Legal regulators face new challenges from a rapidly changing world, which is exerting new social and political demands on the legal services sector and altering the dynamics within the profession itself.
This 8th International conference of legal regulators will provide the opportunity to step back from the day-to-day concerns of regulation and look strategically at some of the significant trends that are emerging in different jurisdictions. It will also offer participants the chance to reflect on how they can continue to perform their core regulatory tasks, of upholding standards and sustaining trust, whilst being flexible and responsive to the changing world around them.
We look forward to warmly welcoming you to Edinburgh in September.
Mercat Cross, High Street, Edinburgh
Parliament House
John Mulholland, President, Law Society of Scotland
Ash Denham MSP, Minister for Community Safety, Scottish Government
Moderator: David Lee
Speakers:
Anna Bradley, Chair, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Professor Emilios Avgouleas, Professor of International Banking Law and Finance, University of Edinburgh
Alison Hook, Co-founder and Director, Hook Tangaza
Edinburgh:
Moderator: David Lee
Anna Bradley, Chair, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Professor Emilios Avgouleas, Professor of International Banking Law and Finance, University of Edinburgh
Alison Hook, Co-founder and Director, Hook Tangaza
Singapore:
Associate Professor Chen Siyuan, SMU School of Law
Mr Damian Pang, Deputy Chief Fintech Officer, MAS
Dr Jeremy Lim, Partner (Health & Life Sciences), Oliver Wyman
Mr Choo Wei Pin, Chief Legal Officer, Razer
Moderator:
Jerry Larkin, Administrator, Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission, Illinois
Speakers:
Kerrie-Anne Millard, Legal Services Board & Commissioner, Victoria
Steve Brooker, Legal Services Board, England and Wales
Carol Brennan, Honorary Reader, Consumer Policy, Queen Margaret University and past Chair, Scottish Legal Complaints Commission Consumer panel
- What do consumers want from their legal services providers?
- Conducting a consumer needs survey
- The growing pressure of client expectations
Hosted by Law Society of Scotland
Moderator: David Lee
Speakers:
Professor Stephen Mayson, leading Independent Review of Legal Services Regulation
Stephan Göcken, Executive Director, German Federal Bar
Frederica Wilson, Executive Director & Deputy CEO, Federation of Law Societies of Canada
- Regulation and independence
- Entity and market regulation
- Role of the state
- Access to justice
Moderator: Jane Malcolm, Executive Director of External and Corporate Affairs, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Speakers:
Catriona Watt, Association of Regulatory & Disciplinary Lawyers
Mary Ollivier, Director, Regulatory, New Zealand Law Society
Niels Hupkes, Manager Policy & Regulation, The Netherlands Bar
We are all in the business of supporting trust and confidence in legal services and regulation. The panel will explore the varied international approaches to open and accessible information in relation to regulation generally. This session is also an opportunity to discuss some perceptions of the legal sector, and how best to meet consumer expectations of both regulators and law firms in an increasingly information rich world.
- Do we really know what our stakeholders think?
- Can transparency increase trust?
- If so, what exactly do people want to know?
Moderator: Victoria Rees, Director, Professional Responsibility, Nova Scotia Barristers Society
Speakers:
Ellyn Rosen, Regulation and Global Initiatives Counsel, ABA Center for Professional Responsibility
Iain Miller, Partner, Kingsley Napley LLP and Chair of Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers
Rebecca Magorokosho-Musimwa, Regulatory Services Manager, Law Society of Zimbabwe
As recent events have shown, regulating the conduct of lawyers who serve as elected politicians or in public office, as well as those who provide legal services to others in public office, is a minefield. It is a challenge to properly balance the interests of the public, lawyers and the administration of justice when potential ethical violations occur. This workshop will provide practical case-based guidance (including a take-away you help develop) on:
- What factors should regulators consider when assessing risk and determining when/ whether to take action in these circumstances?
- How can regulators effectively balance all relevant interests when engaged in these assessments/investigations?
Moderator: Fiona McLeay, Legal Services Commissioner and CEO, Victorian Legal Services Board
Speakers:
Sara Carnegie, Director, Legal Projects, International Bar Association
Zelda Perkins, Campaigner and formerly Weinstein Company
- Recent research findings on sexual harassment in legal profession
- Why is it a regulatory issue?
- What prevents people speaking out against lawyers?
- What regulators can do to support reporting of cases involving lawyers
- Are NDAs ever appropriate?
- UK Government’s proposed legislation
Moderator: Sara Jagger, Director of Professional Conduct, Bar Standards Board
Speakers:
Alvin Chen Yi Jing, Head of Legal Research and Development, Law Society of Singapore
Professor Laurel S Terry, Penn State Dickinson Law
Juliet Oliver, General Counsel, Solicitors Regulation Authority
- Separate business interests
- Social media
- Lawyers on lawyer selection platforms
- Gig economy lawyers
Moderator: Ian Messer, Director of Financial Compliance, Law Society of Scotland
Speakers:
Sarah Wheeler, Office for Professional Body AML Supervision (OPBAS)
Cathy McKay, Deputy Secretary, Law Society of Northern Ireland
Motlatsi Molefe, Attorneys Fidelity Fund, South Africa
- Barriers faced by the sector & how they can be overcome
- The role of Government and international bodies/international guidance
- Cultural issues which impact on the fight against financial crime
Hosted by Law Society of Scotland
Moderator: David Lee
Speakers:
Stephanie Spiers, Federation of Law Societies of Canada
Peter Lawson, Chairman, Burness Paull LLP
Ciara Murphy, Chief Executive, The Bar of Ireland
- Why is it so difficult to engage the profession in this significant agenda?
- Which demographics are most likely to be affected by poor mental health and how can we best target support?
- How do we create open and supportive legal workplaces that promote well-being and positive mental health?
- How can we monitor what we offer and evaluate its success?
- What are the implications of this agenda for regulators and the public, as well as individual lawyers and the profession as a whole?
This panel will aim to draw together lessons from each workshop and set the scene for Day 2, which will focus in more depth on how innovation might affect the traditional tasks of the legal regulator.
One member of each workshop will join plenary panel to highlight the key issue identified in workshops and explain why delegates/regulators should take this away from conference.
- 16:05: Workshops A & B
- 16:35: Workshops C & D
The Rt Hon Lord Carloway, Lord President of the Court of Session
Waldorf Astoria
Moderator:David Lee
Speakers:
Prof Alan Paterson, Professor of Law, University of Strathclyde
Paul Philip, Chief Executive, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Judith Gundersen, President, National Conference of Bar Examiners
Dr Heike Lörcher, Head of Brussels Office, German Federal Bar
- Assessments and measurements
- Quality and competence
- Modernising regulation
- Raising standards and improved outcomes
- Proportionate regulation
Moderator: Joan Janssen, Director-General (International & Advisory) and Director of Legal Services, Ministry of Law (Singapore)
Speakers:
Sarah Sutherland, Director Programmes and Partnerships, CanLII
Ivan Mokanov, President, Lexum
John McKinlay, Partner, DLA Piper and Convenor, Technology Law and Practice Committee, Law Society of Scotland
- Digital content
- Big data
- Overcoming resistance to change
- Artificial intelligence and regulation
Moderator:
Jayne Reardon, Executive Director Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism
Speakers:
Art Lachman, co-chair, Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers’ Future of Lawyering Committee and attorney in Washington
Bridget Gramme, Administrative Director, Center for Public Interest Law, University of San Diego School of Law
John Lund, Parsons Behle & Latimer and co-chair, Utah Supreme Court
This “reverse panel” session will address the emerging legal tech industry, and principles and best practices for effectively regulating new methods of delivering legal services. Our goal for this session is for audience participants to learn from one another’s experiences in their respective jurisdictions, gather data regarding best practices, and bring this information back to our home jurisdictions.
- Reform efforts underway in the US (California, Utah, Arizona and APRL)
- Data/burdens to justify regulatory changes, including “access to justice” rationales
- “Independence”/self-regulation/separation of powers issues
- Multi-jurisdictional practice
Moderator: Patricia Schwartz, Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Supreme Court of State of Delaware
Speakers:
Alison Hook, Consultant to Legal Services Board
David Levy, Avocat (video link)
Mary M Mutugi, Acting Director of Quality Assurance Compliance & Licensing, Council of Legal Education, Kenya
This panel will discuss foreign legal consultant rules in the United States and France, Mutual Recognition Agreements in Quebec, the European Union, and East Africa, and Memorandums of Understanding in the United Kingdom. Are they working, what are the pitfalls and what are the Brexit implications?
- Scope of understanding
- Efficacy of processes
- Expansion
Hosted by Law Society of Scotland
Moderator: Philip Yelland, Executive Director of Regulation, Law Society of Scotland
Speakers:
Melinda Bentley, Legal Ethics Counsel, Advisory Committee of the Supreme Court of Missouri
Malcolm Mercer, Partner, McCarthy Tétrault’s Litigation Group
John Elliot, Director of Regulation and Registrar of Solicitors, Law Society of Ireland
- Client trust funds and third parties
- Alternative legal services providers
- Code of conduct
- Referal fees
Moderator: Jenny Mittelman, Deputy General Counsel, State Bar of Georgia
Speakers:
Angela Latta, Regulatory Policy Principal, Legal Services Board
Chris Harte, Chief Executive, Morton Fraser
Rob Marrs, Head of Education, Law Society of Scotland
- Tech skills
- Millennial working attitudes
- Agile working
Moderator: David Lee
Speakers:
Brenda Grimes QC, Executive Director, Law Society of Newfoundland & Labrador
Janet Welch, Executive Director, State Bar of Michigan
Moderator: David Lee
Speakers:
Johan Riijlaarsdam, President, The Netherlands Bar
Patrick Dillen, Secretary General, Federation of European Bars
Victoria Rees, Director, Professional Responsibility, Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society
- What alternatives to discipline are being used?
- When should alternatives be deployed – and when should a traditional disciplinary route be followed?
- Are these alternatives to discipline transparent?
- How can you measure if these alternatives are effective?
- How can we balance the primary role – public protection – with a duty of care to lawyers?
Hosted by Law Society of Scotland
Moderator: Michael P. Clancy OBE, Director of Law Reform, Law Society of Scotland
Speakers:
Sheila Kumar, Chief Executive, CLC Consumers v clients
Anne Hastie, Non solicitor member, Law Society of Scotland Complaints and Oversight committee
Mariette Hughes, Head Ombudsman, Legal Ombudsman
- who are the consumers who have an interest in regulation
- how regulators experience that interest
- how oversight bodies protect that interest -
- what the balance should be between consumers, the regulated and the regulators
Moderator: David Lee
Neil Stevenson, Chief Executive, Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
Cori Ghitter, Director, Professionalism and Policy, Law Society of Alberta
Paule Armeneau QC, Director of Regulation and General Counsel, Law Society of Alberta
- What is ‘good’, how do you get there and what are the barriers?
- No “off the peg” regulatory solution
- Start by asking: ‘what is a complaints process for’?
- How to deal with different types of complainer? What does the customer want?
- Higher risk appetite to achieve better outcomes
- How can we speed up the process? Do statutory obligations get in the way?
Moderator:
Dr Vanessa Davies, Director General, Bar Standards Board
- Interactive and participatory session
- Crafting a code of conduct
- Public expectation in modern age
Jolyon Maugham QC, Devereux Chambers and Good Law Project
- Regulation across borders post Brexit
- Why law matters in ‘post truth’ world
Lorna Jack, Chief Executive, Law Society of Scotland
Waldorf Astoria Caledonian Hotel
