City of London Law Society and City of London Corporation to convene the City's legal leaders for the inaugural "City Law Senior Leaders Conference"

The City of London Law Society (CLLS) and the City of London Corporation will bring together senior leaders from across the legal sector at the Guildhall on Tuesday 15 September 2026 for the inaugural City Law Senior Leaders Conference. The Conference will be a focused, high-level examination of the forces shaping London law. 

The conference will be held under the theme "The London Law Imperative: Potential, pressures and priorities shaping City Law" - which reflects a defining moment for the sector. Across markets, technology, regulation and talent, City firms are navigating rising complexity while working to sustain performance, culture and client trust. The day is designed to give leaders the space to assess where the market stands today, to confront the pressures and opportunities now emerging, and to weigh the strategic choices that will define the sector's next phase. 

London is the world's pre-eminent centre for legal services and a cornerstone of the UK's standing as a global hub for business, finance and dispute resolution. The London Law Imperative places that strength, and the decisions needed to protect and build on itat the centre of the agenda. 

Structured as a senior peer exchange - a series of practical discussions rather than set-piece speeches - the programme will move across the issues most pressing for firm leaders. These range from the changing business of City law, from financial performance and leverage models to the rise of private equity and the continued expansion of US firms in London, to what clients now value most and where firms are still falling short; from the rule of law and responsible practice, and what recent events mean for the profession in practice, to how artificial intelligence will, and will not, reshape the law firm model; and, finally, the talent equation - culture, wellbeing, career pathways and the expectations of a new generation of lawyers. 

The programme will include a feature from a Senior Government official on the Government's growth agenda and the importance of City law to the UK's competitiveness and global position, and by a panel discussion on London's role as a leading world business hub. 

Reflecting the breadth of the issues under discussion, the Conference will convene some of the most senior voices from across the City's wider legal ecosystem. From the in-house community, Chris Allen, General Counsel of HSBC and Global General Counsel of HSBC's Corporate & Institutional Banking business; Ajneet Jassey, General Counsel of Lloyds; and Rachel Walker, Group General Counsel of Canary Wharf Group will be joined by Emma Williams, General Counsel of Simmons & Simmons and Chair of LawCare. They will sit alongside Sarah Rapson, Chief Executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority; Dr Jan Van Zyl Smit, Director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law; and Flora Page KC, Chair of the Institute of Business Ethics. The Conference will also bring in voices from the technology and investment communities reshaping the sector, including Joe Cohen, Legal Innovation Partner at Harvey, and Henry Goodwin, Partner at Leo Capital, alongside leading commentators on the profession including John Hyde of the Law Society Gazette and Benjamin White, Founder of Crafty Counsel.  They will be joined by a series of CLLS member law firm senior and managing partners. 

Colin Passmore, Chairman of the City of London Law Society, said: "London is the world's leading centre for legal services, and the strength of City law is inseparable from the strength of the UK economy and its standing on the global stage. This is a moment that calls for honesty about the pressures we face - from technology and regulation to talent and trust — and for clarity about the choices ahead. That is the imperative behind this conference: to come together as a sector, take an unflinching look at where we stand, and make the decisions that will define the next decade. I can think of no better place than Guildhall to have that conversation." 

Patrick McCann, Chief Executive of the City of London Law Society, said: "City law firms are economic powerhouses - but they are also responsible contributors to the society and the rule of law on which all of us depend. The questions this conference asks are the ones keeping leaders awake at night: how to lead through pressure, how to deliver what clients genuinely value, how AI reshapes our work, and how we build firms that the next generation of lawyers actually want to join. This is not a day of polished speeches. It is a candid, senior peer exchange designed to send leaders back to their firms genuinely better equipped to act." 

The conference programme will continue to evolve over the coming months to ensure the discussion reflects the most current issues facing the sector. 

Further information, including session details and registration, will be available via the CLLS website at www.clls.org. 

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NOTES TO EDITORS 

The City of London Law Society is the professional representative body for solicitors and law firms in the City of London, including all the largest national and international practitioners. Our membership takes in more than 22,000 solicitors and 70 corporate member firms. 

For further information please contact Omeet Atara (Panterra) on +44 7387107136 

or omeet.atara@panterra.global  and visit clls.org.