
LegalEdCon North 2020
— In association with Manchester Law Society —
LegalEdCon North took place at The Lowry Media City, Manchester, on Thursday 30 January 2020, from 8:30am until 6pm. We’ll be announcing the date for next year shortly
LegalEdCon North focuses on the education and training needs of law firms with a significant presence in the North as they prepare for the introduction of the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE) in 2021. We’ll be considering the perspectives of northern-headquartered national firms, global law firms’ northshoring offices and medium-sized and smaller practices, while gauging the thoughts of legal academics at universities across the North of England and beyond.
Who will be there? Check out the list of organisations attending LegalEdCon North here.
Topics that will be covered include:
- The SQE: probing the potential of new innovative graduate course delivery models, while exploring the wider opportunities that the SQE shake-up is creating to change legal education and training for the better;
- The intersection between apprenticeships and the SQE;
- How technology training can be embedded into legal education to help shape the lawyers of the future;
- Mental health and wellbeing: challenges for trainees and junior lawyers;
- Diversity and inclusion: improving access to the profession.
Details of the Future of Legal Education and Training Conference London, which takes place at Kings Place, Kings Cross, on Thursday 14 May 2020, can be found here.
Speakers

Julie Brannan
Head of Education and Training, SRA

Crispin Passmore
Founder and Principal, Passmore Consulting

Professor Claire McGourlay
Professor of Legal Education, University of Manchester

Clare Collins
Head of Learning & Development, DWF

Professor Andrew Francis
Head of Manchester Law School

Matthew Taylor
President of Manchester Law Society, and Partner at Eversheds Sutherland

Georgie Yates
Solicitor Apprentice, BBC

Isabel Parker
Chief Innovation Officer, Freshfields

Victoria Cromwell
Director of UK Programmes, BARBRI

Steve Threlfall
Consulting Director (Legal Training), Fletchers

Ceri Evans
Head of Apprenticeships, The University of Law

Professor Scott Slorach
Director of Learning and Teaching, University of York Law School

Siobhán Taylor-Ward
Justice First Fellow and Solicitor at Merseyside Law Centre and Committee Member of the Young Legal Aid Lawyers

Matthew Homewood
Head of Department and Associate Professor, Nottingham Law School

Mark Potkewitz
Director of the Ulster Centre for Legal Innovation

Tim Hillier
Head of Leicester De Montfort Law School Undergraduate Programmes

Dr Giles Proctor
CEO of The College of Legal Practice

Bruce Humphrey
Head of Operations for Legal Apprenticeships at BPP

Adam Hattersley
Executive Member of the Junior Lawyers Division (and Associate at Fieldfisher)

Matthew Flanagan
Chair of Manchester Young Solicitors Group (and solicitor at Knights)

Olivia Balson
Global Centre Director, Freshfields, Manchester

Shez Anjum
Chair of the Manchester Trainee Solicitors Group (and trainee solicitor at JMW)

Dr Emma Jones
Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Sheffield

Emma McDowell
Head of Client Services, F-LEX

Megan Capper
Solicitor Apprentice at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Manchester

Kurtis Windrow
Legal Technologist & Solicitor Apprentice at Eversheds Sutherland

Stephanie Barrett
Head of eDiscovery at Herbert Smith Freehills

Professor Stuart Cross
Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Dundee

Kayleigh Leonie
Trustee of LawCare and Author of The Law Society’s Guidance on Supporting Wellbeing in the Workplace

Elizabeth Rimmer
CEO of LawCare

Chris O’Connor
Head of Segment and Product marketing, LexisNexis

Michelle Garlick
Partner, Weightmans

Dr Libby Artingstall
Forensic psychiatrist, Team Mental Health

Dr Kryss Macleod
LLB Programme Director, Manchester Law School

Amanda Hedayati
Dean of ULaw Manchester
The full list of organisations attending the Conference can be found here.
Sponsors
Headline sponsors
Silver sponsors
Additional sponsors
Tickets
Early Bird
£Sold out
Second Release
£Sold out
Third Release
£Sold out
Final release
£Sold out
This event is for professionals. Students interesting in attending the Conference free of charge should contact us about becoming part of Legal Cheek's campus ambassador programme.
Schedule
8:30am
Networking breakfast
9:15am
Opening remarks
9:20am
New pathways: Legal apprenticeships and the SQE
10:30am
Networking break, with coffee and snacks
10:50am
Embedding tech in legal education and training
12:00pm
Networking lunch
12:00pm
Law firm hub leaders' lunch – with F-LEX
1:00pm
The SQE: reimagining qualifying as a lawyer – Part 1
2:00pm
The SQE: reimagining qualifying as a lawyer – Part 2
3:00pm
Networking break, with coffee and snacks
3:30pm
Mental health and wellbeing in law
3:30pm
Diversity and inclusion: Access to the legal profession
4:45pm
Closing keynote
5:30pm
Post-Conference drinks
Highlights from last year
Photos from Legal Cheek's Future of Legal Education and Training Conference 2019 at Kings Place, London.
Posted by Legal Cheek on Monday, September 2, 2019
About the sponsors
BARBRI
BARBRI has over 50 years’ proven expertise in preparing Trainees to succeed in the SQE. The SQE assessment requires a breadth of knowledge in one multiple-choice exam not previously experienced in the law degree, GDL or LPC. Only BARBRI has the experience to prepare graduates to succeed in this style of assessment. BARBRI supports law firms, universities and graduates by investing in a new pathway to qualification and creating a generation of innovative, adaptable and diverse lawyers.
Manchester Law School
One of the UK’s largest law schools, the Manchester Law School is an important part of the legal and educational life of Manchester, with more than 1,400 current students and over 20,000 graduates across the globe. We have strong working links with leading law firms, including Addleshaw Goddard, Browne Jacobson, Slater and Gordon, DWF, barristers’ chambers and employers across a number of sectors. Our mission to transform lives, businesses and communities is underpinned by key research strengths in fundamental and commercial rights (particularly sports law), alongside innovative teaching developments around digital lawyering, ethics and professional resilience. Find out more here.
The College of Legal Practice
The College of Law is an educational charity and is the largest provider of practice-focused legal education in Australasia. The College of Legal Practice in the UK was established in April 2019 by The College of Law with Professor Nigel Savage (Past President of the University of Law, former Hefce Board member, and TDAP committee member) as CEO. The College of Legal Practice’s expertise in online, modular, practice based legal training is perfectly placed to deliver legal training urgently needed as a result of the radical changes with the launch of the SQE to replace the GDL and LPC.
Our mission in the UK is the same as for Australasia - to enhance the careers of legal professionals through the delivery of innovative, practice-focused legal education and training. The College of Legal Practice is building on the work established by The College of Law Australia over 45 years with leading law firms in the UK.
The University of Law
The University of Law (ULaw) is one of the UK's longest-established specialist providers of legal education, with a rich heritage and reputation for innovation. ULaw boasts over 250 tutors who are qualified lawyers and bring their extensive practical experience to the classroom, as well as a track record in impressive employment and pupillage rates. Find out why more practising lawyers in the UK have studied with ULaw than anyone else here.
BPP University Law School
We build and shape legal careers. With over 25 years’ experience in delivering professional legal qualifications, we are proud to be one of the UK’s leading law schools. At the forefront of innovation in legal training, we are trusted by some of the most influential law firms, with 60 leading firms training with us exclusively. Our courses focus on employability, giving our students the edge to secure a training contract or pupillage. Preparing them to embrace the demands of practice from day one. Find out more.
Nottingham Law School
Nottingham Law School is one of the leading providers of academic and professional legal education in the country with an established national and international reputation for excellence in legal education, and a record of delivering innovative and transformational courses. We are one of the largest law schools in the UK, offering a range of undergraduate degrees, academic and practitioner taught postgraduate courses. With our established research centres, close links with the legal sector, and a multi-award-winning teaching law firm, Nottingham Law School is at the forefront of modern legal education. Find out more here.
LexisNexis
LexisNexis Legal & Professional is a leading global provider of legal, regulatory and business information and analytics that help customers increase productivity, improve decision-making and outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world.
We help lawyers win cases, manage their work more efficiently, serve their clients better and grow their practices. We assist corporations in better understanding their markets, monitoring their brands and competition, and in mitigating business risk. We collaborate with universities to educate students, and we support nation-building with governments and courts by making laws accessible and strengthening legal infrastructures. We partner with leading global associations and customers to collect evidence against war criminals and provide tools to combat human trafficking. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 130 countries with 10,000 employees worldwide, is part of RELX Group, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries.
Leicester De Montfort Law School
Leicester De Montfort Law School supports over 2,000 law students, balancing world-leading research, outstanding professional legal education and a comprehensive approach to flexible and traditional learning. From the timeless courtrooms in the Great Hall of Leicester Castle to the latest practitioner software, it offers some of the most distinctive facilities for legal study. With a new suite of postgraduate and professional programmes designed to support the future of legal practice, its focus on effective, evidence-based practice and law reform make it one of the most forward-thinking providers in the UK.
LawCare
LawCare is an independent charity offering emotional support, information and training to the legal community in the UK and Ireland. We work to promote good mental health and wellbeing in legal workplaces and drive change in education, training and practice. Our support service offers a safe place to talk without judgment. We’re here to help, with helpline calls, emails and webchats answered in confidence by trained staff and volunteers who have first-hand experience of working in the law. We also have a network of peer supporters. If you need to talk call our free, independent and confidential helpline on 0800 279 6888, email support@lawcare.org.uk or visit www.lawcare.org.uk.
STEM Future Lawyers
STEM Future Lawyers is the UK's network for science, technology, engineering & maths students and graduates who are interested in pursuing a career in the law. We help connect the best STEM students and graduates with the UK offices of the world's leading law firms through our panel discussions, Q&As and networking sessions. Drawing upon relationships with over 60 elite firms and chambers, our objective is to facilitate the recruitment of students with the skills to bridge the gap between high-level legal practice and cutting-edge technological innovation.