IHLS sponsors the Law Society Conference In-House Network Conference

On 3 July 2025 IHLS were joint sponsors of the Law Society’s In-House Network conference titled “The In-House Tightrope – Balancing Independence and Influence”, held at the Law Society’s Chancery Lane base in London.

The conference explored the issues in-house lawyers face when balancing their ethical duties to uphold the SRA Principles in their daily work, alongside their responsibilities to their employer following the Law Society’s recent release of its In-House Ethics Framework.  In-house lawyers play a unique role in a business given the regulated nature of the profession and this is something that is not always clearly understood by employers, which can lead to conflict when dealing with challenging situations where the lines between what is best for the business and what is in line with a solicitor’s ethical values become strained.  The conference also provided guidance on how to carry out this important role whilst maintaining influence with the business and how to strengthen a general counsel’s impact and influence on the senior management team and at board level.

Brian Noon and Lauren Cannon hosted a breakout session at the conference titled “A New Horizon – Embedding Ethics into your Legal Team” which saw the team walk through a case study of an ethical situation that could arise within a business, and the group discussed the issues arising and what steps to take at various stages.  There was then a detailed discussion on how to embed strong ethical values into a legal team and the business in which it sits, and Brian and Lauren took the delegates through a suggested plan of actions that could be taken back and employed by the delegates in their teams.

Brian Noon commented that

“The event was a real moment where in-house lawyers could come together and trade stories of issues that had arisen in their experiences in-house, and learn ways to manage these issues whilst further strengthening their influence and independence within the businesses in which they work”.

Lauren Cannon noted that

“The lawyers in the room were very receptive to the messages that were being discussed, and there were some interesting conversations about how IHLS can help with advice and training in this area”.