REUTERS | Goran Tomasevic
July 19, 2022

Legal Leaders Programme: designing and delivering a valued legal service to your organisation

Please join us on 28 September 2022 (2.00pm – 3.15pm) for a webinar hosted by The Centre for Legal Leadership (CLL) on designing and delivering a valued legal service to your organisation.

Many in-house legal functions grow organically in response to the most pressing demands at the time. Yet this can result in a mismatch between where legal resources are focused and those areas where legal input is most needed. This webinar will explore how you can design and deliver a legal service that is effective and valued. It will also consider important issues relating to purpose, strategy and planning, operational management, value, recruitment and training, and diversity.

The discussion will be led by our speakers, Elizabeth O’Neill, General Counsel and Company Secretary at the British Business Bank, and Alan Evans, General Counsel at HMRC.

REUTERS | The sun rises over the skyline in Toronto, August 4, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Blinch
July 18, 2022

Episode 12 of The Construction Briefing podcast

Episode 12 of The Construction Briefing podcast is now available.

This month the Practical Law Construction team discuss the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Abbey Healthcare (Mill Hill) Ltd v Simply Construct (UK) LLP [2022] EWCA Civ 823, and are joined by Barry Hembling, partner at Watson Farley and Williams, who has represented Abbey Healthcare throughout the litigation. In addition to explaining what the Court of Appeal decided, the team asks:

  • Who will welcome this decision and who might be worried by it?
  • In terms of drafting, what can you do to make sure that your collateral warranty can be adjudicated, and what can you do to make sure it can’t?
  • How does this judgment affect third party rights? Might parties start favouring them?
The discussion also touches on the judgments in Orchard Plaza Management Company Ltd v Balfour Beatty Regional Construction Ltd [2022] EWHC 1490 (TCC) and Hurley Palmer Flatt Ltd v Barclays Bank plc [2014] EWHC 3042 (TCC).
REUTERS | Amr Abdallah Dalsh
July 15, 2022

The Hearing podcast: ep.98, Trust and scepticism for lawyers: getting the balance right

Episode 98 of the Hearing is now available.

This episode is a panel discussion where Becky and three guests – Dr. Larry Richard (Founder & Principal Consultant, LawyerBrain), Ann Rainhart (Chief Strategy Officer, Taft) and Michael Callier (Vice President & Global Head of Consulting, Factor) – examine the meaning of trust and how it relates to the perception of lawyers in their work.

As a lawyer, you rely heavily on interpersonal trust, but you also need to be sceptical. And is this scepticism – an essential lawyering skill – hindering your professional relationships?

Together the group delve into the complex layers of these opposing necessities of trust and scepticism. They discuss the personality traits that can help lawyers succeed on behalf of their clients without compromising integrity, and they reveal a need for vulnerability that may surprise you.

REUTERS | An Atlantic Puffin is seen among the daisies on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Britain July 16, 2019. Picture taken July 16, 2019. REUTERS/Rebecca Naden - RC17F20A9AE0
July 13, 2022

Developing a legal and compliance radar

  • by Leanne Geale
  • Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Governance and Compliance
    • at

The purpose of our legal and compliance function is to enable Nestlé’s business strategy and protect its people, assets and reputation. One important aspect of this work is tracking and monitoring emerging regulatory and legislative developments.

We are the largest food and beverage company in the world, operating in over 185 countries, and it’s a challenge to keep track of new legislation. New laws and regulations are proposed or adopted at an ever-increasing pace on everything from data privacy to packaging to disclosure. For example, in 2021 almost 150 new laws on plastic packaging and its end-of-life were enacted or introduced.

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REUTERS | Vasily Fedosenko
July 11, 2022

Ask Corporate trends

The arrival of new legislative initiatives always attracts interesting and challenging questions, from both in-house and private practitioners. In recent months, the Practical Law Corporate team has addressed questions around the intricacies of the national security and investment regime, corporate transparency and register reform, and the new trust registration service, among others, as those in practice seek to navigate their way through the new and complex requirements. We now also expect to start seeing questions around the government’s proposed audit and corporate governance reforms.

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REUTERS | The sun shines in a field as Belgium is undergoing it's dryest April-May period since the end of the 19th century, according to local media, in Diksmuide, Belgium May 28, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman
July 8, 2022

The Hearing podcast: ep.97, Dr Charlotte Proudman (Goldsmith Chambers)

Episode 97 of the Hearing is now available.

In this episode Yasmin catches up with a previous guest – Charlotte Proudman: feminist, family barrister and agent for change. Charlotte talks about her work fighting for the survivors of sexual violence and what the problems are with our current justice system. The pair also discuss the introduction of no-fault divorces in the UK and why this change is long overdue.

REUTERS | Mark Blinch
July 6, 2022

How to write a good NED covering letter

If you are looking to apply for a board vacancy, it is likely that you will be asked to send a covering letter alongside your non-executive director (NED) CV as part of the application process. This post will help if you are struggling to write one or are looking for guidance on “what good looks like”. It will also be useful if you do not know where to start or want to benchmark your draft against best practice.

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REUTERS | Tulips bloom in Bryant Park in New York City, U.S., April 29, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RC15C0A16600
July 4, 2022

Consultation board round table: measuring and communicating the value of the legal department

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 of more than 2,000 senior in-house and private practice lawyers by the Thomson Reuters Institute as a jumping-off point (see Blog post, Thomson Reuters Institute 2022 State of Corporate Law Departments report). As well as examining the upward trend in the level of external legal spend reported by corporate law department leaders, the report discussed how the legal department can avoid being a cost centre, and what metrics it can use to demonstrate its value.

In June’s meeting, board members described their approach to shining a light on the legal work being done behind the scenes and quantifying the elusive benefits of averting crises.

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REUTERS | Gloabl Creative Services (no copyright)
June 29, 2022

UK data protection reform: winners, losers and what to watch

On 17 June 2022 the UK government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published the outcome of its consultation on reform of the UK’s data protection laws (see Legal update, DCMS publishes outcome of consultation “Data: a new direction”). DCMS has presented the response as a step forward for both businesses and individuals in terms of, for example, cost savings, innovation, and clarity around privacy rights. In practice, the proposals are no great overhaul of UK laws, nor was one wanted by those who responded to the consultation. Organisations will undoubtedly be keen to know how the proposals will affect their business, and whether any of the proposals risks the UK’s adequacy status under the EU GDPR.

So who is set to benefit?

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REUTERS | Boxes of fresh strawberries for sale sit in the summer sun at a farmers' market in Hoboken, New Jersey, June 24, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar
June 27, 2022

What’s on the agenda for in-house lawyers in July 2022?

Publication of the government’s response to the BEIS consultation on restoring trust in audit and corporate governance is likely to be of interest to many businesses. In addition, the FRC has published a consultation on public reporting of audit firms’ firm-level audit quality indicators and updated its guidance on the strategic report.

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