IBA Annual Conference Toronto 2025
2 Nov - 7 Nov 2025
Session information
Personality paradigms- managing law firm risks and driving commercial success
Tuesday 4 November (1430 - 1600)
Committee(s)
Regulation of Lawyers Committee
(Lead)
IBA Legal Policy & Research Unit
IBA Professional Wellbeing Commission
Law Firm Management Committee
Description
The panel will explore the relationship between the commercial success of law firms and risk management, but with a particular emphasis on exploring some of the aspects of lawyers’ personalities which give rise to both risks and opportunities. Scientific research by Dr Larry Richard, whom we propose to invite to join the panel, shows that lawyers display various outlying personality traits, such as low resilience and high levels of scepticism. Many risks for law firms, including financial mismanagement, ethical breaches, poor client service and well-being issues start with human behaviour and at the root of almost all commercial risks is a person’s mindset. Understanding and developing programmes and policies to take account of this is key to successful law firm culture and ultimately drives commercial success, leads to improvements in well-being and fosters and inclusive environment.
Session / Workshop Chair(s)
| Fergal Cathie | Clyde & Co, London, England; Co-Chair, Regulation of Lawyers Committee |
| Stephen Revell | Making Change Happen , London, England; PPID/SPPI Representative, LPD Council |
Speakers
| Babatunde Ajibade SAN | SPA Ajibade & Co, Lagos, Nigeria; SPPI Chair |
| Jaime Carey | Carey y Cia, Santiago, Chile; IBA President |
| Jan Dernestam | Mannheimer Swartling, Stockholm, Sweden; Member, Law Firm Management Committee Advisory Board |
| Tracy Kepler | CNA Insurance, Chicago, Illinois, USA; Commissioner, IBA Professional Wellbeing Commission |
| Larry Richard | Lawyer Brain, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Carola Van den Bruinhorst | Phyleon Leadership & Governance , Amsterdam, Netherlands; Immediate Past Chair of the LPD |