Practical Law

Employment law developments dominate the agenda this month. The Employment Rights Bill (ERB) had its second reading in the House of Lords on 27 March 2025 and, earlier in the month, the government published several consultation responses on the ERB. The government has also launched a consultation on how to introduce mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for employers with 250 or more employees. A House of Lords committee consultation into the effects and future development of remote and hybrid working in the UK closes on 25 April. Elsewhere, the European Commission has adopted proposals for two Omnibus Directives that form part of a package aimed at simplification of certain sustainability-related legislation. Read more [subscription required].

Chris Fowler, Chief Operating Officer of Legal, Governance and Corporate Affairs at Rio Tinto, and Angus Haig, International General Counsel (GC), discussed how to develop yourself and your team in the latest Centre for Legal Leadership webinar. Their conversation touched on the benefits of making a sideways move, how to raise your profile and your brand, the skills and expertise GCs need to exhibit, grabbing opportunities when they arise and the importance of relationship building.

This article highlights the key themes discussed.

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].