God complexes, gatekeeping and more On Instagram, Legal Cheek recently posed a (controversial?) question to its nearly 100k followers: what are the worst law student traits? It’s no secret that law students don’t tend to be the most beloved on campus, but we were curious to know how law students really feel about each other; *sips tea*. Outside of the more far-fetched complaints in the comments, (apparently law students “can’t park for sh”) we’ve created a list of the five top peeves as decided by Legal Cheek’s Insta followers. 1) Ego Coming up trumps in the comment secti ..read more

Weekly round-up of the top legal blogosphere posts Against rights radicalism [The Critic] The triumph of Katharine Birbalsingh [The Spectator] Angela Rayner: which election law has she been accused of breaking and is her promise to resign a mistake? [The Conversation] What can you tell jurors? [A Lawyer Writes] Can a trademarked mascot drink, smoke, and spray graffiti under the banner of artistic expression? [IPKat] Case focus: What does the ECHR’s landmark ruling mean for climate change? [Legal Cheek] Spying on Parliamentarians [UK Constitutional Law Association] Michaela school will keep i ..read more

Make your mark with these essential strategies courtesy of legal marketing specialist Christianah Babajide Navigating the legal world as a Black woman presents unique hurdles, from subtle biases to overt discrimination. However, it is evermore possible to thrive in these spaces than it was years ago, thanks to the progress made in diversity and inclusion efforts. In this guide, Christianah Babajide outlines key strategies to empower Black women in legal environments. “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive.” — Maya Angelou Know your worth Research has shown that et ..read more

‘Lawrence’ scored 74% on mock test The London law firm that created an ‘AI paralegal’ capable of passing part one of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) has received £9.5 million of investment from Google. Lawhive, founded in 2021, hit headlines last November when it’s AI-powered paralegal successfully completed SQE1, scoring 74% on the multiple choice sample questions available on the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s website. The bot, dubbed ‘Lawrence’, successfully answered 67 of the 90 multiple choice sample questions, despite struggling with what the firm said were issues with “complex ..read more

Trialing more formality amid safety concerns Judges sitting in the Central Family Court will don their robes during hearings as part of a trial to see if more formality is needed in the family courts. The trial began on Monday this week, and comes after growing concern about “incidents of violent and threatening behaviour experienced by judges and other court users”, HM Courts and Tribunals Judiciary has said. Wigs won’t be worn however, and lawyers will not be expected to wear robes. The 2024 Legal Cheek Chambers Most List As part of the trial, a survey will be conducted to assess if r ..read more

Law training experts join influencers, academics and mental health charity leader at Legal Cheek’s annual in-person conference From top left to bottom right: Patrick McCann, Chair of City of London Law Society Training Committee; Aikanah Robinson, Legal Cheek AI Ambassador; Jane Robson, CEO at the National Association of Licensed Paralegals; Lucy Dolan, Early Talent Manager at Gowling WLG; James Catchpole, Associate Professor and Head of Professional Programmes at City, University of London; Omotayo Anifowoshe, ‘The SQE Babe’ legal influencer; Elizabeth Rimmer, Chief Executive of LawCare; Meg ..read more

Jailed last year after trying to buy drugs from clients Henry Hendron A barrister who was handed a 14-month prison term after trying to buy drugs from his clients has failed in an appeal against his sentence. Henry Hendron was sentenced last year after admitting to three counts of intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence and one count of possessing a class A drug. “The facts of this case are unique. It is to be hoped that remains the case,” the Court of Appeal began when considering Hendron’s appeal. The court noted “two features of this case which are both unusual ..read more

No binding contract, judge finds A former trainee solicitor has been unsuccessful in her attempt to recover the costs she incurred in preparing for and sitting the Solicitor Qualifying Exam (SQE) from her former firm. Sophie Ashley began her employment at London firm Grayfords in August 2021 as a paralegal. In October of that year, she was offered a training contract by the firm’s senior partner, Sheata Karim, who also agreed that the firm would cover the SQE examination fees, provided that she continued to work at the firm for a period after qualifying. The duration of this period was to be ..read more

Told they’d failed SQE1 when actually they’d passed Students who had their training contract offers rescinded are among those hit by Kaplan’s SQE1 marking error, Legal Cheek can exclusively reveal. Yesterday, we reported that 175 students, who were initially informed they had failed either Functioning Legal Knowledge 1 and/or Functioning Legal Knowledge 2 (the two parts of SQE1), had actually passed those assessments. Both Kaplan and the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) apologised for the extraordinary blunder, attributing it to a rounding error in the calculation of the final scores. B ..read more

56% successfully navigated latest sitting News that the percentage of students passing SQE1 has risen slightly is unlikely to quell anger over a significant exam blunder by Kaplan which led to 175 students being told they had failed, when they had in fact passed. The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) latest statistical report looks at the results of students who sat papers in January this year. Of the 6,061 candidates who attempted the exams earlier this year, 56% passed. This is a slight increase on the previous sitting where 53% were successful, higher again than last January which s ..read more