ROSI – Return on Legal Investment

Janet has worked in the broad sphere of legal IT virtually all her working life – even her MBA speciality was ‘Competitive Advantage in the Legal Profession’. After working in administration at A&O, Janet set up a specialist consultancy practice looking at technology services (in their widest sense) for legal firms. She joined BLP about 19 years ago – initially as a consultant but later as their IT Director with a wide range of responsibilities. She normally says ‘if it plugs into an electric socket and does not make coffee it belongs to me!’ She was responsible for technology in its broadest sense, including ecommerce activities, knowledge management services and the building and infrastructure.

Awards:
2005 – BCS IT Director of the year
2007 – Team award Computing Magazine
2008 – Lawyer IT Director of the year
2009 – Legal Technology award
2011 – Greatest contribution to Legal IT
2013 – Top 20 most influential people in legal technology

Janet established The Adelaide Group a women in business networking group in 1997 – the first speaker and honorary President is Cherie Blair. The group now has over 1000 members and holds regular events listening to high profile women speakers.

Janet is Chairman of Governors of a local preparatory school. She is on the Board of Roehampton University. She was the Regional Vice President of the International Legal Technology Association for the EMEA region and was on the global board.

Mark has a rich technology heritage beginning his career as a Technology apprentice in 1988. He has fulfilled a variety of C Suite roles and has a proven track record of implementing innovative strategies, managing complex programmes, and driving technological advancements whilst focussing on addressing the digital skills gap.

He is also a champion and industry commentator for greater diversity and inclusion in technology, as well as being incredibly active in promoting the transition and employability of military veterans.

Mabel joined Fieldfisher more than 20 years ago as an IT manager, responsible for easing the change to desktop computers for every partner. She became IT director three years ago and now heads a team of around 40 technicians across the firm’s UK and international offices.

Her main focus is successfully transforming the technology of a firm expanding into new locations and introducing new systems to support the growing business.

She believes in concentrating on helping people master the processes that allow them to perform at their best and to deliver optimum efficiency to the client.

Operating at the forefront of the cybersecurity industry, Sarah Armstrong-Smith is the Chief Security Advisor at Microsoft. She has led a long and impactful career, guiding businesses through digital attacks and teaching organisations how to protect their data. Specialising in disaster recovery, crisis management and female representation in STEM, Sarah is a powerful addition to technology and inclusion conferences alike.

In early 2020, Sarah was appointed the Chief Security Advisor within Microsoft’s Europe sector. She works in digital transformation and cloud adoption, two topics popular at corporate events and conferences. Working with customers across Europe, Sarah offers valuable advice on cybersecurity strategies, ensuring stronger defences against attackers.

Sarah’s previous professional positions include Group Head Business Resilience & Crisis Management at The London Stock Exchange Group and Head Continuity & Resilience, Enterprise & Cyber Security at Fujitsu. Such high-profile roles earned Sarah a place in the Most Influential Women in UK Tech and Most Influential Women in Cybersecurity. As a speaker, Sarah is passionate about empowering women in STEM industries.

As the world of work embraces remote working, hire an expert like Sarah to educate your staff and protect against scams. She can supply market-leading guidance on common security threats, and prepare businesses for any future attacks. With a passion for challenging the status quo, her leading insight into technology and security is truly ground-breaking.

What sets Sarah apart is the nature of her career. Learning on the job, her work on the Millenium Bug and other major cyber incidents make her an industry leader. Sarah has extensive experience in the human aspect of cybersecurity, a topic she now explores at conferences to showcase the pressing issue. With her holistic approach to crisis management, your organisation is in safe hands with Sarah.

From PR to privacy and data protection, Sarah can discuss a wide range of topics relating to cybersecurity. She works extensively with SMEs and is a Board Advisor for several groups including e2e-Assure and Vaultree. Whether she is booked for large conferences or intimate corporate events, Sarah’s advice is grounded in years of experience with some of the biggest businesses in finance, insurance and technology.

Joe Robertson represents Fortinet to the CISO community, where he advises the executive committees of large enterprises and service providers as their digital transformation strategies require security-driven networks and holistic security approaches. In over four decades in the security and networking business Joe has held technical, marketing, management, and executive roles at companies as diverse as Juniper Networks, Dimension Data, Bay Networks, IBM, and AT&T. He also founded and was on the board of directors of a network security startup.

Jonathan Freedman is the Head of Information Security & Technology of London law firm Howard Kennedy, with a background in Enterprise Architecture and systems engineering within the UK professional services sector spanning more than 18 years, now focusing on information and cyber security.

Working closely with teams from across the firm, his role includes both the review, development and implementation of new technology within the firm and leading the firm’s internal cyber security/cyber awareness programs. In addition, he holds multiple industry certifications including, CGEIT, CCNA, CCNA Security, Certified Ethical Hacker, TOGAF, and ISO27001 with special interests in cyber security, ethical hacking & penetration testing, data protection, cryptography, secure systems design, mobile device security and technology innovation.