About

With the Post Office Scandal on every lawyer’s mind, some important questions are being raised about the potential challenges to the independence of the legal function, particularly in financial services now that non-financial misconduct falls within the regulator’s remit. This session will look at some practical insights into what you should be thinking in discussions with your superiors and how in-house lawyers can maintain and protect their independence:

• Discussing the role of in-house lawyers in upholding high standards of ethics and integrity within their organisation, independently of the views of the exec team and the board.
• As a GC, who is your ultimate client? If you see the board going into a direction that conflicts with the values of the company, what do you do?
• Creating a legal team that is empowered and not afraid to say no and to challenge decisions that don’t feel right.
• What frameworks and guidelines do you need to have in place in order to create safe spaces for lawyers to speak out when something doesn’t look right?
• What more should regulators do to properly support in-house lawyers in asserting their independence?