March 27
The Lawyer's Legal Transformation Summit: Key Takeaways
Industry Insights
Ronnie Emanuel
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During The Lawyers’ 2025 Legal Transformation Summit, our Head of Strategic Partnerships, James Lewindon, and Client Account Executive, Ronnie Emanuel, hosted two insightful roundtable discussions on Aligning Workforce Transformation Strategies, with valuable takeaways for both in-house and private practice. Ronnie also contributed to key discussions, providing her knowledge and predictions for the future of legal workforce transformation.
The day began with an inspiring keynote speech from Matthew Syed, who encouraged attendees to embrace diversity of thinking. He shared compelling examples from both sports and business, illustrating how organisations that foster a culture of learning from mistakes ultimately achieve growth and success. Crucially, he argued that true diversity of thought requires diverse viewpoints, which can only be achieved through inclusive hiring and talent development strategies.
Key roundtable takeaways
Building a collaborative legal ecosystem
The first roundtable discussion explored how in-house legal teams can drive a more integrated legal provider ecosystem. A major theme was the need for cross-pollination of experiences through talent-sharing initiatives, including:- Consultants, secondees, and trainees - expanding learning opportunities and fostering collaboration.
- Reverse secondments - enabling greater exposure to different working environments and best practices.
- Joint learning sessions - bringing legal operations teams together to discuss legal tech, AI, and innovative talent strategies.
Rethinking talent pipelines and career progression
Many legal teams are re-evaluating traditional hiring and career progression models. Key insights included:- A shift away from PQE as a measure of experience, recognising that in-house legal work differs fundamentally from law firm progression models.
- Expanding entry points into legal teams through apprenticeships, SQE traineeships, and internal secondments.
- Demonstrating return on investment (ROI) in hiring, particularly by using junior talent across multiple functions within in-house teams to optimise costs.
The role of culture in driving change
Workforce transformation is not just about process change, but about empowering people. Many organisations focus too heavily on operational workflows, overlooking the fundamental importance of creating the right culture and team structures. The discussion underscored the need to:- Prioritise upskilling to enable professionals to drive change effectively.
- Build knowledge-sharing networks beyond traditional law firm relationships, leveraging diverse communities and legal networks.
- Engage with alternative legal service providers (ALSPs), who already embody a strong culture of collaboration and can offer valuable partnership opportunities.
Conclusion: The future of legal workforce transformation
A standout sentiment from the day came from our very own Ronnie Emanuel, who summed up the discussion perfectly: “Talent is transformation.” This encapsulates the evolving nature of legal work, where success is no longer defined by rigid structures but by adaptability, collaboration, and a commitment to developing legal professionals in innovative ways.At Flex Legal, we are committed to helping legal teams navigate workforce transformation by providing flexible talent solutions that drive meaningful change. If you’d like to explore how we can support your team in aligning workforce strategies with business needs, get in touch with us via the button below.