2020 Agenda

13th October, 2020

11.00 BST

Welcome to delegates

Conference chairs: Terri Pepper Gavulic, Chief Business Officer, TerraLex

Moray McLaren, Partner, Lexington Consultants

11.10 BST

Keynote: Law firm trends, changes and what it takes to come out on top

Lisa Hart will open the day by sharing the latest research from Acritas Thomson Reuters on the current state of law firms including the early indications of the impact of Covid-19.

Lisa Hart Shepherd

Vice President of Research & Advisory Services, and Founder of Acritas Thomson Reuters
11.30 BST

Building your business during a crisis

The crisis has made law firms think more creatively about the services they provide to their clients. As they apply the Covid lens to threats and opportunities, where are the blind spots and where and how should they shift their focus? Richard will focus on what law firms should be doing to strengthen client relationships while laying the foundation for growth when the rebound happens.

Richard Macklin

Partner, Global Vice Chair, Global Client Partner, Dentons
11.55 BST

Panel Session: Managing Partners’ Forum

What next for law firms and their BD and Marketing teams?

Building upon the insights of the keynotes, this interactive session will assess how Managing Partners from a range of different types of firms view the impact of the pandemic.

  • What are their priorities?
  • What do they expect from their Marketing and BD teams given the circumstances?
  • What are they tasking them with?
  • How are they equipping them?

Moderator:

Moray McLaren

Partner, Lexington Consultants

Panellists:

Joan Roca

Chair, Roca Junyent

Maria-Pia Hope

Managing Partner, Vinge

John Kettle

Head International and Client Relations Partner, McCullough Robertson
12.45 BST

Lunch Intermission

13.45 BST

Panel Session: Marketing Masterclass: The Clients Speak

How to engage with clients during a pandemic.

  • How has the relationship changed?
  • What do clients need?
  • What activities cut through the noise?

Some law firms have gone into marketing overdrive – pumping out marketing materials and endless webinars – while others are rightly concerned about damaging valued relations. With clients more open than usual to new thinking and new relationships, communication is, however, subtly changing – becoming more personal and authentic whilst the importance of trust has never been higher.

Moderator:

Dr. Catherine McGregor

Catherine McGregor Research, Author of Business Thinking in Practice for In-House Counsel

Panellists:

Banke Odunaike

Head of Legal EMEA CBRE

Lesley Wan

General Counsel, FBN Bank (UK)

Luci Ingram

General Counsel, Utility Warehouse
14.30 BST

Building your business in the COVID-19 era?

This session focuses on building your business during a crisis. We will hear from heads of BD and marketing from a range of firms what they are doing to restructure and refocus their departments in a world without personal interaction.

  • How to update clients and offer services without annoying them?
  • Is Zoom the answer or are clients now bored with webinars?
  • How to network into new and virtual contacts and generate new business opportunities?

We will also be reviewing the skills required to build trust over videoconference and how to pitch virtually – what works and what needs to be avoided.

Moderator: 

Katie Dignan

Partner, Lexington Consultants

Panellists:

Laura Canudas

Director of Marketing and Business Development, Cuatrecasas

Anne Macdonald

Partner and Head of Business Development, Harper Macleod; Chair IBA Law Firm Management Committee BD and Marketing Group

James Batham

Partner, Head of Retail Eversheds Sutherland

Gary Assim

International Partner, Retail and Intellectual Property & Creative Industry Groups, Shoosmiths
14.55 BST

BD Express: Why lawyers need to learn to sell – and how to help them enjoy it

Anne Marcotty

Founder & CEO HIghNetWork, Founder and Managing Director SWAM & Co.
15.15 BST

Ensuring a place at the table: Influencing skills for business professionals

BD and marketing professionals are increasingly acting as business leaders, driving  innovation around clients and markets, pricing and profitability. But despite their increasing investment in BD, law firms can still remain a difficult environment for marketing professionals. Many firms are willing to pay the high salaries now required, but fail to listen to the advice given.

The panel will explore the challenges of BD and marketing professionals at all stages of their careers and how to ensure they can have a voice at the top of the organization.

Moderator:

Moray McLaren

Partner, Lexington Consultants

Panellists:

Stephen Revell

Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Consultant, Making Change Happen

Matthew Fuller

Head of Business Development, Americas & EMEA, White & Case

Matilde Mello Cabral

Chief Operating Officer, Abreu Advogados

Michelle Michaels

Chief Marketing Officer, Hinshaw & Culbertson
16.00 BST

Intermission

16.15 BST

BD Express: Business Creativity

Alessandra Almeida Jones

Director of Marketing, Baker & McKenzie
16.30 BST

Dealing with a crisis? How to prepare for the unexpected

Geraldine McGrory

Owner, McGrory Communications

Joe Lynam

Presenter & Correspondent, BBC
16.50 BST

A view from the States

 

Moderator: Terri Pepper Gavulic

Terri Pepper Gavulic

Chief Business Officer, TerraLex

Panellists:

David Byrne

Director of Client Teams and Market Strategy, Mayer Brown

Anne S. Gallagher

Director of Global Communications, Jenner & Block

Kellie Mullins

Director of Public Relations, Sidley Austin
17.15 BST

Insights from the Day: Moray McLaren and Terri Pepper Gavulic

Achieving the possible: How BD and marketing become change-agents

Moray McLaren, Partner, Lexington Consultants; Møller Institute, Cambridge University

Within law firms, implementing even the basics of BD and marketing can be  challenging. Strategy papers can sit in bottom drawers gathering dust and partners´ business plans are sometimes never written or written and then forgotten. Persuading lawyers to pull in the same direction on such important initiatives as Key Account Management (KAM) or sector teams can be equally frustrating. But what is the problem here: lack of motivation, knowledge and skills? Or is the challenge around discipline, accountability or mis-aligned financial rewards?

Which battles can be won and which to avoid? Moray McLaren will explore the enablers and barriers to organizational change in law firms and the central role of BD and marketing professionals as change agents during the current crisis.

Moray McLaren

Partner, Lexington Consultants

Terri Pepper Gavulic

Chief Business Officer, TerraLex
18.00 BST

Conclusions and Closing

18.15 BST

Networking and Social Event

Participants and panel members share their learning from the conference during an interactive networking session with table moderators.

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