This is a working agenda and subject to change.
10 October 2023, London
Agility in a Disrupted World
09.00
Welcome and Chair’s Opening Remarks
Alessandra Almeida Jones, Global Director of Marketing and Communications, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
09.15
Keynote Address – The Changing Legal Landscape
A leading commentor will set the scene by exploring the latest trends in the legal market, including the impact of digitalisation, ESG, hybrid working models and rising geopolitical tensions.
09.45
Panel Discussion: Dealing with Disruption
This panel of law firm leaders and senior marketing executives will draw on the keynote and the findings of a survey of practitioners to ask how marketers are adapting to a fast- changing and disrupted environment. What are the key challenges and opportunities? What should teams be doing now to position themselves for future success
Reign Lee, Head of Strategy, Van Bael & Bellis
10.15
Break
10.45
Panel Discussion: The Managing Partner’s Perspective
A panel of law firm leaders will discuss the challenges and opportunities they face, and how they are positioning their businesses to meet them.
11.15
Panel Discussion: Thought Leadership in Action – A Professional Services Marketing Dialogue
Hosted by Source
Truly great thought leadership cuts through the noise and grabs the attention of busy professionals. How? That’s a question law firms have spent decades trying to crack. This session will ask how law firms and other professional services firms are meeting this challenge head on and explore that most pertinent of questions: how to win work.
Paul English, Director of Marketing Advisory, Source
11.45
Special Focus: Technology in Action – How Tech is Reshaping the Legal Profession
How can technology drive business forward? What technologies are essential for law firm growth, which focus on marketing and BD efforts, and which are just costly distractions? Where does generative AI fit into both law firm services and marketing/BD. This session will explore these questions with the help of experts at the cutting edge of this fast-developing field.
Andrea Miskolczi, Europe Director of Innovation, Dentons
Jamie Wallis, Head of Marketing & BD, Law, DLA Piper
12.30
Lunch
13.30
Crisis Management Workshop
We all hope for the best but need to prepare for the worst. Leading experts in crisis management and brand protection will identify the most dangerous threats and advise on how to combat them, followed by smaller-group workshops in which delegates will explore how to tackle a crisis as it unfolds.
14.30
Panel Discussion: How to Strategically Showcase Your Firm’s Experts
Hosted by Kidd Aitken
How and why should law firms recognise their talent? Where should this fit into their overall strategy? How important is D&I? And succession planning? We’ll hear from leading experts on the importance of showcasing talent at the strategic level while looking at case studies and real-life examples of how to implement effective structures and protocols to achieve this.
Crystal Lo, Senior Business Development Manager, Strategic Projects, Herbert Smith Freehills
15.15
Case Study: How to use a CRM system to measure success in law firm BDMC activities
Cleary Gottlieb’s Andrew Gordon will share how a three-year project to change the firm’s CRM software that launched in May 2023 is transforming how success in business development, marketing and communication (BDMC) activities is measured.
Andrew Gordon, Director of Marketing & Business Development, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
15.45
Coffee and Tea Break
16.15
Panel Discussion: The Impact of New Ways of Working on Business Development and Internal Engagement
Hybrid working has become the norm. This places new challenges on marketing teams, both in terms of attracting and developing talent, but also when it comes to effectively working with lawyers and other business colleagues. Internal engagement has become more challenging, even as it becomes more crucial as a means of maintaining the firm’s culture. This panel will explore all of these themes.
Tina Gandesha, Director of Business Development, Marketing & communications, Baker McKenzie
16.45
Panel Discussion: The Client’s View
17.15
Panel Discussion: What Does It All Mean?
Members of the editorial board will convene to discuss the key lessons from the day.
Alessandra Almeida Jones, Global Director of Marketing and Communications, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Mike Beswick, BD, Marketing and Communications Director, Taylor Wessing
Silvia Van Den Bruel, Marketing & BD Director, Hausfeld
17.45
Closing Remarks
Alessandra Almeida Jones, Global Director of Marketing and Communications, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner