These 3 Spring Conferences Are Worth Your Time

Many global in-house counsel realize that their workload allows little time for deep thinking—the theme of my April 28 column. One remedy is to participate in conferences or roundtables with peers, where you can reflect as you gather valuable information and views that widen your perspective. Three excellent conferences designed for global in-house counsel are coming up in the next three weeks, and I have the rare opportunity to be speaking at all three of them.

Here’s a preview, with tips at the end on how to reap the greatest benefits from your conference experience.

The Association of Corporate Counsel Europe’s Annual Conference – May 22-24, Rome

The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Europe Annual Conference, taking place in Rome next week, is a top conference in the region for corporate counsel in international roles. This year’s program looks excellent, with an impressive range of speakers. More than 450 in-house counsel are registered to participate, and they come from many countries in Europe and farther afield.

Corporate counsel leader and ACCE Conference chair Janice More told me that the theme—“be the best in-house lawyer you can be”—sums up the conference objective. Veta Richardson, president and CEO of ACC, comments, “Today’s chief legal officers serve their companies in three capacities: leader of the law department, counselor in chief and business strategist. These three roles require a diverse skill set, which we will address at the 2016 ACC Europe conference, where we have added a focus on leadership qualities, emotional intelligence, and other ‘soft skills’ to our legal and regulatory updates.”

The sessions focus on must-have skills for in-house counsel at all levels, looking to maximise their careers:

a) Lead Yourself (soft skills and individual behaviors);

b) Lead the Business (what your business colleagues and corporate leaders expect key for aspiring in-house leaders–a key topic for aspiring in-house counsel); and

c) Lead the Law (updates on significant areas of law of interest to in-house lawyers).

More said, “We believe the conference offers the opportunity to maximise talents, become self- aware and learn how to improve important skills.”

The Transatlantic General Counsel Summit – June 7, London