The glut of employment law over recent years has had a major impact on lawyers in several ways.

From the perspective of specialist practitioners, it means a welcome upswing in work.

For law firms' employees, it means greater rights, although some of the legislation, such as the Working Time Directive, has had little impact; for law firms as employers, it means a lot more care needs to be taken in the way they deal with their staff.Last week, we reported on widespread ignorance of the National Information and Consultation Directive, which comes into effect next March and will require firms with more than 150 employees to set up and consult staff work councils.

And the interrelated issues of work/life balance, billing targets and flexible hours will not go away until properly addressed.Two recent high-profile employment tribunal cases involving salaried women partners suing City law firms - one won by the women and the other settled but only after a hearing that caused awkward publicity for the firm - have highlighted the fact that the legal profession is far from immune to issues of workers' rights.

And there is also the suspicion that an 'old boys' culture still pervades much of the City.It is against this backdrop that the Gazette this week launches Career Brief (see pages 37-38), a weekly section giving lawyers as both employers and employees news, legal updates and advice relevant to working in the profession.

One would hope that lawyers, of all people, would be on top of many of these issues.

The reality, it seems, is different.