People in Law

✨ People in Law Awards 2025 – entries open! ✨ For those who missed our announcement, entries are now open for another spectacular year of celebrating excellence in legal HR! From groundbreaking DEI initiatives to outstanding talent development programmes, our diverse award categories span the entire spectrum of people management. Whether you're a boutique firm or a global practice, excellence comes in all sizes – if you have a compelling story, we want to hear it. Watch this space for exciting new categories coming soon for 2025! Join us for an unforgettable evening on Thursday 1st May at the prestigious 8 Northumberland Avenue as we celebrate the brightest stars in legal HR. Entries close Friday 7th February. Enter here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eZ9_cXig #PILAwards25 #PeopleinLaw

🌟 Ethnicity Pay Gap Summit 2025 🌟 Building on the success of its inaugural event, the #EthnicityPayGap Campaign and Spktral are delighted to announce the 2025 Ethnicity Pay Gap Summit  in association with ShareAction, Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK), the Fawcett Society and hosted by our friends at Lloyd's. Join them for an interactive day where DEI leaders and specialists can: 🎯 Learn from expert speakers bringing deep industry expertise 🗣️ Engage in thought-provoking panel discussions 💡 Participate in practical knowledge-sharing sessions  🤝 Network with fellow DEI champions  📊 Develop actionable insights for your organisation 📍 Lloyd's of London 📅 7th February 2025 ⏰ 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM Register here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eD3jryf6 #EthnicityPayGap #DEI #Equity #Inclusion #HR #Leadership Dianne Greyson

What comes to mind when you think of inclusion? Opportunity | Belonging | Fairness Those were the big three ideas that those attending the recent People in Law conference tapped instinctively into our mini interactive poll. Why does it matter how we frame inclusion? Sometimes we need to go back to basics and understand the challenges and opportunities we’re seeking to address. It was great to join Jenn Barnett and Mark Lomas, Chartered FCIPD to hear their framings. Also, great to know we’re quite aligned in our thinking. We discussed how inclusion comes when we are able to share different views and opinions without concern. Jenn framed this as being “candid and kind”. Of those taking part in our poll, 55% felt there was a positive mood more generally around diversity, equity and inclusion. While 36% were neutral and 9% negative. To the question why DEI mattered to firms, it was interesting to see respondents say: 53% It’s the right thing to do 30% It’s a business imperative 13% Clients are asking for it 4% Everyone else is doing it Jenn said it’s all of the above. Of course it is, but we pushed people to choose. For Mark, it led to a reflection that comes back to the importance of remembering why we want to drive inclusion. He spoke to how DEI professionals initially began with a ‘dos and don’t’ type knowledge sharing base. He felt that we emerging specialism missed the focus on core competencies - how to embed inclusive culture change into our organisations. It’s an approach all three of us believe in. I shared the idea that no one action will drive change. There has to be many smaller actions that will impact the whole - across all departments and practice areas at all levels in a business. Small actions. Big impact. Fundamentally, the discussion comes down to that fact that we all have a role to play as ambassadors for change. After all, inclusion comes through how we connect with each other everyday, our understanding of each other… all intertwined with considering the impact of our decisions on organisational change has for all in our businesses. So it’s… Together We Can! As always, keen to hear your thoughts 👇 Finally, thanks to Fiona Wilson, Sarah Morton and the whole People in Law team for another great conference. Images show: 1) Selfie with Jenn and Mark next to a People in Law pop-up banner 2) shot of the audience during panel 3) Nina, Jenn and Mark on a dark stage with bio pics on projector that says the Future of DEI. 4) Selfie with host Declan Currie with the People in Law slate on projector. #Diversity #Inclusion #Culture #Workplace #WorkplaceCulture #RepresentationMatters #PiL2024 #PiLConference2024

🎄✨ It was fantastic to gather with clients from across the Southwest legal market at the People in Law Christmas Recruitment Roundup at VWV today and share an overview of the past year 🎉🤝   A big thank you to everyone who joined us and got involved (and even for the heckling Craig D. and Chris Watling!) Thanks as always to Sarah Cook, Lorraine Stevens, Sarah Underhill and Sarah Morton for inviting Harriet Chapman and I and an extra special thanks to Toby Tompkins for bringing his moustache! 👨 Looking forward to working with you all in 2025! 🌟 #lawfirm #legallife Hays #UKSG25

As always, we had a great time last week at the People in Law Conference 2024👏 It is an event we are proud to sponsor, as each year it offers a great opportunity to catch up with your network and hear from legal leaders across the industry discussing key topics and sharing their knowledge. Here are a few snapshots from the event 📸 and well done to Totum's Briony Jenkins for her guest keynote appearance. #PeopleinLaw #LegalLeaders #LegalExcellence

Really engaging People in Law Conference panel with Juliet Oliver and Shelley Holmes, MBA, CMgr FCMI, MCIPD chaired by CM Murray LLP’s brilliant partner and general counsel Beth Hale discussing trends in law, including the use of NDAs, workplace environments (and specifically the change to the SRA rules requiring firms to ensure employees are treated fairly and with respect), sexual misconduct cases, and upcoming legislative changes. Some key takeaways: - there has been an increase in reports to the SRA about bullying and respect and an increase in reports relating to comments about polarised political issues following the change in SRA rules 18 months ago. - Employers should be making sure they have robust systems in place for recruitment, performance management ahead of introduction of the Employment Rights Bill which will among other things introduce day one unfair dismissal rights - heightened scrutiny on the use of NDAs and their potential for repressing reporting of harassment. Companies should start with the purpose of the agreement and have the drafting follow rather than rely on templates and not be overly wide. Failure to use NDAs appropriate may lead to government intervention such as making the steps in SRA’s warning notice on NDAs a statutory requirement or possibly a ban similar to those seen in other jurisdictions like California and New York. #PILCONF24

Research highlights, insights and ideas for evolving your approach to performance and feedback delivered by Ray D'Cruz at the #PILCONF24 Real opportunity for #lawfirms to better exploit on-the-job matter/project based feedback benefits seen in the accounting sector. ….and more broadly giving feedback at the end of projects to business services professionals as a whole. Summary report of the key findings coming in early 2025. Contact us at Performance Leader for your free copy! #highperformance #feedback #professionalservices

Just heading home after a really interesting day at the People in Law Conference. Sessions covered the future of DEI, Gen Z: threat or opportunity (you’ll be pleased to hear the conclusion was opportunity!) and social mobility - with fascinating insights from Sophie Pender This is always such a great event and I’ve left with plenty of ideas to take back and discuss with colleagues at Gowling WLG #PILCONF24 #gowlingwlg

Fabulous day out with Helen Wagstaff and Emma Richardson at the People in Law Conference 2024!! Thank you both 🫶🏼 #PILCONF24

Had a fantastic time at the People in Law Conference in London this past week. It was great to connect with colleagues, old and new, to discuss the rapid change and new opportunities facing law firms today in the UK and globally. A special thanks to the People in Law team and to keynote speaker Simon Lancaster for his inspiring talk about speaking like a leader. He shared practical yet powerful insights about how to amplify leadership through speech using story-telling, repetition and metaphors. Until next year! #pilconf24 #peopleinlaw