Global Law Firm Leaders Conference

4 Government Officials on Faculty

U.S. Attorney’s Office, S.D.N.Y.; OFAC, U.S. Treasury; FBI;

and Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), U.S. Department of Commerce

Accelerating Change Engulfs the Modern Law Firm

Geo-Political, Economic and Business Headwinds Including War in Israel and Ukraine
Globalisation vs. De-globalisation:

Perspectives from U.K., E.U. and U.S.

Internal and External Challenges to the Law Firm Business Model
Succession Planning and Leadership Transition
Is More Consolidation a Necessary Consequence of Market Conditions?
Climate, Sustainability and ESG as Client Business Opportunities

Organized by

Fully Subscribed Last 10 Years!

Key Themes of the 2023 Conference:

How will the wars in the Ukraine and Israel affect U.K. and European economics and law firm economics?
Leadership is key to success. Change and uncertainty has never been more pervasive than in 2023.
Does global growth and expansion mean growing in the U.S.?
Are law firm mergers here to stay? While the merger of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling is moving forward; in recent years, many firm leaders have been hesitant to pull the trigger on mergers.
“Law firm leaders need to balance risk and opportunity”* With demand and productivity declining, firms need to right-size their legal service delivery and minimize cost.
Working from home is here to stay. One survey suggests 86% of lawyers prefer working from home.* Focus on where, how and when we work in office and in home settings is of great importance.
U.K., U.S. and European firms are all struggling with the economic downturn. Global firms are building on uncertain and confusing growth signals. The attraction of global growth is a major part of the modern law firm messaging.
Increased cost of capital and rise in interest rates have a definite effect on profitability.

Is Bigger Better?

For international practice, the answer may be yes. The leading global firms depend on diversity of practice areas and diverse teams in diverse locations. This differentiates global firm strategy from regional and local geographic strategies. Medium size firms may still have growth and cost advantages.

Programme Highlights:

09.00 – 14.00

PANEL 1: Accelerating Global Complexity and Change: The Modern Law Firm Leader

State of the Global, UK and EMEA Markets. Impact of wars in the Israel and Ukraine on U.K. and European firm economics
Impact of Regionalisation vs Globalisation and the geopolitical landscape – can a firm be truly global? What does 2024 hold with key elections to come in US, EU and most likely the UK, India and Taiwan? What have been the learnings from the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Israel conflagration?
Banking on Change – what is the impact for firms and clients if we see a seismic shift from easing to tightening of liquidity?
As the market shifts, how are firms building resilience and adaptability to navigate through the complexity and challenges ahead? Will A&O Shearman lead to more consolidation across the market? How are global firms managing risk?
Is the billable hour dying or dead: What other business models are working

PANEL 2: PURPOSE, CULTURE AND RESPONSIBILITY

Navigating stakeholder expectations in complex environments is never easy but how are law firms rising to that challenge? How can you balance the plethora of ESG expectations and is the right focus on E, S and G? How authentic are leaders seen by their clients and teams? Can the industry do more to show the lead? How do you ensure that the narrative and the behaviors are aligned?

PANEL 3 – AI AND LEGAL TECHNOLOGY – WILL GENERATIVE AI REVOLUTIONISE THE LANDSCAPE FOR LEGAL SERVICES? WHO WILL HAVE THE UPPERHAND?

How fast will Generative AI revolutionize the legal market? Where will the impact be seen first? Who will drive the changes across the legal sector – clients, law firms, legal tech or big tech? What will the shape of the future law firm be? The role of leadership in driving change? What will hold firms back? How will the lawyers of tomorrow be trained and developed? In a world of Generative AI and Data, what will be the differentiating skills and capabilities for leading lawyers and GCs?

Panel 4 – Talent – attracting, retaining and developing the future leaders of tomorrow?

24 months since the pandemic, with a market slowdown in several areas and technological disruption advancing at pace, how are firms responding? Will hybrid and flexible working survive? What are the new “good’ and “bad” habits that firms and their people have developed? What will be the essential skills of the future and how can law firms create the environment and culture that can successfully challenge to attract, retain and develop the talent? Why is the progress on DEI still so slow – particularly on disability, ethnicity and social mobility? How can the pace of change be accelerated?

Panel of Leading Chairs, Partners, Corporate Counsel and Advisors

Florian Becker, Partner, Head of Noerr London, Noerr PartGmbB, Berlin

Arun K. Birla, Second Managing Partner, Paul Hastings LLP, London

Mark Blakemore, Chief Operating Officer, Freeths, Manchester

Adrian Cartwright, Global Senior Partner, Clifford Chance LLP, London

Kevin Doolan, Partner, Strategy Four, London

Cian McCourt, Partner, Arthur Cox, Dublin

Catherine Goodman, Practice Innovation & Knowledge Counsel, Paul Hastings LLP, London

Chris Holt, Chief Finance Officer, Linklaters LLP, London

Professor Dan Hunter, Executive Dean, The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College, London

Carrie J. Fletcher, Research Fellow, London Business School Leadership Institute, Affiliate Instructor, Harvard Law School Executive Education, London

David Koschik, Partner, White & Case LLP, New York

Adil Lalani, Managing Director, Macrae, London

Matthew Layton, Senior Adviser – Consultant, FTI Consulting, London

Robert Maddox, International Counsel, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, London

Charles Martin, Senior Advisor, Macfarlanes LLP, London

Lisa Mayhew, Co-Chair of the Firm, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP, London

Phil Muller, Director, EMEA Legal Services, Williams Lea, London

Ijeoma Okoli, Director, Digital Economy Initiative, London

Jeroen Ouwehand, Partner; Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Lead, Clifford Chance, Amsterdam

Jeroen Plink, Founder, Legal Tech Hub, New York

David Rodin, Founder & Chair, Principia Advisers, London

Kathryn Roberts, Chair, Eversheds Sutherland LLP, London

Peter Scott, Managing Partner, Europe, Middle East and Asia, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, London

Chris Seaton, Senior Partner, Burges Salmon LLP, London

Edward Sohn, Head of Solutions, Factor, Belfast

Lisa Hart Shepherd, Chief Executive Officer, Lamp House Strategy, London

Jack Tomlin, Executive Director and Head of City Tenant Advisory Group, CBRE, London

Filippo Troisi, Senior Partner, Legance - Avvocati Associati, Rome

Jae Um, Founder & Executive Director, Six Parsecs, New York

Penelope Warne, The Senior Partner, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, London

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT: CPE, CPD, US CLE have been applied for.

About Sandpiper Partners, the Organiser

Lynn Glasser, the President, has organised the last 15 Annual Global Law Firm Leaders Conferences and has planned more than 1,500 events for legal and business leaders of law firms and companies. Sandpiper Partners is an educational and consulting firm with deep experience producing “business of law” and substantive law educational events, surveys, publications and solutions for law firms. www.sandpiperpartners.com.