Alison Powell

14:25 Chair’s opening remarks
Seema Jones, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer, Town Legal

14:30 Interview/panel – PE without the hype: What private equity teaches finance leaders about how law firms really operate
This is not a session about whether law firms should take private equity.
Instead, it asks a more useful question for finance leaders:

• • What does exposure to private equity reveal about how law firms really operate from their governance, behaviours and decision-making to performance discipline?
  • Drawing on real, lived experience from within a PE-backed environment, this session cuts through the noise, myths and market hype to focus on what finance leaders actually see once the headlines fade and the real work begins.
  • Through an honest, finance led conversation, we’ll explore:
  • What PE exposure uncovers about leadership, accountability and decision-making in law firms
  • Where PE discipline genuinely improves clarity, pace and commercial focus and where it clashes with traditional firm behaviours
  • How the role, authority and pressure on finance leaders changes in practice
  • Which lessons are transferable to all firms, including those with no intention of taking external investment
  • Why PE is influencing the market far beyond the firms that actually take it

Our host: Paul Finnegan, Founder, CxO Services Limited
In conversation with: Glyn Morris, Partner – Projects, Higgs LLP
Axel Koelsch, Chief Operating Officer, Lawfront

15:00 Roundtables
Peer-to-peer Roundtables are 40-minute discussion groups, each led by a finance leader from a legal firm.

The hallmark of an Alternative Event, the peer-to-peer roundtable discussions are like group therapy for firm leaders. These small groups, following the Chatham House rule, allow everyone to share problems and solutions. These facilitated discussions will deliver insights and takeaways from peers that are simply not otherwise available.

1. Building financial resilience for the next 10 years
Capital tension, investment sequencing, and planning for a world with little/no client account interest
Alison Powell, Finance Director, Bates Wells

2. Strategic finance for growth: Creating value, not just revenue
Which growth strategies genuinely increase the long-term value of the firm?

• What makes growth valuable rather than simply bigger?
• How do you fund growth without weakening cash flow or partner returns?
• What should firms put in place now to become more attractive to future investors, buyers or merger partners?
• How do you balance realising value today with building a stronger firm for the future?

Zachary Brech, CFO, Ignition Law

3. Partner performance: The conversation nobody wants but everyone needs
How do you surface underperformance without becoming the villain?

• Do you rank partners, formally or informally?
• What metrics actually change behaviour?
• Where does finance have legitimacy and where does it get shut down?

Neil Aitken, Finance Director, Woodfines

4. Working capital management: Why it’s not a finance problem
Working capital is often treated as a finance issue: lockup, WIP and billing cycles. In reality, it’s shaped by leadership behaviour, pricing confidence and how firms operate day to day.
This roundtable explores where working capital really breaks down, the behaviours firms tolerate that undermine cash flow and why finance often carries responsibility without control.
A practical peer discussion focused on ownership, culture and what actually improves outcomes.
Jason Bigg, Head of Finance & Operations, Girlings

Alternative Legal Finance will break at 15:40.