lEGAL innovation forum
financial services infocus
A series of small forums to be held in New York, Toronto and London will bring together financial services (banks, funds) and insurance firms’ legal teams, LegalTech companies and other legal sector service providers focused on the FS space.
Each forum will cover the specific, unique challenges facing legal practitioners in the financial services industry. It will also outline the role of the legal department in the wider organization and market and how it is evolving, and help participants to define, develop and implement strategies to ensure they are innovating and delivering value for their organizations in the face of rapid change.
In response to these drivers and trends covered, we will review core legal technology solutions available to address these challenges specifically. We will also cover areas of ways that legal departments are aligning with the business and how they are managing the triumvirate of people, process and tech to deliver results.
OVERVIEW
What’s different about LIF InFocus events is that we aim to create a market of focused sellers and buyers of legal technology and services. In effect, a buyers club matching best in class technology and services targeted specifically for problem sets faced by legal departments in financial services firms.
The outcome is of equal value for both sides: buyers will be presented with solutions that are specific to their needs and pre-vetted. Sellers will be able to connect with focused buyers, decreasing the cost of sale and increasing connections with genuine, targeted leads.
To be accepted as a seller we will apply our methodology of cross checking technology + service based solutions with our expert panel of thought leaders to ensure their value to end users in FS firms. We will also cross check seller’s solution sets through our LIF specific frameworks, ensuring they are uniquely placed to support solutions to challenges faced by financial services firms’ legal departments.
partner curation
Event Outline
Full day events held in New York, Toronto + London in 2024
50 high level decision makers from financial service sector legal departments (GC, AGC, senior legal operations leaders) participating in each event.
Content of the program will be focused on key challenges facing FS legal departments: contracts through the lens of the business and events cycle, mastering regulation and operational efficiency
Format will be composed of fireside chats, presentations and group discussions.
STRUCTURE
WHY ATTEND?
Practical, problem-focused content for today’s legal department
We explore the most pressing current issues and emerging threats facing legal departments (and their leaders) at financial institutions, and the role of technology in addressing these challenges
Learn from real-world use cases - such as dealing with regulatory challenges and black swan events - with practical insights to inform future strategies
Leave with an understanding of how to leverage technology - not just for efficiency - but for minimizing and managing legal risks effectively
The right people in the room
The forum is specifically tailored for those tasked with strategizing about risk - including GCs and tech/process experts looking for a collaborative, holistic approach to risk management
Engage with peers from the buy and sell sides of financial services, and gain insights into new tech that will help your legal department evolve and stay ahead of the curve
Explore how to integrate risk analysis (the strength of law firms) with technology and process improvements for greater scalability and speed
The ideal environment for productive conversations
With a limited number of attendees (no more than 50, including vendors and experts), the forum format ensures meaningful interactions and direct engagement with speakers and experts
Enjoy a safe, collaborative environment under Chatham House Rule, promoting open and honest discussions about shared challenges and solutions
By avoiding the typical pay-to-play format, we ensure speakers and vendors are chosen for their expertise and quality - not their marketing budgets
dates
themes
CONTRACTS THROUGH THE BUSINESS CYCLE LENS
Deal acceleration (Boom economy)
Deal acceleration is a prime business focus for legal departments in financial services firms during an economic upturn. In order to meet accelerated targets, successful practitioners will be those who focus on leveraging advanced processes and technology to support swift reviews of third-party paper, rapid scanning of negotiation drafts, and the data analysis to support the business.
Risk analysis (Bust economy)
In a downturn: crisis management requires understanding rapidly and well how to deal with counterparty risk, force majeure events and other problems correlated with crashing markets. FS legal departments must assess contracts diligently to uncover key risks to the business - including reputational risk, regulatory compliance, and cyber risk. Legal and compliance may also need to scramble to remediate contract issues.
Portfolio optimization (Recovery economy)
A recovering economy is the one time where a legal department is not under boom or crisis pressure, and presents an opportunity for legal departments to catch their breath. This is the time to reflect on lessons learned and improve and optimize processes and technology in preparation for the next deluge. Focus here becomes better interoperability and integration with
processes and systems outside of the legal department, as well as . a thorough examination of negotiation systems and playbooks. This is also an opportunity to replace legacy systems with new technology and emerging ones.
CONTRACTS THROUGH THE EVENT LENS
Black Swan events
Black swan events, such as the COVID 19 pandemic, Russia’s war on the Ukraine, or financial crises, such as Lehman - and more recently smaller events like SVB and Credit Suisse’s demise following the collapse of Archegos Capital - can have immediate and long-term effects on financial services firms, causing business disruption, risk and supply chain challenges. Defining, developing and implementing a strategy to prepare and address such events is a core responsibility for legal departments to protect against franchise risk.
Regulatory efforts
Major regulatory changes are often implemented in the wake of a black swans, such as the Dodd-Frank, and the Great Recession. Additional regulatory efforts can continue to generate work that stretches across years: for example, margin rules implementation, LIBOR remediation, and recently the Private Funds Rule.
Other regulatory efforts emerge over time from long evolving problems:
Cybersecurity standards are ramping up in addition to growing work for security and technology departments and have substantial implications for legal contracting and event response.
Climate change response generates legal work in supply chain and disclosure review
M&A Activity
Contract diligence has not gone away, with cost and time pressure only getting worse over time.
