Leading Law Firms 2025

Headline Issues for 2025:
Leadership Challenges in this Time of Uncertainty
• Last Year Was Overall Strong: Do Firm Leaders Expect Another Strong Year?
• The New Administration Presents Many Challenges:
How are Firms Addressing The Ever-Changing Government Landscape?
• Culture and Tone at the Top: Leading Effectively in These Challenging Times
• Talent Strategies for 2025:
Recruitment, Retention and Integration of Lateral Partners and All Levels of Associates
• Client Service Priorities:
How Are Firms Using AI for Client Work and for Internal Matters?
• Real Estate Needs: Is RTO the New Normal?

Key Themes of the 2025 Conference:

Leadership is key to success and is more important than ever. We say each year that the leadership challenges have never been greater: that is certainly true in 2025.
One of the clearest challenges are the unprecedented disruptions coming from the new Administration in Washington: Changes in federal programs, challenges to DEI, wholesale removal of career officials. How are firms managing this pace of change?
We are in the third year of Generative AI: will 2025 be more or less disruptive as the use of AI increases? Our panel of experts will discuss short term and long term AI planning and decision making.
Managing lateral movements has become a stable of law firm management for virtually every firm. What are the lessons that law firm leaders have learned after several years of managing rapid lateral acquisitions and losses
Governments around the world are becoming more national focused. Where to grow and where to stay the course? How important are offices outside the US to US-led firms?
Law firm mergers are occurring in every segment of the industry. A merger is challenging but may be right for some firms. What should a law firm leader consider when evaluating a possible merger?
Many clients and now the Federal Government are moving to greater in-office requirements. What have we learned from the implementation of more “RTO” and “hybrid work” strategies?

Hear From Your Peers on These Top-of-Mind Issues

Chairs, Managing Partners and Lawyer Leaders on Faculty

Plus Corporate Counsel, Advisors

Mehdi Ansari, Partner, Co-head Intellectual Property and Technology Group and Artificial Intelligence Practice, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, New York

Barclay Blair, Senior Managing Director of AI Innovation Team, DLA Piper US, New York

Deborah L. de Vries, Partner, Co-Leader – Law Firm Group, Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP, New York

Adam Hakki, Partner, Co-Chair Executive Committee/Board and U.S. Chair, A&O Shearman, New York

Richard F. Hans, Managing Partner, Vertical Operations, DLA Piper LLP (US), New York

Ann M. Kappler, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Prudential Financial, Inc., Newark

Brad S. Karp, Chairman, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York

David M. Kleinhandler, Senior Vice President, CBRE, New York

Anthony A. Licata, Chief Operating Officer, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Philadelphia

Steven D. Lando, Partner, Co-Leader – Law Firm Group, Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP, New York

Peter Martelli, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Nicole Levin Mesard, Deputy Presiding Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, New York

William Perlstein, Senior Managing Director, Vice-Chair, Client Services, FTI Consulting, Washington, D.C.

David C. Rose, Managing Partner, Pryor Cashman LLP, New York

Anjan Sahni, Managing Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, New York

Julie Swidler, Executive Vice President, Business Affairs & General Counsel, Sony Music Entertainment, New York

Program Highlights:

9:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. EST

State of the Market: Law Firm Leaders Outlook
- Outlook for 2025
- Impact of new Administration’s policies on M&A, sanctions, trade, financial services. Unpredictability of policies; new personnel; exodus of career officials: how does this impact ability to serve clients, planning?
- London firms emphasizing growth in U.S.
- Pro bono: are firms concerned about opposing government policies for fear of impact on other practices?
- Partnerships and joint ventures with other service providers…with other law firms
Law Firm Planning and Strategy
- Leadership strategies
- DEI: Will companies follow the Administration to disband DEI programs? If so, what DEI policies will firms enact?
- Hot practice areas; cold practice areas; government hires. Setting priorities for practice group hiring
- Integration and change management
- Risk, crisis and change management
Lateral Hiring, Groups and Mergers and Acquisitions: Shaking Up the Status Quo
- Role of mergers and acquisitions, groups, laterals
  - How to talk to your partners about a merger without precipitating an loss of key personnel.
  - When should firms consider a merger?
  - What are the best opportunities and when is a bad time to consider a merger? What makes the difference in making a merger a success?
- Integration of groups and laterals
AI Issues for Firm Leadership
- Evolving issues, goals, targets
- Model Rules for AI and data protection
- What tools are working and which ones have failed to perform?
- Optimizing client solutions. Working with clients on AI
- Who is involved in firm AI decision making? Partners? Business Executives?
- Preparing and responding to the need for change management
- How to talk to your lawyers about AI use and concerns about risks to lawyers and firm decision makers
- Budget for Technology/AI spend
What Clients Want
- How are clients addressing ever-increasing hourly rates?
- What do clients expect from their firms on AI? What are client concerns and needs?
- How are client relationships changing: e.g., use of multiple firms on a single case to maximize value? Outsourcing and in-sourcing work to reduce costs?
- How are the Administration’s policies on DEI affecting client efforts on DEI?

CLE Credit has been applied for.

Questions? E-mail: ginarivera@sandpiperpartners.com

Phone: 973.278.8800