Practical Law

We would like to invite you to join a Future Forum meeting on the topic of “presenting yourself” for early-career in-house lawyers, at 1300-1400 on Wednesday 13 December, via Teams webinar.

Since launch of the In-house Future Forum last year, its members have discussed a variety of topics affecting the legal profession from the perspective of those in the early stages of their careers (see Practical Law In-house Future Forum: shaping the direction of the legal profession). Meetings to date have focused on: Hybrid working – … Continue reading Introducing the Future Forum toolkit →

On behalf of the Practical Law Future Forum Steering Committee, we would like to invite you to participate in a meeting on the topic of mentoring and career development for early-career in-house lawyers, at 1300-1400 on Tuesday 20 June via Teams webinar.

The first open meeting of the Practical Law In-house Future Forum took place recently, to discuss the topic of networking. The meeting featured presentations from Alisa Grafton, author of Great Networking: The Art and Practice of Building Authentic Professional Relationships and partner at De Pinna Notaries, and Andre Brown, Senior Commissioning Editor at Practical Law. … Continue reading Practical Law In-house Future Forum open meeting: key tips and takeaways on networking for early career in-house lawyers →

On behalf of the Practical Law Future Forum Steering Committee, we would like to invite you to participate in a meeting on the topic of networking for early-career in-house lawyers, at 1300-1400 on Tuesday 6 December via Teams webinar. The meeting will feature presentations from Alisa Grafton (partner at De Pinna Notaries and author of … Continue reading Networking for early-career in-house lawyers: an invitation to the Practical Law In-house Future Forum →

Practical Law In-house is excited to have launched the Future Forum, a new layer of its Consultation Board designed to capture the perspective of early-career lawyers and act as a focus point for feedback between the different layers of the profession. The Forum is led by a Steering Committee of lawyers working in different sectors, … Continue reading Practical Law In-house Future Forum: shaping the direction of the legal profession →

It’s a common refrain that the business sees the legal function as purely a cost centre, with the real value that in-house lawyers provide going largely under the radar. The latest In-house Consultation Board meeting focused on how to benchmark and broadcast the success of the legal department, using the report of a recent survey … Continue reading Consultation board round table: measuring and communicating the value of the legal department →

The “Future of the Legal Profession” is a topic that has come up repeatedly in the past few years and has been looked at through different lenses, from how to train the next generation of lawyers during a pandemic that makes traditional in-person training impossible, through how to recruit diverse candidates into a historically homogenous … Continue reading Future now! Please share your views →

Practical Law has published a report on the results of its compliance training survey. Many thanks to all those who responded to the survey questions and to those who contributed to the report, particularly our survey panel. Two-thirds (62.9%) of respondents were in-house lawyers, or compliance officers, or both. Almost half (45.5%) were themselves responsible … Continue reading Practical Law training survey results: market practice v ‘best’ practice →

Practical Law’s compliance training survey is still open [survey now closed]. Enter by 8 October 2019 to benchmark your organisation’s own approach and (for UK residents) the opportunity to enter a prize draw for a chance to win one of ten £25 Amazon vouchers (subject to terms and conditions).

The In-house blog has published numerous items on aspects of whistleblowing over the past few years, but whistleblowing’s geekier cousin, training, has received less attention. Training is like rewiring your house when you move in: it costs a lot of money and, when it’s done properly, nobody really notices. It doesn’t generate the headlines that … Continue reading Just a bit of box ticking: complete the Practical Law training survey and benchmark your organisation’s compliance programme →

It’s been shown repeatedly that diverse workplaces make business sense (McKinsey made the point in its “Women Matter” report back in 2007; a World Economic Forum blog by Vijay Eswaran repeated it in April this year). Yet there is still a long way to go before big businesses will be in a position to challenge … Continue reading The turning of the tide? The role of in-house lawyers, and quotas, in tackling gender inequality in the law →

Last week, the Institute of Business Ethics launched its Board Briefing on “Corporate Ethics in a Digital Age”. A wide-ranging panel discussion and Q&A session at the launch event tackled some of the implications of new technology for ethical business practice and emphasised that, despite its novelty and seeming complexity, it should be subject to … Continue reading Not just somebody else’s problem: notes from the launch of the IBE’s Board Briefing on “Corporate Ethics in a Digital Age” →

Business units in all organisations with a calendar year end are likely looking at the business plans and their allocated budgets for 2018 and wondering how they are going to deliver more with less next year. In-house legal teams are no different and this is a good moment for legal leaders to take stock of … Continue reading New legal sourcing toolkit and panel review case studies →

Winmark and Clyde & Co recently published the 2017 Looking Glass Report. The 2017 report focuses on risk management in the context of a risk landscape which is “increasingly complex, uncertain and difficult to read” – and highlights the role of the GC in assisting their organisation to respond to this changing environment. The report’s … Continue reading Through the Looking Glass: contrasting perceptions of the role of the GC in 2017 →

For those wondering how many sleeps are left until the GDPR comes into force, it was confirmed at the sixth annual Thomson Reuters Future of Data Protection Forum, which took place last Thursday, that there were only 161 business days remaining. With the looming deadline in mind, and a reminder in Ardi Kolah’s introductory address … Continue reading Counting down to GDPR: key messages from the Thomson Reuters Data Protection Forum →

It is now over a year since the first organisations were required to start producing their slavery and human trafficking statements in compliance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, making it possible to assess and compare the large number of statements already published.

Practical Law has published a report on the results of the survey I previously wrote about which sought to examine how in-house lawyers, and the organisations they work in, were approaching Brexit. The report can be accessed here and is also available in PDF format.

Key developments in May included the European General Affairs Council’s authorisation of the opening of Article 50 negotiations and adoption of the first set of negotiating directives. The European Commission also published draft position papers on citizens’ rights and financial settlement, while the House of Commons Library released a briefing paper on options for the … Continue reading Brexit: May round-up →

You may already be aware that Practical Law’s In-house team has compiled a survey with a view to understanding how organisations are reacting to the Brexit vote, but if you have not already participated and would like to do so, you can access the survey by following this link.

I have recently attended two events organised by Thomson Reuters. The first was a day dedicated to knowledge management – specifically management of legal know how; the second was devoted to analysis of trends and developments in insurance law. Despite their different subject matters, significant portions of both days were given over to the common … Continue reading The rise of the machines: new technology and its impact on the professions →

On 14 February Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the RSA, and his team held the first of ten town hall events designed to gather evidence for the Taylor Review on Modern Employment Practices, which was launched on 30 November last year. Fittingly, for a review inspired in part by concerns about the status of those … Continue reading Modern employment: back to the future? →