Latest in law: how to stay on top of legal news

Resources to help law students keep abreast of the industry

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Photograph: Alamy

The legal industry is constantly shifting. From firm mergers, to court cases, to the fluctuation as laws are broken and made, not a single day goes by without a legal issue hitting the press. It’s therefore vital for legal professionals to stay on top of these developments.

The ability to not only be aware of these changes but to analyse them, form an opinion and pitch that opinion against top legal minds in interviews is invaluable for law students. Figuring out where you stand on various issues is the easy part; the difficulty is keeping on top of the changes as and when they happen. The trick is knowing where to start:

Law-specific digital publications

This includes the online resources that are dedicated solely to legal happenings, including Legal Week, Lawyer Monthly, Legal Cheek, The Law Society Gazette and The Lawyer Portal blog section, for example.

You’ll also find that most national publications with an online presence will feature a law section, reporting on the latest legal news stories.

A useful free tool is Google Alerts, which allows you to receive email notifications when articles on your chosen topics of interest (eg Brexit, Clifford Chance, law interview tips) are released.

It can also be useful to schedule a 30-minute slot once a week of law section Googling time. Sifting through all the big legal news stories of the week, you’ll be able to gauge which are good interview conversation topics, and which are best left to the qualified experts.

Using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn

News feeds ease the trawling process. By following relevant users and pages – the social media of aforementioned outlets, for instance – you can get the gist on the bus ride to campus.

A handy Facebook trick is changing your news feed options so that you can see various pages’ new posts first. Click “following” on any useful pages and select “see first” under “in your news feed”.

A number of law firms now post updates on Instagram, such as @forstersllp, @irwin_mitchell and @insidetaylorvinters, to name a few. The Lawyer Portal (@thelawyerportal) also releases a fortnightly Instagram story, the 60 Second Legal News Round-Up.

Radio shows and podcasts

Finally, a relatively simple way of acquiring legal affairs knowledge is by simply tuning in to law-specific radio programmes. Among the most useful is Radio 4’s Law in Action, which broadcasts 12 times a year.

Presented by Joshua Rozenberg, the show engages in a “lively, jargon-free but rigorous analysis of the legal news stories in, behind, and ahead of the news”. You can also listen to the Law in Action podcast, which has a number of available episodes ready for your next revision break.

You can find more podcasts to sharpen your legal knowledge on our list of recommendations.

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