 39 Essex Chambers, offers advice on the potential risks and liabilities for both companies and their directors in an increasingly climate conscious world.
In relation to companies, the report notes an array of possible impacts on operations and supply chains, exposure to civil claims, issues of regulatory compliance, repu ..read more