Managing a law firm in Africa: future-proofing your law firm

Stephen specialises in privatisations, and debt and equity securities offerings, especially those with cross-border elements, and has worked on listings on over 15 different stock exchanges. He also has extensive experience of cross-border M&A transactions and advising on regulatory and corporate governance issues. Stephen regularly trains boards on corporate governance best practice. Stephen has acted for buyers, sellers, targets, financial advisers and management boards, and sees issues from all perspectives. He has broad sector experience and, as a 'hands-on' partner, gets fully involved in all drafting and negotiations. Known for his global perspective and local knowledge, Stephen has practised in the United States, throughout Europe and in Asia, working on transactions in over 50 countries.

Isabel has spent her career consistently pushing the boundaries and driving change in the legal profession. She has a particular interest in legal digital transformation, and is currently the Executive Director of The Digital Legal Exchange, a not-for-profit working with GCs of leading corporations to accelerate the digital transformation of corporate legal function. Before this, Isabel spent 24 years at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, as a finance lawyer and as Chief Legal Innovation Officer and Head of Knowledge, shaping the firm’s digital transformation strategy. During her tenure as Chief Legal Innovation Officer, Freshfields was named the Most Innovative Law Firm in Europe in 2019. Isabel was herself listed as one of the top 10 innovative lawyers in the FT Innovative Lawyers Report for 2018 and as a winner in the professional services category in the European Women of Legal Tech Awards 2020. Isabel is passionate about practical, technology-focussed legal education and is a board member of the College of Legal Practice. She sits on a number of committees focussed on legal tech adoption, including the City of London Corporation Legal Tech Steering Group and is a mentor for the University of Oxford’s Law and Computer Science Programme. Isabel’s first book “Successful Digital Transformation in Law Firms: a question of culture” was published by Globe Law and Business in November 2021, and she is Editor of the Modern Lawyer journal.