Forum programme 2008

Time

Session

10.00am

Chair’s welcome and opening remarks
Helen Mahy, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, National Grid

10.15am - 10.45am

Setting the business and economic context: trends and forecast
Speaker: Jan Babiak, Managing Partner, Regulatory & Public Policy, Ernst & Young, UK and NEMIA

A close analysis of economic and business trends of the last year. In particular:

• The evolving state of the credit crunch and the impact that this is likely to have on the economy and business

• The impact of new legislation including the implementation of the Companies Act, the FSA review of insider trading; and combined code changes

• How these developments will impact on the legal support and resources that companies need

10.45am - 11.30am

The international and national regulation of lawyers; a help or hindrance to lawyers in business?

Speakers:

Des Hudson, Chief Executive of the Law Society and Gabe Shawn Varges, Association of Corporate Counsel Europe

• A broad overview of the professional regulatory environment for lawyers working in business

• A close examination of the issue of legal privilege and developments over the past year

• The practical implications for in-house counsel on a day-to-day basis

11.30am - 11.45am

Coffee

11.45am - 1.00pm

Getting the attention of the board: what does business want from its lawyers and what do lawyers want from the board?
Keynote: Sir John Parker, Chairman, National Grid

Panel: Robert Webb, General Counsel, British Airways and Helen Mahy, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, National Grid

1.00pm - 2.15pm

Lunch

2.15pm - 3.30pm

Breaking the mould: changing perceptions within the business

Guest speaker: Nigel Barlow, Director, Service Legends Ltd

Delivering a vital business message in an entertaining manner, Nigel Barlow has spoken at conferences for many of the world’s leading organisations, from Apple to Unilever and several leading law firms.

• The power of perception and shifting stereotypes

• How lawyers can rethink their role

3.30pm - 4.45pm

Workshop groups: Delegates divide into small groups of 15 or less. Upon booking you will be asked to register for one of the following workshops:

The boundaries between Legal, Compliance and Risk.

Facilitator: Gabe Shawn Varges, Association of Corporate Counsel Europe

Crisis management.

Facilitator: E. Leigh Dance, President, ELD International, Inc

Akzo Nobel: Privilege – the practical implications.

Facilitator: Samantha Mobley, Partner, Baker & McKenzie and John Leadley, Partner, Baker & McKenzie

Too much to handle? What areas of responsibility should sit in the general counsel fold?

Co-facilitator: Richard Tapp, Company Secretary and Director of Legal Services, Carillion plc and Mark Prebble, Director, Lawyers in Business

Moving to a non-executive role.

Facilitator: Laurie Adams, co-founder Outside Insight and non-executive director, Northern Rock

4.45pm - 5.00pm

Coffee

5.00pm - 6.00pm

Crisis management: tales from the trenches:

Panel includes: Grant Dawson, General Counsel, Centrica and Laurie Adams, non-executive director of Northern Rock

• A closer look at some of the corporate crisis of the last year

• Lessons learnt from the perspective of the general counsel

6.00pm

Close of day - chair
Drinks and dinner at Home House sponsored by Hudson Legal

Time

Session

9.00am

Chair’s welcome and opening remarks
Beat Hess, Group Legal Director, Royal Dutch Shell

9.15am - 10.30am

Developing an effective structure for cross-border advice

Speakers:Trevor Faure, Vice President, General Counsel (EMEA), Tyco International; Louise Fluker, General Counsel & Company Secretary, De La Rue plc and Kirsty Wilson, Partner Baker & McKenzie LLP

• Centralised or decentralised

• Setting up effective lines of communication

• Building a shared vision and working practice

• Strategies to share information across the teams

10.30am - 10.45am

Coffee

10.45am - 12.00pm

Strategies to get the best from external advisers

Speakers:

Richard Daniel, Chief Operating Officer, Barclays Legal and Compliance; David Eveleigh, Chief Counsel/VP Commercial, Legal & Regulatory, BT Global Services; and Alan Hodgart, H4 Partners

• With legal expertise a given what strategies can be adopted to get value from law firms?

• Are panels the right solution to facilitate added value from eternal advisers?

• Should clients or law firms be the drivers of innovation?

12.00pm - 12.30pm

The end of in-house lawyers?

Guest speaker:

Professor Richard Susskind OBE, Author, Speaker, Government adviser

• The pressures on in-house lawyers

• Two solutions - the efficiency strategy and the collaborations strategy

• What does the future hold for in-house lawyers

12.30pm - 1.45pm

Lunch

1.45pm - 2.45pm

Workshop groups: Delegates divide into small groups of 15 or less. Upon booking you will be asked to register for one of the following workshops:

Two into one: Leading and motivating a merged function.

Facilitator: Laurie Adams, co-founder Outside Insight and non-executive director, Northern Rock

Diversity: Does your law department have a part to play?

Co-Facilitators: Christine Moore, BT Head of Diversity Enterprises and Consulting and Jeremy Thomas, Managing Director, Outside Insight

Strategies to keep up with changes in the law and regulation and control information overload.

Co-facilitators: Melanie Farquason, Consultant, 3Kites Consulting Limited and David Kemp, Development Director, ABN AMRO Bank

The Transparent Billable Hour.

Facilitator: Jeff Hodge, Vice President and Senior Director of EMEA, DataCert Europe

Strategies for managing cross-border work for smaller departments.

Facilitator Kirsty Wilson, Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP and Nicolas Taylor, Head of Legal, Jones Laing LaSalle

2.45pm - 4.00pm

Panel: Strategies to retain and motivate lawyers in business
Speakers:

Nick Deeming, Group General Counsel, Christie's International and Caroline Vanovermeire, Associate Director, Hudson, Talent Management

• Tools to quantify the cost of retention and turnover of staff

• Key factors influencing retention of lawyers

• How to manage high potentials

4.00pm

Conference round up