Blog: 9 June 2023 - Helen McGrath, Head of Public Affairs

LLG's Presidential Team 2023

A big welcome from the LLG Spring Conference in Birmingham where delegates are enjoying the panoramic views of this vibrant city.  

President, Rachel McKoy, provided an energised welcome to delegates reminding us all of the importance of networking, to stand proud, invest always in yourself, champion our profession and celebrate all that we do.  

Hearing first from Andy Street, Mayor of West Midlands, it was pleasing to hear his appreciation of our contribution to local government and his huge respect for directors of legal services. Acknowledging that almost everything local authorities do has a legal underpinning, and that it is so important to have speed and accuracy of legal advice to enable confidence in decision making and safeguard governance.  

We were also delighted to be joined remotely by the Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees who stressed that if you want things to happen; urbanisation, decarbonisation, affordable homes; you need the background capacity, the incredibly important ‘cogs’ which lack the ‘front line attention’ but need to be retained as opposed to hollowed out. Referring to diversity, he stressed the importance of context to take meaningful action, reminding us that ‘people don’t fear change, they fear loss’; advising ‘you can stay where you are and get left behind or have diversity of thought to become dynamic’.  

Following the opening sessions, the junior lawyers (lead by Junior Director John Purvis) had the opportunity to meet and network in their own group with all those attending experiencing their first LLG conference. Discussing how challenging it was to undertake a training contract or apprenticeship during covid (can you imagine?) and stressing the need to network and forge contacts and indeed friendships, I was reminded of my first conference back in 2004, and how the bonds I built back then still hold strong today.  

This afternoon continues to hold a packed and varied programme with plenary sessions and breakouts happening together to provide choice and opportunity. The exhibition is in full swing, and it really is delightful to see so many lawyers come together with a restored sense of community and enthusiasm following the few difficult years we have all experienced.  

This evening of course, we have the LLG Awards 2023. This is a very exciting event where we get the opportunity to say- ‘you know what, we are all pretty great as it happens’. We need to do more of that. No one else is going to do it for us. Follow along at @llglegal or on LinkedIn with hashtags #LLGSpring2023 and #LLGAwards2023.  

Dennis Hall, our bulletin editor will be producing a special edition conference blog as usual next week, which will provide you with far more comprehensive coverage of the conference and all the news. Until then, I’m off for a coffee and patisserie together with a good chat with friends both new and old (in longevity of course!)  

Best wishes 

Helen McGrath 

Head of Public Affairs  

Helen@llg.org.uk