The Event

Over 300,000 people work in the almost 10,000 law firms that operate in England & Wales. These lawyers and their firms do a whole range of work; from counselling individuals at their most vulnerable moments to effecting multi-billion pound transactions all over the world. Their work has a variety of legal, societal and economic impacts. The independence of those lawyers and their firms can sometimes see legal service providers as neutral mechanics sitting in-between their clients and the state. That professional independence might be thought to curtail the agency of lawyers and firms to form and express views on the pressing issues of the day. But is this right? Can lawyers and firms have those sort of opinions? And, if they can, how might those law firms actually give a voice to values?

The Speakers

In this seminar, Steven Vaughan (Professor of Law and Professional Ethics, UCL Faculty of Laws) and Sarah de Gay (Visiting Professor, UCL Faculty of Laws) will be exploring these important and timely questions in conversation with:

• Sue Garrard (a leading sustainability strategist, Chair of Trustees at the independent not-for-profit A Blueprint for Better Business and former EVP Sustainable Business and Communications at Unilever);
• Dr Henrietta Hughes OBE (until recently the NHS’s National Guardian, responsible for making speaking up business as usual across the NHS following the Francis Inquiry); and
• Jeff Twentyman (a Corporate/M&A partner of Slaughter and May and Head of Sustainability)