Agenda 2023

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

The forum will hear from a panel of GCs on what they really want from their external counsel. What do law firms do right when marketing to them? What do they do wrong? How does a new firm break through all the noise and become noticed? Just how important is ESG and D&I to them? What are the consequences of not fielding diverse teams?

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

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