Working with KM/L&D Partners, Professional Support Lawyers and the Knowledge and Information Services team, Carol has led several firm-wide business improvement programmes and client support initiatives. These have included introduction and updating of tools and processes for KM in 2008 and 2023, value added services in 2011 and 2023 and UKAS-accredited certifications for ISO 9001, 27001 and 22301 in 2017.
Helen joined the Civil Service in 2021 in a new role as Head of Legal Excellence in the Knowledge and Innovation Group at the Government Legal Department (GLD). A specialist in knowledge management and legal learning, Helen is supporting the delivery of GLD’s knowledge, capability and innovation strategy by developing the knowledge and legal learning strategy. She also drives efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of our legal knowledge and legal learning activities across GLD.
Helen began her legal career as a commercial lawyer at Eversheds LLP, and her first knowledge management role was as a Professional Support Lawyer role at Blake Lapthorn LLP. Following this, she moved in-house and managed the knowledge management and training agendas for BAE Systems plc and then Diageo plc.
The Government Legal Department serves as the government’s principal legal advisers. Its core purpose is to help the government to govern well, within the rule of law. GLD is a non-ministerial department, and has more than 2,800 employees, around 2,100 of whom are solicitors or barristers. It operates specialist litigation, employment, commercial and advisory law teams, and provides a legal service to the majority of central government departments.
GLD was shortlisted for the prestigious Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2022, reflecting its ambition to be at the forefront of advancing the legal profession.
Karen Battersby Director of Knowledge for Industries and Clients
Baker McKenzie
Karen is the Director of Knowledge, Industries and Clients at Baker McKenzie. She is a lawyer of many years’ experience and holds an MBA. She practiced as a commercial lawyer, both in private practice and in-house, and has sat on the operational and main boards of FTSE corporates and other organisations as both an executive and non-executive director. Karen has led Knowledge and Innovation functions at a number of top 50 law firms and is currently responsible for Baker McKenzie’s Industry and Client Knowledge strategy.
Karen is working a great deal at the moment on what Generative AI means for both internal and client knowledge and with the wider Baker McKenzie team on how this may impact how knowledge is delivered and new services that may result from it for clients.
Kieron Champion, a Partner at Fireman & Company, is recognised as a thought leader in digital and knowledge-based programs and solutions and brings 25+ years of experience and success in leading and executing large-scale transformational programs in complex professional services environments. Kieron has held global CKO positions at Cleary Gottlieb and KPMG, and was part of the team that built Accenture’s leading practice knowledge management function.
As a trusted business leader and advisor to leadership teams and boards, Kieron is sought after for his ability to translate business strategies and user requirements into innovative solutions that maximise value for firms, lawyers, and their clients. Strong leadership skills, and expertise in organisational design and change management strategies, ensure he is able to organise and direct high quality work efforts that maximise team and organisational performance.
Kieron’s functional experience includes: organisational design and change management; content architecture and taxonomies; digital workspace and collaboration technologies; enterprise search; research and competitive intelligence; offshoring and shared services; and technology selection and implementation.
Kieron is a guest lecturer at the University of Manchester’s School of Law, as part of their Law, Money, and Technology initiative. He is also a mentor as part of the Legal Geek program.
Kieron offers our client’s an unparalleled insight into KM leading practices developed across professional services organisations.
Shawn is the Director of Legal Technology at Travers Smith, having previously worked at both national and international law firms, including Magic Circle and US firms.
Shawn's team includes individuals who have a background in either technology or law, and they are responsible for delivering technology driven efficiency and optimisation within the firm's legal practice.
Shawn is a regular speaker at industry conferences and is considered a global thought leader in Legal Technology.
As Director of Knowledge for Eversheds Sutherland International, Alison has responsibility for ensuring that our people have access to the best information and tools to deliver excellent results for our clients across our international practice. Alison leads the Knowledge Team which encompasses library and information services, research and knowledge systems. In addition, she co-ordinates the firm's client facing knowledge strategy and directs Empower, the firm's global training programme for junior lawyers. Having qualified as a transactional banking lawyer at Wilde Sapte (now Dentons), Alison practised in the fields of banking and international project finance including three years in the Singapore office of Clifford Chance before moving into a knowledge lawyer role. Alison works closely with our Service Excellence, L&D and knowledge lawyer teams contributing to key strategic projects to deliver excellent client service and foster a strong knowledge culture across the international business.
Mark Ford Associate Partner, Global Law Knowledge Leader
EY Law
Mark Ford is a Knowledge Management professional with nearly 30 years’ experience in the legal industry. He trained and practised as an IT and Privacy lawyer at Clifford Chance, where he managed multi-jurisdictional compliance projects for a number of large clients. He became a founder member of the firm’s pioneering online services group and was instrumental in the creation of a number of subscription-based online legal offerings for clients. He later set up a research & development team to help the firm better harness new technologies to improve efficiency and explore the development of new kinds of services for clients.
He continued his focus on the application of people, process and technology to the delivery of legal services throughout the remainder of his 21 years at Clifford Chance. In 2007, he established the firm’s Legal Service Centre in Delhi, thought to be the first captive legal services outsourcing operation by any major law firm, and built the team to more than 60 people and a substantial seven-figure turnover. He was later appointed Director of Knowledge Management.
In 2015 Mark moved to Baker McKenzie as Chief Knowledge Officer, where he led a team of nearly 300 KM professionals across 57 offices for the next six years. He joined EY as Global Law Knowledge Leader in 2021 with a mandate to build the EY Law global knowledge function to support the 95 countries in which EY Law operates. His goal is to ensure that the firm’s 3,500 legal professionals have the tools that they need in order to create the world's leading enterprise legal services business.
Outside work, Mark is an accomplished musician. He is the Founding Musical Director of The Purcell Singers, a choir which has performed extensively around the UK, including at the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall and in St Paul’s and Southwark Cathedrals, as well as across Europe. He has made more than 15 recordings, including several discs of music for film and television, and conducted sessions at all of the major London recording studios, including Abbey Road.
Richard Gaston is Head of Knowledge & Research at international law firm Addleshaw Goddard. He leads on delivery of the Firm's Knowledge Management Strategy to maximise client impact and improve colleague experience. He is particularly interested in the human aspects of KM including culture and technology adoption. Richard is a life-long Knowledge professional with over 20 years' experience in roles across the private and public sectors, and an accredited coach and facilitator.
Catherine Goodman Director, Practice Innovation and Knowledge
Paul Hastings LLP
Catherine Goodman is a Director in the Paul Hastings Practice Innovation & Legal Solutions team, and leads the Knowledge and Innovation lawyers in supporting the Firm’s practice groups and driving global innovation projects. She is an Honorary Reader in Law of Queen Mary University, London.
Catherine has over 20 years’ legal experience, working as a corporate lawyer, senior business law lecturer and knowledge lawyer. In her role at Paul Hastings, Catherine runs legal tech projects that include optimizing legal processes with innovative technology solutions, and develops and delivers legal tech education sessions and workshops. She leads the client facing and internal AI initiatives at the firm.
Catherine has a special interest in e-signing and was a member of the UK Law Commission Industry Working Group of experts on e-signing, contributing to the 2022 and 2023 reports. Catherine led a digitalisation project that won The Lawyer Awards 2022, “Most Innovative use of Tech”, was nominated for Legal Week’s Legal Innovation Awards 2022 Outstanding Training Innovation for the Queen Mary University and Paul Hastings Practice Innovation internship, and was a European Women in Legal Tech 2020 nominee. Catherine was an ILTA honoree for 2023 Influential Women in Legal Tech, and won “Innovator of the Year”, at the Women & Diversity in Law Awards 2023.
Claire Greening Global Head of Library and Knowledge Services
Withers LLP
Claire Greening is the Global Head of Library and Knowledge Services at Withers, the international law firm for successful people and their businesses. At Withers she is responsible for the firm's library and knowledge teams across Europe, the US and Asia and is the driving force behind the Knowledge Innovation project – placing knowledge at the heart of the firm's culture and strategy. Her goal is to make it as easy as possible for the firm's lawyers to create, share and access the knowledge that drives their work.
Alicia Hardy is Head of Knowledge at Carey Olsen, leading the development and delivery of the firm's knowledge management strategy. Her role supports Carey Olsen's ongoing investment in and commitment to building a strong knowledge focused service, infrastructure and culture for the firm's lawyers and its clients. Alicia is a qualified solicitor and experienced knowledge management professional, with more than 30 years of law firm experience in large global law firms. She has extensive experience as a qualified Corporate and ECM lawyer and Professional Support Lawyer, and for the last 11 years as global Director of Professional Support at White & Case.
Hayley Harris Global Director of Central Knowledge Management
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
Hayley Harris is Global Director of Central Knowledge Management at international law firm, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP. She leads a multi-disciplinary team of knowledge management professionals dedicated to the effective management of BCLP’s organizational knowledge. Hayley’s team develops and maintains vital KM systems and processes, working closely with the firm’s Technology, Innovation and Knowledge Lawyer teams.
Hayley previously trained and practised as a real estate litigator at Allen & Overy LLP, before moving to BCLP as a fee-earner in 2012 and into their Knowledge Management team in 2017. Since then, she has led several major KM projects at the firm, including “BCLP Discover”, a multi-award-winning knowledge search platform integrating in one place the firm’s documents, data and resources.
Dan Hunter
PhD FAAL, Executive Dean
The Dickson Poon School of Law King’s College London
The Dickson Poon School of Law King’s College London
Dan Hunter is the Executive Dean of the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London. He was previously the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law at Queensland University of Technology and the Founding Dean of Swinburne Law School in Australia.
He is an international expert in internet and intellectual property law, AI & law, and legal tech and legal innovation. He holds a PhD from Cambridge on the cognitive science of legal reasoning, as well as computer science and law degrees from Monash University, and an LLM by research from the University of Melbourne.
He regularly publishes on the intersection of computers and law. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, the creator of the Future Law Podcast (http://thefuturelawpodcast.com), and the founder of four startups: in edtech (Quitch), legaltech (Settle Easy), and regulatory technology (Fourth Line and Gracenote).
Research Interests
AI & Law, including the use of AI in criminal justice and civil procedure and the legal theoretical implications of autonomous systems.
Legaltech and legal innovation models, including the future of legal practice.
David manages DLA Piper’s Operational Excellence team, who support our clients and practice groups with optimizing the way that they do business. He has supported the firm in building and delivering a fully-fledged Process Automation Centre of Excellence and is actively working on Generative AI driven projects for both client facing and internal products. Prior to joining DLA David worked for 6 years at Royal Mail Group as a Head of Process Improvement - initially as a front-line manager and quality improvement lead, before being sought to lead a business transformation team. There David was responsible for delivering £2.8m worth of projects within HR, manufacturing, and engineering over 4 years.
David has been a process improvement specialist for over 10 years and has experience leading transformational change. He has embedded both Lean Six Sigma and Agile methodologies as a senior manager in a service sector environment. That includes leading client-facing process improvement initiatives that have achieved £2-3mn+ of tangible benefit through the introduction of innovative working methods and technologies.
He is very keen to work with clients with developing and implementing continuous improvement projects as part of the wider legal services that we offer to DLA Piper.
Sharon Jenman is Head of Knowledge, London at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP delivering an integrated knowledge management strategy in the UK and Europe. She is particularly interested in fostering a knowledge-sharing culture and promoting adoption of technology to enhance efficiencies and attorney experience. Sharon practised as a corporate finance lawyer at Linklaters before becoming a knowledge professional in 2000.
Prior to joining Skadden in 2022, Sharon headed up the Public Companies and Markets teams at FromCounsel, with responsibility, among other things, for launching and maintaining content across FC Corporate and writing and broadcasting legal podcasts. Sharon also spent 15 years at Clifford Chance as a senior knowledge lawyer specialising in public M&A.
Aileen has over 20 years of experience in knowledge and related areas at international law firms, implementing knowledge strategies, building teams, leading projects, and advising clients on knowledge-driven solutions to address business challenges.
Aileen, as Director of Knowledge at Charles Russell Speechlys, is responsible for developing and implementing an ambitious, forward-facing, client-driven knowledge strategy. She leads a team of highly-regarded Knowledge Development Lawyers, Research & Information Service Professionals and Innovation Technologists.
Alex is currently a Technology Innovation Specialist at Burges Salmon LLP, having previously been Innovation Manager at Norton Rose Fulbright’s Newcastle Hub. Coming from a background in academia and then blockchain technology, Alex currently uses his knowledge of process, technology, and data to enhance legal service delivery and develop new legal products and services tailored to specific client needs.
Claire McNamara Director of Knowledge and Learning
Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP
Claire McNamara is a partner at Penningtons Manches Cooper and a member of the firm’s strategy board. As Director of Knowledge and Learning, she is responsible for developing and driving the firm's knowledge management strategy as well as leading the L&D team in delivering and supporting the firm’s training and continuing development programmes. Her role focuses on providing insight on legal and technological developments and using knowledge management to redesign processes and systems to deliver exceptional client service. Under her leadership, the team’s aims are to ‘makes things better’ - better for clients, better for the business and better for our employees.
Claire qualified as a construction litigation lawyer and has over 25 years of experience in the legal industry. Prior to joining Penningtons Manches Cooper in 2023, she was Head of Knowledge Management at Farrer & Co and before that, as Director of Knowledge Management set up the knowledge function at HFW. She is a qualified Solicitor Advocate and Change Management Registered Practitioner.
Miranda Perkins Head of Knowledge and Process Automation
WilmerHale
Miranda Perkins, based in the London office, leads the Knowledge and Process Automation team for WilmerHale. She and her team cultivate and disseminate inventive approaches for providing legal services, encompassing the utilization of emerging legal technology and the adoption of procedural enhancements. While supporting the legal departments and practice groups she proactively looks for ways to help the Firm remain at the forefront of innovation by devising creative solutions to address their business needs. It is about delivering the right insight at the right time and introducing improvements and solutions before problems present themselves.
Tara Pichardo-Angadi Head of Knowledge, Europe, Middle East and Asia
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP
Tara Pichardo-Angadi is a banking lawyer based in Paris. She focuses on knowledge management for Europe, Middle-East and Africa.
As head of knowledge for EMEA, her main responsibilities include: managing and meeting local stakeholders' knowledge requirements; knowledge plans, developing and sharing best practice; feeding EMEA requirements into the global knowledge strategy; and managing local knowledge teams, including performance reviews, budgets and projects.
Tara regularly assists our clients with training requirements and, more generally, helping them access our knowledge centres.
Tara has a degree from King’s College, London, a Maîtrise from the University of Paris 1 - La Sorbonne, as well as a post-graduate diploma in legal practice from the College of Law.
Ian Rodwell is Head of Client Knowledge and Learning at Linklaters. He provides training and guidance to the firm's clients on an extensive range of business skills topics. These encompass knowledge exploitation, collaboration, high-performing teams, creativity, the role of trust, motivational leadership, hybrid working, influence/impact and the business use of stories. He has delivered masterclasses globally and advised clients on the design of offsites, away days and overarching learning programmes. He is also an experienced coach with assignments both within Linklaters and externally. Ian has worked with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on a workshop that uses jazz improvisation to explore the art of collaboration and, as part of the Henley Forum, co-designed a business boardgame that highlights the challenges and rewards of effective team working. Ian regularly writes for professional publications on a variety of business topics as well as hosts the Linklaters Ideas Foundry podcast (which explores the changing face of 21st century organizational life). Currently, he is also conducting doctoral research on the role of liminal spaces in organizational storytelling. His research interests can be tracked via the website - www.liminalnarratives.com. Winner of the K&IM Walford Award 2022.
Dr Adam Sanitt is Knowledge Director, Digital and Innovation at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.
Adam specializes in banking and finance disputes, with a particular focus on structured finance and complex cross-border litigation. He is also a thought-leader in the FinTech practice – a regular contributor to industry publications such as TechCrunch as well as legal journals and books, including a collaboration with Professor Sarah Green, the current Law Commissioner, on smart legal contracts.
Adam leads the disputes knowledge and wider business support teams and is the creator of the award-winning Court Intelligence Database. He is a member of the firm’s steering committee on generative AI.
Adam is a graduate of Cambridge University. He holds a masters degree in law from Oxford University and a PhD in mathematics from University College London.
Kate Stanfield is the Director of Knowledge Management for Collas Crill LLP, an offshore law firm that never stands still.
Having worked with law firms for many years, most recently at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, her experience includes the journey through various mergers, outsourcing - both as a customer and as a service provider, building systems, processes and best practice solutions.
Her current role is one of strategic business transformation, responsible for building the group's KM function across all jurisdictions, and promoting efficient and effective technical and legal support to fee-earners in every office. Recent projects include a global platform for collaboration, document automation using Avvoka, and the development of client portals using HighQ.
Kate has always believed in contextual provision of data, and has been involved in the planning of new practice systems both in her current and previous roles, to enable data driven decision making where possible.
Judy Mackenzie Stuart Global Chief Knowledge Officer
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP
Judy Mackenzie Stuart is Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner’s Global Chief Knowledge Officer, responsible for the firm's central knowledge, knowledge lawyer and research teams globally. Her role focuses on the creation, capture and dissemination of knowledge, information and data across the global firm; efficient and re-engineered service delivery; and leveraging new KM technologies for the benefit of clients and firm, including use of generative AI. She also oversees the provision of current awareness, market and sector research and competitive intelligence for the firm. Under her leadership, BCLP has won a number of industry and peer awards for BCLP Discover, the firm’s innovative “Smart Matter Hub” platform.
Prior to joining BCLP in 2016, Judy was Chief Knowledge Officer of Shearman & Sterling LLP, with responsibility for knowledge management, conflicts & new business intake and research, information & library services worldwide. With over 30 years’ experience of the legal industry, she also has extensive expertise of business and practice management, law firm risk management and regulatory compliance. Judy is a qualified lawyer, having trained and practised in Linklaters’ competition group in London and Brussels from 1990 -1999.
Emily focuses on the internal storage, retrieval and dissemination of knowledge and information to maximise efficiency and consistency, and to support knowledge sharing. She has strategic oversight of the firm's intranet and plays a lead role in relation to firmwide information architecture and governance. She works closely with key stakeholders across the firm, including Risk & Compliance and both the Central and Legal Technology teams, to help deliver a co-ordinated approach to the introduction of new technologies and processes, with specific regard to how these might impact search and retrieval of knowledge and information, as well as the maintenance of a coherent system of records.
Emily's long experience at Travers Smith, both as a lawyer within the Dispute Resolution Department from 2002 and as their knowledge lawyer (from 2007 to 2018), has enabled her to develop a clear understanding of the needs of the business in relation to the way knowledge and information is retained and presented to the firm.
Eleanor has worked in law firms for nearly 25 years, both in-house and via outsourced managed service providers. During her career, her primary focus has been on the provision of knowledge and information management, creating and delivering products and services that introduce new, innovative, more efficient and more cost-effective ways of working.
Her specific experience ranges from consultancy and support for individual elements of knowledge management (knowledge management processes and approaches, collaboration, digital knowledge and information tools, research services, resource management, procurement, etc.) to developing and delivering fully outsourced knowledge, library and research services.
Building on her consultancy experience, and after an extended interim role she completed with Irwin Mitchell, Eleanor took on a permanent role at the firm in August 2019 and was made Partner and Director of Knowledge Management in May 2021. She now manages a team of 35 knowledge professionals, including expert research and information specialists working alongside a team of highly experienced Practice Development Lawyers. Eleanor’s focus is on developing and delivering Irwin Mitchell’s core Knowledge Management Strategy through a range of key strategic projects and initiatives which are helping to deliver excellent client service and foster a culture of knowledge sharing across the business, to help achieve the firm’s strategic objectives.
