IBA Annual Conference Toronto 2025
2 Nov - 7 Nov 2025
Session information
A "distributed" legal function - how to manage a modern corporate legal service
Wednesday 5 November (0930 - 1045)
Committee(s)
Corporate Counsel Forum
(Lead)
Alternative and New Law Business Structures Committee
IBA Professional Wellbeing Commission
Professional Ethics Committee
Description
As more in-house lawyers demand remote or hybrid work environments, how does the structure of the legal function change? Can law firms profit from the shift away from an expectation that a company's lawyers will be located and interacting in fixed physical locations? Will the rise of the “fractional GC” and other types of non-traditional legal service providers become more embedded in the legal services ecosystem?
Some of the challenges that will be discussed include:
- Preserving confidentiality;
- recruiting, training, and mentoring;
- are remote lawyers more subject to burnout?;
- maintaining productivity without intrusive measures;
- sustaining the culture of the company and the legal department;
- are remote lawyers at risk of being phased out in favour of seconded law firm lawyers or other external resources?;
- how can law firms position themselves to provide the flexible, dedicated legal resources companies need?
Speakers
| Daniel Asiedu | Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited, Accra, Ghana |
| Caroline Leduc | Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Montréal, Québec, Canada |
| Felix J Montero | PEREZ-LLORCA, Madrid, Spain |
| Rosina Muller Bernar | RIC Energy, Madrid, Spain; Student Initiatives, Young Lawyers' Committee |