Agenda 2023

Conference Chairperson's Opening Remarks

Professor Stephen Mayson – Honorary Professor of Law, UCL (Event Chairperson)

Legal Services: The Last Ten Years and the Next Five

Professor Stephen Mayson – Honorary Prof. of Law, UCL

• Client experience will be at the heart of legal delivery
• Strategising vs. being strategy-focused
• The Future yet to come; what does this mean for consumers.

Tangible Realities in Current and Future Disruptions - Perspectives from a Futurist

Eric Hunter – Global Futurist, Head of Innovation Futures

• Navigating Ongoing Evolutions in AI
• Spatial Computing - Leveraging what's next in Augmented Reality
• Understanding Quantum's current role in High Performance Computing
• Macroeconomics: Evolutions in Global Supply Chains.

Stage Break

PANEL DISCUSSION: The View From The Regulators

Juliet Oliver – Deputy, CEO, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Mark Neale – Director General, Bar Standards Board
Diane McGriffen – Chief Executive Officer, Law Society of Scotland
Matthew Hill – Chief Executive Officer, Legal Services Board
David McNeill – Director of Public Affairs, The Law Society
Professor Stephen Mayson – Honorary Professor of Law, UCL (Chair)

• The trends & issues that the legal services regulators see relating to:
• Money-laundering, economic crime & sanctions enforcement
• Public risk, practice risk & ’acting in the best interests of the client’
• Implications for professional ethics & the rule of law
• The essence (& challenges) of being a lawyer in the 21st century.

The Big 4 in Law

Stuart Bedford – UK Head of Law, KPMG
Nicola Brooks – Partner, KPMG Law, Head of Legal Operations & Transformation Services
Professor Stephen Mayson – Honorary Professor of Law, UCL (Event Chairperson)

• The future of the legal services market and the role of the Big 4
• Unique competitive advantage and value proposition
• Centralising client proposition
• KPMG’s approach to diversifying innovation & commoditisation.

Stage Break

Keynote Presentation: Creating a High-Performance Culture in a Complex and Rapidly Changing World

Matthew Syed – Journalist at the Times, Media Personality & Former Table Tennis #1

• Overview of growth mindset, how people think & conceptualise success and where high performance comes from
• What does a fixed or growth mindset look like & how these different mindsets affect & drive different behaviours & organisation performance
• Different attitudes to failure & how creating a learning mindset & culture drives continuous improvement
• How leaders’ thinking & behaviours can encourage or suppress collaboration, innovation & growth
• The importance of psychological safety in order to increase learning
• How leaders can drive the right culture & behaviours to foster growth mindset to drive higher levels of performance.

Keynote Audience Q&A

Matthew Syed – Journalist at the Times, Media Personality & Former Table Tennis #1
Professor Stephen Mayson – Honorary Professor of Law, UCL (Event Chairperson)

Chairperson’s Closing Remarks

Prof Stephen Mayson – Honorary Professor of Law, UCL (Event Chairperson)

• A summary of the issues & opportunities presented on The Crown Stage.

Stage Close

Chairperson’s Opening Remarks

Christina Blacklaws – Managing Director, Blacklaws Consulting (Stage Chairperson)

Navigating Risk in the Age of Generative AI

Henry Ajder – Generative AI Expert & Technology Broadcaster, Ajder Advisory

• Why deepfakes & generative AI are revolutionary technologies
• The different ways GenAI is being used maliciously
• What specific risks & opportunities GenAI presents for the legal field
• Solution approaches to GenAI risks, including legislation & provenance technologies.

Remote Fee Sharing Models and New Breed Firms

Mel Kang – CEO, Mezzle

• Explore how consultant law firms are changing the legal industry
• The growth of market positions
• Improving the lawyer & client experience.

How You or Your External Counsel Can Benefit From a Legal GRC Strategy

Nick Rich – Head of Corporate Engagement, Exterro

• The importance of building a data inventory & retention schedule
• Accelerating the preservation, identification & collection of data
• Keeping data where it's safest - under your control
• Reducing the costs & time to provide your counsel with the evidence they need.

Breaking the Barriers of UK Class Actions – What it Takes to be First-mover

Alicia Alinia – Global Chief Operating Officer, Pogust Goodhead

• The fight for access to justice & the transformation within...
• The evolution of litigation work
• Taking leadership into a digital economy.

How to Optimise Your Legal Firm Using Digital Compliance Solutions

Michael Shaw – Enterprise Business Development Manager, SmartSearch 

• Changing demands in the compliance landscape
• The most recent key challenges legal firms are facing
• Reasons to transition to a digital solution.

Stage Break

Question of Integrity: The Role of Lawyers

Jeremy Barton – General Counsel, KPMG

• The evolving ethical challenges in the practice of law
• Dilemmas inherent in the lawyer-client relationship
• Practical ways to support legal professionals
• How in-house counsel support an ethical ESG strategy.

The Case for Containing, Rather Than Blocking, Ransomware

Jake Machay – Senior Manager, Bullwall 

• What is ransomware containment & how will it change my approach to stopping attacks?
• How does a containment solution complement & enhance the investment I've already made in my security infrastructure?
• How will containment make ransomware attacks an inconvenience rather than a major security operation?

Reputation Risk in a Digital Age

Melissa Davies – Founder and Chief Executive, MD Communications 

• Role of values & culture
• Legal market consolidation - employer brand
• Role of digital in building or breaking a reputation.

Building Systems of Cognition: How we're Building Smarter Business Operations With and Without GenAI

Julia Salasky – CEO, Legl 

• Practical applications of technology in legal workflows - understand how business process automation solutions are streamlining essential legal operations
• Exploring intelligent automation - understand how automation with intelligence is mitigating human error in legal compliance
• The future of legal practice - understand how innovative partnerships with technology suppliers will become the gold-standard for legal service delivery.

Ampa Group – A House of Brands Growth Strategy

Ben Buckton – Group Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ampa (Shakespeare Martineau)
Christina Blacklaws – Managing Director, Blacklaws Consulting (Stage Chairperson)

• A sustainable path to transformation & growth
• Unlocking potential: a people, client & purpose oriented strategy
• Delivering a shared infrastructure, expertise & investment platform
• The UK’s largest legal services B Corp.

The Chancery Stage Wrap-up: All the Highlights & Takeaways From the Day

Christina Blacklaws – Managing Director, Blacklaws Consulting (Stage Chairperson)

Stage Close

Chairperson’s Opening Remarks

Janet Day – Independent Consultant

The Future of Work

Abby Ewen – Technology and Operations Director, Browne Jacobson 

• The challenges & opportunities facing legal IT leaders
• Cultivating a change culture
• Nurturing a digital workforce.

From Automation to Zedonks: Trends Shaping the Future World of Work

Nicola Millard – Principal Innovation Partner, BT

• The future world of work was already being redefined by digital technologies before the pandemic hit. Now, as old and new ways of working collide, we have a unique opportunity to rethink things to make work work for people, productivity & the planet, whilst harnessing the best of both real and virtual worlds.

PANEL DISCUSSION: The Legal Services 'Digital Cockpit'

Harry Clark – Associate, Mishcon de Reya
Nigel Lang – CIO, Fieldfisher 
Nisha Morjaria – Head of Business Innovation, Talbots Law
Dale Hodgkinson – Head of Strategy and Architecture, Slaughter and May
Janet Day – Independent Consultant

• Experiencing law from the inside out
• Emerging technologies that are shaping legal services
• Digital distractions & the impact these have on productivity
• What does this mean in terms of delivery of client services?

Resistance is Futile

Simon Farthing – Commercial & Marketing Director, LexisNexis Enterprise Solutions

• Understanding the barriers to technology adoption
• Harmonising the experience of service delivery
• One size doesn't have to fit all
• If I could only do one thing.

FIRESIDE CHAT: One Wrong Decision

Jas Bassi – Head of Solution Delivery, Gateley
Adnan Malik – Head of Data Privacy , Barings Law

• Data breaches cost UK businesses an average of £3.2m (IBM Security)
• Delve into the threat landscape & the key concerns for legal firms
• Achieving cyber resiliency, whilst powering a secure & thriving hybrid workforce
• Insightful views surrounding the recovery roadmap following a breach
• Moving forward - strengthening cyber defences.

Airing Your (not so dirty) Security Laundry - How Sharing Your Posture with Clients Builds Trust and Reputation, Whilst Making and Saving you Money!

Rob Robinson – Head of Telstra Purple – EMEA, Telstra  

• Hear feedback from Telstra Purple’s security consultants, working onsite with UK law firms & advising them on the right security investments to demonstrate to clients that the highest security standards are followed, whilst enabling partners to focus on customer value and satisfaction
• Understand the drivers for the rise in Security Relationship Managers who represent the law firm in advising new & prospective clients on the investments & practices for protecting customer data – a proven key differentiator for new business wins & also builds long term resilience for your firm.

Stage Break

PANEL DISCUSSION: Leading an Artificial Intelligence Strategy

Joe Cohen –  Head of Innovation, Dentons
Pete Hanlon – Global Chief Technology Officer, Moneypenny
Rachel Broquard – Service Excellence Partner, Eversheds
Shawn Curran – Director of Legal Technology, Travers Smith
Sarah Chipping – Director of Information Technology, Aon

• Elevating Firms through digital transformation & investment
• The Business of law & evolving technology behind it
• The rapid explosion of advanced AI & language models
• Looking beyond law: automation, design thinking & innovation for future lawyers.

Agent of Change, or Agent of Chaos?: De-risking Your Generative AI Adoption

Justin O’Dwyer – Principal Technologist, Objectivity

• AI projects have a high failure rate. Is this because “AI is hard”, or are we just doing it wrong?
• We'll discuss how leveraging existing skills & techniques (plus a little innovation) can help us secure delivery & manage risk
• We’ll describe an approach to unlocking the benefits of Generative AI that focusses on value delivered to the business
• We'll lay out a high-level framework that you can use to kick-start your own Generative AI initiatives.

Turning Data Into Meaningful Insights

Chris Fenton – Head of Data and Architecture, Browne Jacobson

• Identifying business value
• Building confidence with data
• Fostering a data-led culture
• Looking ahead to the future of data & AI.

The Tech Hub Wrap-up: All the Highlights and Takeaways From the Day

Sarah Chipping – Director of Information Technology, Aon
Janet Day – Independent Consultant

Stage Close

Chairperson’s Opening Remarks

Chris Bull – Principal, Edge International (Stage Chairperson)

Intelligent Leadership – How to Capitalise on Increasing Disruption

Ade McCormack – Founder, Intelligent Leadership Hub

• Why the traditional approach to leadership & law firm operating models is ill-suited to an increasingly uncertain world
• Understand the implications in respect of decision making, talent management, risk management & value creation
• How to eliminate the single point of business failure that afflicts many law firms
• How law firms can harness emerging technologies such as Generative AI
• How you can transform your organisation to be more akin to a living sensing highly-adaptive organism & in turn unleash the power of your talent.

Tech Trends Beyond Borders: A Journey Through AI, eDisclosure and Investigations in the UK and EU

Jess Wu  – Strategic Partnerships Manager, Everlaw
Andy Ward – Managing Director – Sandline Global

• Global Technological Trends: Generative AI has demanded our attention 2023, but the global legal industry has been innovating AI tools for years - how are lawyers leveraging established & cutting-edge technology in the UK & EU to stay ahead, & what are some lessons learned from the US?
• Balancing technical innovation & defensibility of process: How has defensibility evolved alongside the new regulatory landscape? How difficult is it for lawyers who use AI to ensure defensibility?
• The new regulatory landscape: Should you fear or embrace it? And is there a need to be "regulatory change proof" with every technology & process decision?

FIRESIDE CHAT: Making Collaboration Look Easy: How Private Practice and In-house Counsel can Face the Future Together

Patricia Alexander  – General Counsel, Tradeteq Ltd
Nicola Jones  – Continuous Learning Expert, Athena Professional

• How to make collaboration between in-house counsel & private practice look easy
• What works
• What gets in the way
• Top tips to achieve your goals.

AI and the Shake up of the Legal Industry

Matthew Leopold – Head of Brand, PR & Content Marketing, LexisNexis UK

• How is AI impacting the legal industry & what do lawyers think about it? It’s not what you think
• This session will unpick the difference between what law firms think their clients want from AI & what in house lawyers are expecting
• Will the efficiencies and opportunities of AI outweigh the perceived risks? We’ll find out. The future of legal AI is one to watch closely.

PANEL DISCUSSION: Can Law Firms Become Sustainability Champions?

Matthew Sparkes – Sustainability Director, Linklaters
Ian Hagg – Sustainability Director, DLA Piper
Amanda Carpenter – Director,  Legal Sustainability Alliance

• Beyond ‘feel good’ - practical business ESG strategies
• Rapid changes in supply chain management & client expectations
• Jargon-busting: Net zero, carbon neutral...
• The changing face of offices; hybrid working models.

Stage Break

PANEL DISCUSSION: The Evolving Role of Legal Operations: Contrasting In-house and Law Firms Views

Cathy Mattis – Digital Change Lead, DLA Piper
Amy Brookbanks – Legal Operations Consultant, AG Consulting
Chris Bull – Principal, Edge International (Chair)

• Client solutions & engagement
• Delivering tangible value & driving efficiency across the board
• What are the emerging roles, technologies & best practices.

Automating KYC

Michael Fitzgerald – Legal Account Director & UK Professional Services, Moody’s Analytics

• Types of automation
• Application of AI
• Applying faster decisions
• Tackling high risk scenarios.

Addressing the Needs of Legal Clients

Paul Crook – NED, Member of the Legal Services Consumer Panel

• Explore the changing needs of the client market
• Elevate legal services through continued innovation
• Understand the need and benefits of greater transparency in the legal services market
• Learn how to adopt a client-focused approach

Confidential Data? - Are You Sure it is Safe When You Send it to Someone?

Simon Pamplin –  CTO, Certes Networks 

• Data protection
• Risk mitigation - GDPR
• Anti-Ransomware
• Data exfiltration
• Quantum computing.

PANEL DISCUSSION: What Will the 2030 Law Firm Look Like?

Jane Livesey – Founder, Dynamic Waves
Nicola Jones  – Continuous Learning Expert, Athena Professional
Eric Hunter – Global Futurist, Head of Innovation Futures
Chris Bull – Principal, Edge International (Chair)

• Mining both highlights & insights from the day & from their latest projects
• Examine what speakers believe the 2030 law firm might look like
• This session will be fast moving & use an action learning model that attendees can learn & apply back in their businesses: powering up the takeaways on offer!

The Operations Stage Wrap-up: All the Highlights and Takeaways From the Day

Chris Bull – Principal, Edge International (Stage Chairperson)

Stage Close

Legal Operations  - The 'Dynamic and Lean' Legal Professional

The expectation of the modern legal professional not only requires an understanding of the law but also an understanding of what customers need so that they can deliver it right first
time, every time. Using an immersive case study, the lean legal entrepreneurial course will
help attendees to understand the principles of lean, creative problem solving and facilitative leadership, all essential skills in the legal profession.

Key ‘takeaways’ from the session:

• Understanding the principles of lean enterprise to deliver value adding services (customer value, process optimisation, level and quality of delivery as demanded by the customer)
• Legal Operations optimisation – blockers and enablers (more for less, people, process, technology, and data)
• Creative problem-solving tools and techniques (defining the problem statement, understanding the causes, solving using divergent and convergent thinking and project
  management)
• The power of facilitative leadership for the legal leader to drive performance (culture, visual management, Gemba walk and Kata questions and measuring what matters.

Led by Mo Ajaz – Founder, LEx360

Stage Break

Intelligent Leadership - How to Capitalise on Increasing Disruption

This highly interactive masterclass builds on the Intelligent Leadership keynote. Whereas the keynote focuses on Why and What, this session will focus on the How.

Key ‘takeaways’ from the session:

• Recontextualise leadership and how this can be applied to your organisation.
•  Capitalise on the expertise in the room. So you are encouraged to share your experiences (Chatham House Rule).
• Develop action plans that will enable you to create a highly adaptive organisation without threatening your existing cashflows.

Led by Ade McCormack – Founder, Intelligence Leadership Hub

Stage Break

Leadership & Practice Management - Challenges Facing Legal Services

With both global and nationally self inflicted economic woes adding further financial and market uncertainty as the legal sector continues to emerge from the pandemic, many law firms and chambers have yet to fully compute what best practice might be for managing their teams to develop their business, satisfying both the client, the firm and the workforce. Rarely has leadership been more crucial but under such pressure from often unfamiliar demands, and manager sat every level need to be aware that their understanding and manner of leadership are critical to the firm’s success.

Key ‘takeaways’ from the session:

• To gauge what impact the “new normal” workplace, client needs and the economic environment have on the management of law firms;
• To consider ways in which management might be optimised
•  To gain a greater understanding of different leadership models, and how
  to develop leadership and an effective culture in the new workplace.

Led by Robin Jackson – Independent Management Consultant