Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
An in-person and online event held on 24 September 2025
This event was co-hosted by the UCL Centre for Ethics and Law and Middle Temple. It was held in the historic and splendid Middle Temple Hall and the speakers considered some of the key legal, ethical and practical opportunities and challenges facing Barristers working in the employed sector. We are very grateful to Middle Temple for hosting the event in their Hall and the supported provided throughout.
The event was chaired by Dr Alan Brener, Associate Professor (Teaching) and Deputy Director of the Centre for Ethics & Law, UCL. Alan worked in financial services for a couple of decades including heading the retail legal and contracts teams at Santander UK before undertaking his PhD. Among his books is one on the relationship between control functions, lawyers and corporate boards based on his research and own experiences.
The fantastic panel of speakers included:
Alison Cottrell CB
Alison was an economist in the City and later Director of Financial Services at HM Treasury. She then became the founding CEO of the Financial Services Culture Board which focused on improving ethics and culture in financial services firms. Alison holds Non-Executive Director (NED) roles in the health and charity sectors. She is also a NED at LINK which runs the UK's ATM network. Alison’s work has given her a deep insight into corporate governance and professional services.
Professor Orla Lynskey (UCL)
Orla Lynskey is Chair of Law and Technology at UCL Faculty of Laws and holds visiting Professorships at the College of Europe Bruges and the University of Notre Dame. She teaches and conducts research in the area of digital regulation, with a particular interest in issues of data governance. She is a section editor of the Modern Law Review and Editor-in-Chief of the specialist journal International Data Privacy Law.
Professor Phillip Morgan
Phillip is Professor of Private Law at the University of York. Phillip has focused on the law and AI and published extensively on this subject including most recently co-editing The Cambridge Handbook of Private Law and Artificial Intelligence (Cambridge University Press, 2024). The book launch for this work was hosted last year by UCL’s Centre for Ethics and Law. He is also editor of Tort Liability and Autonomous System Accidents: Common Law and Civil Law Perspectives (Edward Elgar, 2023). Phillip is the Law Lead on York’s multidisciplinary doctoral training centre on Safe AI ("SAINTS"). Alongside his academic work he also sits as a Fee-Paid Employment Judge, and also as Fee-Paid Judge of the First-tier Tribunal. Phillip is an Editor of the Professional Negligence and Liability Reports, and Book Review Editor of the Journal of Professional Negligence. He was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 2007.
Flora Page KC
Flora is a barrister at 23 Essex Street chambers. Her particular expertise is in corporate and financial crime. Flora is board member of the Legal Services Board and Chair of the Institute of Business Ethics. Her work involving companies has given her an unique perspective into corporate governance and culture and ethics. This was clearly evident in her work on the Post Office scandal and public inquiry.
Dr. Raphael Reims
Raphael Reims is a lawyer, experienced Compliance expert and the Head of Compliance UK and Ireland of the BMW Group. Raphael previously worked at the German law firm Noerr and the international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher. He studied at the London School of Economics and German universities and holds a Ph.D. in law. He was shortlisted for the Rising Star Award of the International Compliance Association.
In particular the speakers at the event focused on:
- The practical uses of LLM generative AI in an in-house legal practice
- The types of legal and ethical issues emerging from the use of AI in-house legal practice
- The ethical issues which must be considered by inhouse lawyers when using AI
The event focused on the practical and ethical aspects of LLM generative AI. For example, the panel and the discussions will cover:
- Issues relating to confidentiality
- Accuracy and reliability
- Source identification and audit trails
- The problems which may arise from out of date and misleading source material
- The integration of LLM AI into research and due diligence, together with contract drafting and analysis processes.
An in-person and online event held on 24 September 2025
This event was co-hosted by the UCL Centre for Ethics and Law and Middle Temple. It was held in the historic and splendid Middle Temple Hall and the speakers considered some of the key legal, ethical and practical opportunities and challenges facing Barristers working in the employed sector. We are very grateful to Middle Temple for hosting the event in their Hall and the supported provided throughout.
The event was chaired by Dr Alan Brener, Associate Professor (Teaching) and Deputy Director of the Centre for Ethics & Law, UCL. Alan worked in financial services for a couple of decades including heading the retail legal and contracts teams at Santander UK before undertaking his PhD. Among his books is one on the relationship between control functions, lawyers and corporate boards based on his research and own experiences.
The fantastic panel of speakers included:
Alison Cottrell CB
Alison was an economist in the City and later Director of Financial Services at HM Treasury. She then became the founding CEO of the Financial Services Culture Board which focused on improving ethics and culture in financial services firms. Alison holds Non-Executive Director (NED) roles in the health and charity sectors. She is also a NED at LINK which runs the UK's ATM network. Alison’s work has given her a deep insight into corporate governance and professional services.
Professor Orla Lynskey (UCL)
Orla Lynskey is Chair of Law and Technology at UCL Faculty of Laws and holds visiting Professorships at the College of Europe Bruges and the University of Notre Dame. She teaches and conducts research in the area of digital regulation, with a particular interest in issues of data governance. She is a section editor of the Modern Law Review and Editor-in-Chief of the specialist journal International Data Privacy Law.
Professor Phillip Morgan
Phillip is Professor of Private Law at the University of York. Phillip has focused on the law and AI and published extensively on this subject including most recently co-editing The Cambridge Handbook of Private Law and Artificial Intelligence (Cambridge University Press, 2024). The book launch for this work was hosted last year by UCL’s Centre for Ethics and Law. He is also editor of Tort Liability and Autonomous System Accidents: Common Law and Civil Law Perspectives (Edward Elgar, 2023). Phillip is the Law Lead on York’s multidisciplinary doctoral training centre on Safe AI ("SAINTS"). Alongside his academic work he also sits as a Fee-Paid Employment Judge, and also as Fee-Paid Judge of the First-tier Tribunal. Phillip is an Editor of the Professional Negligence and Liability Reports, and Book Review Editor of the Journal of Professional Negligence. He was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 2007.
Flora Page KC
Flora is a barrister at 23 Essex Street chambers. Her particular expertise is in corporate and financial crime. Flora is board member of the Legal Services Board and Chair of the Institute of Business Ethics. Her work involving companies has given her an unique perspective into corporate governance and culture and ethics. This was clearly evident in her work on the Post Office scandal and public inquiry.
Dr. Raphael Reims
Raphael Reims is a lawyer, experienced Compliance expert and the Head of Compliance UK and Ireland of the BMW Group. Raphael previously worked at the German law firm Noerr and the international law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher. He studied at the London School of Economics and German universities and holds a Ph.D. in law. He was shortlisted for the Rising Star Award of the International Compliance Association.
In particular the speakers at the event focused on:
- The practical uses of LLM generative AI in an in-house legal practice
- The types of legal and ethical issues emerging from the use of AI in-house legal practice
- The ethical issues which must be considered by inhouse lawyers when using AI
The event focused on the practical and ethical aspects of LLM generative AI. For example, the panel and the discussions will cover:
- Issues relating to confidentiality
- Accuracy and reliability
- Source identification and audit trails
- The problems which may arise from out of date and misleading source material
- The integration of LLM AI into research and due diligence, together with contract drafting and analysis processes.
