Agenda

Monday 9 March

8.30am  Registration

9.20am  Opening remarks

Speaker
Georgina Stanley, editorial director, Legal 500

9.30am Panel 1

10.25am The expanding GC portfolio – from legal leader to business operator

Exploring the GC’s evolving remit across everything from risk and compliance to ESG, AI and public affairs – how to position yourself for wider responsibilities and manage cross-functional teams effectively

Speakers
Simon Edwards, commercial partner, Trowers & Hamlins
Clare Wolley, chief risk and legal officer, RAC
Craig Duff, GC, Keyloop
Kelly Young, GC, MOO
Alison Beveridge, director of legal compliance & company secretary, Mulberry England

10.50am Coffee Break

11.15am Roundtable Breakout Sessions

Ethics and AI: Fairness, Transparency, and Bias in Decision-Making

A practical discussion on fairness, transparency, and bias in AI-driven HR, legal tech, and corporate governance. Ethics and AI – From Recruitment to Decision-Making A practical discussion on fairness, transparency, and bias in AI-driven HR, legal tech, and corporate governance.

Speaker
Victoria Robertson, commercial partner, Trowers & Hamlins

ESG Enforcement: The GC’s Role in Driving Integrity and Accountability

Speakers
Ben Stansfield, planning and environment partner, Gowling WLG
Sean Adams, commercial disputes partner, Gowling WLG

12.10pm Leading the legal team through business transformation

Managing your legal team through transformational businesss events like turnarounds, mergers or leadership changes. Lessons on maintaining morale, performance and credibility through difficult times.

Speakers
Ian Lopez, M&A partner, Fried Frank

1.00pm Lunch

1.50pm So you’re GC – now what? How to lead effectively, influence with impact and keep calm

Navigating leadership and self-assurance when you’re the most senior legal voice in the business: the management skills every GC needs to develop and how to build influence with the C-Suite

Speakers,
Laura Field, SSQ
Nicki Schroeder, group GC, Reach
Lesley Wan, founder & CEO, The Eagle Club
Mark Maurice-Jones, general counsel & compliance officer, Nestle

2.30pm How to have a difficult conversation with your external law firm advisers

3.00pm Roundtable Breakout Sessions

How To Get Global Deals Done: M&A Trends and Comparisons Across Europe, the UK and the US

As dealmaking evolves on both sides of the Atlantic, GCs are increasingly required to navigate different M&A realities in the UK, Europe and the US. This roundtable will explore how current market trends are shaping transaction activity including where deal momentum is building, where it has slowed, and what this means in practice for execution, risk, timing and certainty.

3.50pm Coffee Break

4.10pm Panel 6

4.50pm Closing remarks 

Speaker
Georgina Stanley, editorial director, Legal 500

5.00pm Networking Sessions

7.00pm Drinks Reception

8.00pm Gala Dinner

10.00pm Networking drinks

Tuesday 10 March

8.15am Registration

8.40am Opening remarks

Speaker
Georgina Stanley, editorial director, Legal 500

8.50am Breakfast Fireside Chat: Taking the bull by the horns: the proactive approach to mitigating UK compliance risk

As the UK regulatory landscape grows ever more complex and burdensome, the risks for businesses of sitting back and waiting for an issue to arise have increased. Penalties can be severe, and the reputational damage could prove even more costly. Breaches cause challenges for GCs at all levels of experience, and even a ‘near miss’ can take up a lot of time, energy and resource to resolve.
Learn first-hand from two GCs the methods they’ve adopted to:
    • identify and understand the biggest UK compliance risks their businesses face;
    • stay ahead of the game as those risks evolve; and
    • most effectively champion compliance within the company.

Speakers
Sarah Ward, competition partner, Walker Morris LLP
Daniel Quy, general counsel and director of compliance and ethics, Royal Mail
Alex Ohlson, general counsel, Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I

9.25am Geopolitics and business risk – Trump, tariffs, and trade

Practical strategies for managing sanctions, tariffs and political shocks while safeguarding business continuity.

Speaker
Bernardine Adkins, of counsel, EU, trade and competition, Gowling WLG

10.05am Supercharged Counsel: AI’s Impact on the In-House Role

AI is rapidly transforming how in-house legal teams are structured, how they work, and the value they deliver. This session explores what “AI for legal” means today—where it’s driving real impact, where it’s falling short, and how leading teams are redesigning workflows with automation. Panelists will share concrete case studies, ROI metrics, and governance approaches to ensure responsible use without sacrificing accuracy or confidentiality. We’ll also look ahead to how AI reshapes legal’s identity: the evolving skills lawyers need, the human value that remains essential, and how GCs can shift from cost center to strategic architect.

10.45am Coffee Break

11.05am Roundtable Breakout Sessions

Actionable steps to help your business manage CMA risk

A CMA investigation is one of the most significant challenges a GC can face. The authority’s powers of investigation are wide-ranging and can include dawn raids on business premises, or even on the homes of directors or staff. Should an infringement be found, the consequences can also be significant, including large fines and follow-on litigation.In this session, we’ll share effective strategies to help you protect your business from the risk of such an investigation. You’ll come away understanding: the CMA’s latest areas of focus, its enhanced powers of investigation, and the compliance measures it expects from businesses. This is an interactive session, and we’d welcome your questions at the end. We’ll leave you with practical tips to help you start the process of assessing and managing your biggest CMA exposures and risks.

11.55am Is the Hourly Rate Obsolete? AI’s Role in the Next Legal Evolution

As AI accelerates legal productivity, long-standing billing models are being challenged. This session explores whether the hourly rate still has a place in an AI-enabled world, how much efficiency law firms should be passing on to clients, and what can GCs do to push for more transparent, outcome-focused value from their legal providers.

12.35pm Lunch

1.20pm KEYNOTE: Sarah Wynn-Williams, former Facebook (Meta) exec and author of New York Times bestseller – Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

2.15pm Crisis Leadership for GCs: What to Do When It All Goes Wrong

Legal’s role in a reputational corporate crisis — real-world lessons from GCs who’ve led through litigation, data breaches, and ESG scandals.

2.55pm Fireside Chat

Speaker
Ben Stansfield, partner, planning & environment, Gowling WLG

3.25pm Managing your in-house career: where next after GC?

Considering a career after legal? What should you be thinking about and when if you want to take on a wider business role like COO, CEO or NED?

4.00pm Closing Remarks

Speaker
Georgina Stanley, editorial director, Legal 500