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10 February 2021
Issue: 7920 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Diversity
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Join the #10000BlackInterns

Law firms, legal businesses and chambers have been urged to join the #10000BlackInterns initiative, which aims to broaden career opportunities for Black people in the UK.

Recent supporters include family chambers 4PB as well as Matrix, Keating, Littleton, QEB and the Law Society and Bar Council.

The programme aims to offer paid work experience across 20 sectors, including the law, to create a sustainable cycle of mentorship and sponsorship to promote Black talent. It will begin in the summer of 2022 and aims to run for the next five years, providing 10,000 internships.

Furhana Mallick, manager at 4PB, said: ‘In order to bring about real change, we need to commit to ensuring a pipeline of diverse talent and to ensure doors are opened to the legal profession for people from all walks of life.’ 

Among solicitors, 3% identify as Black (the same average as the wider working population) but just 0.5% of partners at the largest firms are Black.

Issue: 7920 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Diversity
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Ling Ong, London Market FOIL

NLJ Career Profile: Ling Ong, London Market FOIL

Ling Ong, partner at Weightmans and president of London Market FOIL, discusses her biggest inspirations, the challenges of AI and the importance of tackling unconscious bias

DWF—Imogen Francis

DWF—Imogen Francis

Director and head of IP team joins in Birmingham

Penningtons Manches Cooper—five promotions

Penningtons Manches Cooper—five promotions

Firm boosts partnership and costs practice with five senior promotions

NEWS

From blockbuster judgments to procedural shake-ups, the courts are busy reshaping litigation practice. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School hails the Court of Appeal's 'exquisite judgment’ in Mazur restoring the role of supervised non-qualified staff, and highlights a ‘mammoth’ damages ruling likened to War and Peace, alongside guidance on medical reporting fees, where a pragmatic 25% uplift was imposed

Momentum is building behind proposals to restrict children’s access to social media—but the legal and practical challenges are formidable. In NLJ this week, Nick Smallwood of Mills & Reeve examines global moves, including Australia’s under-16 ban and the UK's consultation
Reforms designed to rebalance landlord-tenant relations may instead penalise leaseholders themselves. In this week's NLJ, Mike Somekh of The Freehold Collective warns that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 risks creating an ‘underclass’ of resident-controlled freehold companies
Timing is everything—and the Court of Appeal has delivered clarity on when proceedings are ‘brought’. In his latest 'Civil way' column for NLJ, Stephen Gold explains that a claim is issued for limitation purposes when the claim form is delivered to the court, even if fees are underpaid
The traditional ‘single, intensive day’ of financial dispute resolution (FDR) may be due for a rethink. Writing in NLJ this week, Rachel Frost-Smith and Lauren Guiler of Birketts propose a ‘split FDR’ model, separating judicial evaluation from negotiation
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