Practical Law

First year signatories of the In House Pro Bono Pledge met in London on 29 January 2025 to discuss progress. During the roundtable meeting, participants provided advice and shared key learnings on their experience of working towards the goals set out in the pledge. These included the importance of senior level buy-in, how to raise the profile of pro bono in your organisation, how to increase engagement levels in your company, identifying pro bono opportunities, the benefits of partnering with panel law firms and the importance of effective tracking of pro bono work.

This article provides more detail on those key learnings.

Consultations on standardising electronic invoicing, further changes to the public offers and admissions to trading regime and to the UK Listing Rules, and a draft of a new version of the government’s new Strategic Steer to the Competition and Markets Authority are among the key developments this month. The Civil Justice Council has also extended its consultation on litigation funding deadline to 3 March 2025. Read more [subscription required].

A recent Centre for Legal Leadership webinar discussed the unique role of the in-house lawyer. Natasha Doulia, Associate General Counsel at KPMG LLP, shared her experiences from working in a corporate legal department, while Binnie Goh, General Counsel and Director at the Electoral Commission, provided insights from the public sector. Both speakers agreed on the importance of skills such as adaptability, relationship building and effective communication. However, Binnie emphasised some key differences in the public sector, including broader rule of law considerations and the challenges of operating within tighter budgets.

This article summarises the main points covered by the speakers.

Several recently announced consultations will be of interest to in-house lawyers this month. These include a call for evidence into the admissibility of computer evidence generated by software in criminal proceedings, a consultation on proposals to reduce the threat posed by the criminal infection of computer systems with malicious ‘ransomware’ software, and an inquiry into forced labour in global supply chains. The deadline for responses to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) consultation on the UK Stewardship Code is 19 February 2025. Read more [subscription required].

Provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), including Part 1 (Digital Markets) and Part 2 (Competition), come into force on 1 January 2025. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published guidance on the new digital markets competition regime and updated other guidance documents to reflect changes introduced by the DMCCA. In-house lawyers should also be aware of several corporate governance developments and the government’s response to the House of Lords Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA 2015) Committee report on the impact and effectiveness of the MSA 2015. Read more [subscription required].

In a recent Centre for Legal Leadership webinar, hosted in conjunction with Thomson Reuters, Will Morris, General Counsel – Corporate at Rolls-Royce plc and Alex Kuczynski, former General Counsel and Executive Director of Corporate Services at the Financial Reporting Council, shared their insights on personal effectiveness. These ranged from acting with honesty and integrity, asking plenty of questions, and being adaptable, to understanding the business, making the most of networking opportunities and asserting yourself.

This article explores the central themes discussed.

Two consultations that close in early 2025, on the UK Stewardship Code and third party litigation funding, are among the most significant issues this month. Publication of the Data (Use and Access) Bill and new failure to prevent fraud offence guidance, together with several climate change developments are also noteworthy. Read more [subscription required].