Legal briefing | 09 Apr 2025 |

Insights for In-house Counsel - Spring 2025

Our regular round-up of recent and forthcoming developments in law and practice for in-house counsel.

Highlights

AI and data regulation: EU AI Act and Online Safety Act obligations apply, UK data reform and the Trump effect
Digital markets: tough new UK regulatory regime now in force
Employment law: Employment Rights Bill, neonatal care leave and pay gap reporting
Sustainability reporting: shifting sands and the Omnibus proposal
Commercial contracts: cracking down on late payments, franchising in good faith and pricing in 5
Failure to prevent fraud offence: are you ready?
Long-awaited Arbitration Act 2025 and enforcing judgments with the 2019 Hague Convention
National Security and the new Government
PISCES: a new type of regulated trading platform
Real estate: Countdown to Commonhold and PRS EPC reform
Pensions: Defined Contribution 'megafunds' and new IHT implications
Tax: Finance Act 2025 measures in focus, carried interest reform and Spring Statement

Meeting your training needs

Our Next-Gen Counsel Programme seeks to develop relationships between the next generation of in-house leaders and our lawyers. Covering a range of legal and business issues, our interactive and informative in-person sessions are designed to ensure that the next generation of leading in-house lawyers are well-equipped to safeguard their organisations against legal risks, whilst supporting professional career development. All registered delegates have access to our dedicated Next Gen Counsel Programme online hub for further resources, information and complimentary on-demand webinars.

Our In-house Lawyers' Academy supports the legal learning and professional skills development of junior in-house lawyers who are 0-5 years PQE. Each of our live Academy sessions includes a workshop on a specific topic, such as Data Protection or Contract Hotspots, followed by networking drinks – offering a great opportunity for delegates to catch-up and build connections with other in-house lawyers and our associates.

Bespoke training: Delivering training which is tailored to our clients’ individual concerns is important to us, and we recognise that large seminars do not always add value, so many of our training sessions are developed specifically for a particular client and delivered at their own offices by our client teams. These sessions can cover compliance with new law or regulation or core topics, for example, Supply Chain Risk, Privilege, ESG reporting, directors' duties and responding to data breaches. If you have a particular training request, please get in touch with your usual contact at the firm.

Learn more about our General Counsel and In-house Lawyers' Programme on our website.