Please note: this event has passed
Following the success of our previous talk (linked at the bottom of this page) on Essential Skills for Future Lawyers, the Professional Law Institute is delighted to announce a special follow-up event.
In this session, our extended panel of industry experts, comprising Nigel Spencer (Senior Client Director, Said Business School), Meera Ferguson (Deputy General Counsel, Adecco), Kathryn Rousin (Global Director of Learning & Development at White & Case) and Roger Parker (independent consultant and former Managing Partner Asia-PAC at Reed Smith LLP) will take your questions on the skills needed for legal practice in the 21st century.
All are welcome to this talk, whether you are a student or a practising lawyer. We aim to answer as many questions as possible, drawing on the rich experience of our panellists.
This talk will take place virtually via Microsoft Teams Live. The event link will be sent to you prior to the event.
Speaker Bios:
Nigel Spencer: Nigel specialises in leadership development within the professional service sector. This includes future legal career paths, embedding executive coaching in organisations, and the development of degree programmes. Prior to joining Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, Nigel spent 20 years in professional services. Initially he was in a client-facing role at PwC. Latterly, he held Global Director of Learning and Development roles at two global law firms. He also led the creation of the first ‘Innovation Hub’ in a global law firm. He has also held board roles at higher education research institutes and at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He is a Visiting (Industry) Professor at the School of Law, Queen Mary University, London. Formerly, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. Nigel has a BA and PhD from London University.
Roger Parker: Roger is an Institute of Leadership and Management Level 5 accredited coach and mentor. He is a Centre of Dispute Resolution accredited mediator and LLB (Hons), UCL. As well as extensive cross-border legal and management experience Roger has sat as a non-executive on the boards of insurance and media services companies and the Committee of the City of London Law Society. Roger participates in the 30% Club mentoring scheme. As a solicitor at Richards Butler, Roger drove the merger with Reed Smith to create one of the largest legal businesses in the world. As a member of the combined firm’s Senior Management Team for 10 years and Managing Partner EMEA, Roger laid the foundations for significant growth in European and Asia markets and managed Reed Smith’s $400m legal services business for EurAsia. Roger is a market leader in professional services thinking and implementation.
Meera Ferguson is Deputy General Counsel at The Adecco Group . She is a City trained lawyer with over 20 years in-house experience. As Adecco’s Deputy General Counsel, has management and operational delivery of the UK’s legal function across a multi branded organisation, which include companies such as Badenoch & Clark, Spring, and Office Angels.
She has a ‘People First’ approach to training legal professionals and equipping them with the right skills to work in-house and be key business partners.
Kathryn Rousin is an Advisory Board member and former co-chair of the IBA’s Academic and Professional Development Committee.
Kathryn is the Global Director of Learning & Development at White & Case, responsible for leadership and management training and coaching worldwide. She has 20 years' experience in global leadership roles in Talent Management and Learning & Development in the legal sector. Kathryn qualified as a solicitor in England & Wales, practising in Mergers and Acquisitions at two international firms before moving into talent management and learning and development. Kathryn has a BA and MA in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford in the UK, Postgraduate Diplomas in Law and Legal Practice from the University of Law in the UK, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Organizational Leadership from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
