Cultural Approaches in Arbitration: Is the Common/Civil Law Divide Real?
Mark McNeill, Barrister at Bricks Court Chambers and an international arbitration specialist with more than twenty-five years of experience in commercial and investment treaty disputes, joined our International Arbitration Forum today and examined how culture, legal tradition, and unconscious bias shape modern arbitral decision-making. His reflections positioned cultural awareness not as a soft skill but […]
Geeking Out After Legal Geek UK
Fresh from London’s landmark Legal Geek conference this week, legal tech expert Jon Bartman joined us to share insights and reflections on one of the year’s most dynamic events. With over 4,000 attendees and an agenda dominated by artificial intelligence, Bartman described the experience as “manic but energising,” illustrating both the pace and the promise […]
Practising Legal Design
Marco Imperiale, founder of Better Ipsum, an Organization dedicated to legal innovation and wellbeing and President of the Wellbeing Committee of the International Association of Lawyers (UIA), examined how legal-design thinking can redefine value creation in contemporary legal practice. His perspective places design not as aesthetic refinement but as an engine for systemic change, aligning […]
Revisiting Third Party Funding
In this session, Alice Fremuth-Wolf, former Secretary General of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre and current market head for Austria and Central Europe at the Swiss-based funder Valion, shared her practical experience in third party funding (TPF). The conversation, moderated by Patricia Gannon, explored the realities of securing funding, the role of funders in arbitral […]
Rethinking the Law Firm Model
In this session, Alex Baker shared his journey from ad tech into legal technology and why the idea of the AI-driven law firm is moving from theory to practice. Traditionally, law firms have used technology to assist human lawyers. But Baker described a shift: firms can now embed AI deeply enough to deliver much of […]
How to Build Effective Client Interaction
Today we explored practical strategies for improving client meetings and building trust over time. Moderated by Barbara Koenen-Geerdink, Co-founder of Boost BD&M, and Rachel Kennedy, Director of Business Development UK at Kinstellar, who shared decades of experience in advising lawyers and law firms on how to connect with clients authentically and grow stronger relationships. Preparing […]
What Do GC’s Really Look For?
Introduction Yesterday’s Session focused on expectations of in-house counsel when working with external law firms. We were joined by Patrick Callinan, Associate General Counsel at Sprout Social. The discussion provided candid insights into what corporate legal teams truly value when selecting and retaining outside counsel. The Shift from Private Practice to In-House Callinan shared his […]
Arbitration and New International Commercial Courts – True Rivals?
Introduction This session on whether arbitration and the new international commercial courts (ICCs) are true rivals was moderated by Velimir Živković, Associate Professor at the University of Warwick, together with Michail Risvas, Partner at Withers LLP, Matej Pustay, Partner at CERHA Hempel, Miljana Bigović, Senior Associate at Moravčević Vojnović, and Niamh Leinwather, Secretary General of […]
Why Sales is a Dirty Word in Legal?
Philip Tate (former sales at LexisNexis, Wolters Kluwer & Salesforce), examined why the legal profession maintains resistance to sales terminology despite fundamentally operating as service businesses dependent on client acquisition. This discussion explored cultural barriers preventing lawyers from embracing structured sales methodologies and emerging solutions reshaping legal business development. The Cultural Resistance to Sales Terminology […]
How Data-Driven Business Development Transforms Legal
Charlotte Ford, Head of International Relationships at Charles Russell Speechlys, and Andrew Hutchinson, Chief Revenue Officer at Nexl, explored how law firms can harness data analytics to revolutionise their business development strategies. This session examined the shift from intuition-based relationship building to evidence-driven decision making in legal marketing. The Evolution of International Relationship Management Ford […]