LinkedIn Live: SuperPower Summit 2025: Tech, Careers & Community at the Black Counsel Forum

0:00Okay, so welcome to today's LinkedIn Live from the Legally Speaking Podcast Headquarters sponsored by Clio. And here's a question to start for you all. What happens when you bring together 400 plus lawyers for two days of career mastery, tech innovation and unapologetic inclusion? That's exactly what's going to be happening, folks, for the Black Council Forum Superpower Summit 2025. 25. And I'm delighted to be joined by the wonderful Sharon Thomas today, who is the founder of it all now in its fourth year, I believe, and it's become one of the largest gatherings for black and underrepresented lawyers in the UK and Europe.

0:42So a very warm welcome to the show.

0:45Sharon Thomas:Thank you, Rob. I'm delighted to be here. Thank you so much for inviting me. Oh, no, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. And I love what you're doing. I love what you're building. And we want to know more about it. So shall we get into it? But before we do that. I'd just like to know briefly a little bit about your background. Yes, I was a tech and outsourcing lawyer, Rob, for about 20 odd years. So that's my background. Prior to starting Black Council Forum back in 2022, I was an in-house lawyer for many, many years. There we go. And so let's talk about it then, the forum. What makes this conference this year unique and for folks that are new to it tell us a bit more about it.

1:30Sharon Thomas:Well thanks again thanks again for giving me the space to talk about Black Council Forum. So Black Council Forum it's essentially it's a community it's a community of in-house lawyers, private practice lawyers, lawyers in government, lawyers who are at the bar so it's very inclusive and we are focused on the lived experience of black lawyers because you know there are challenges as most people would know with regard to representation particularly at the the more senior levels of the profession and what I'm really passionate about is helping black lawyers to therefore to progress to be retained by law firms to be promoted and to have really successful fruitful careers because law is I think one of the most favorite careers that our parents tell us to do, you know, in the African heritage and Caribbean communities, we're always, you know, being encouraged to become lawyers.

2:29Sharon Thomas:So I want to make sure that it's a space where we can thrive. So this year, as you said earlier on, it's our fourth annual conference. It's called the Superpower Summit. And there's a reason behind that yeah it's all about you know you have the superpowers so let's really try and bring those out and we um it's kind of our most ambitious and that we've got five curated tracks this year we've never done that before so we've got our superpower stage we've got our career mastery track we've got our future tech and ai track we've got a lifestyle track because you know bcf is all about bringing the whole person and then we've got this premium track we've got this beautiful mansion building where we're going to host all of our most senior leaders because bcf is really diverse it's also not exclusively black it's targeted at that black experience but of course um it's open to people from all different backgrounds and people from all different backgrounds do come along and i love the the passion there you know I like to think that anything that I do I try and bring energy and passion and enthusiasm and I just sense that so much from you in terms of you know and that's why it's been so successful and in its fourth year and continuing to innovate and move forward and like you're talking about the tracks there I think a new track that you're introducing for the very first time this year is the tech track I think it's very very prudent given the world that we live in in the world of AI and everything else but why is it so important for for black lawyers right now and why TechTrack now for you and what you're building?

4:06Sharon Thomas:Yeah, so I think it's just critically important because AI and also just legal operations and where that's going is really, really reshaping how legal value is created, right? And if we're not in that conversation as black lawyers, the gap, the opportunity gap is just going to widen. So I think it's really important to bring tech, bring the future of law, and all of the other sort of, you know, we're going to be talking about cybersecurity, we're going to be talking about how roles are going to change, we're going to be talking a little bit about legal ops. All of these types of topics are really important to bring to this audience and to make sure it's front of centre of what we're thinking.

4:51Yeah, and what I'm also very sort of excited about is the focus that you have around sort of careers and challenges and you talked about very much people bringing their full selves and being an authentic gathering and I think that's so so important and people are craving that now more than ever particularly in certain challenges that people might be going through so I guess my next question is what challenges are you seeing for early career lawyers in today's sort of legal landscape and yeah anything you would say to that yeah just touching on what you said about what

5:21Sharon Thomas:people are interested in we're really keen on bringing that whole lifestyle piece to it so you You know, we've got a full African and Caribbean food, music, culture. So that bit's part of it, because as well as, you know, mental health, work life balance, that kind of thing, we focus on that. But in terms of early career lawyers, a lot of the issues I'm hearing about are the same issues. And that's what we're trying to solve for things like access to great quality work. that is so important that you have that early on in your career because if you don't the gap widens and widens and part of that is about making sure that you know you have access to the right people you know the right opportunities that you're going to the right meetings the right client opportunities uh client entertaining sorry I should say um if you don't get that early on in your career that's where you see the drop off later on because the experience there is not necessarily correlated with the your PQE I think also just in terms of business development and relationship development I think what I see in our community is sometimes a lack of confidence there in going out and building those relationships particularly if you're the only one you know in your law firm and you feel somewhat isolated and that's why it's beautiful when we do have BCF and people come into this space where for once you know they're in the in the majority and there's a lot of love and support and connection in that space that just leaves people you know bouncing off the walls after the weekend.

7:04And that's the exciting thing is it's that energy that you capture that hopefully people can propel after the event forwards and it's so true putting my legal recruiting hat on for you know what what i see getting that experience early on that that's hopefully good quality experience that you could skill stack and experience stack to kind of continue to progress your career is so so important so yeah really appreciate you um you sharing that and as i always say and people will be bored of me talking about this from a networking perspective but you are potentially only one relationship away from changing your life that could be a mentor it could be a next employer it could be someone at that particular conference that you connect with that maybe can connect you to someone else or could be that direct point of contact so getting yourself in the room and feeling seen heard and valued in that room and feeling like you have a safe space is so so important and that's why events like this um we really want to shine a light on and support over here on the legally speaking podcast so okay beyond skills and knowledge then what role and it's something i'm passionate about but want to get your take on this role does community play in helping young lawyers thrive particularly probably a more broader question

8:03Sharon Thomas:yeah i think i think it's not just for young lawyers right i think those of us who've been around have to give back they have to create legacy it's so important because I think community is like a power source isn't it it's it just really it helps you to build um social capital build those you know what you just said is absolutely right you can just be one conversation away from something that could really change the trajectory of your career um I think it you know it's important for sponsorship you know that's become a very sort of trendy concept over the last decade or so but how do you get sponsors if you're not part of a community um i think i would just mention one thing so a couple of years ago when we did bcf down in brighton we unfortunately there was a um an evacuation of the hotel we had it at the hilton and um it was i was just mad I was in panic, honestly.

9:04Sharon Thomas:Everybody had to go outside on this large sort of park sort of area next to the hotel. And it was absolutely amazing. The connections and the relationships that were built then. People said, oh, it was like one of the best things that happened because it just gave that time. We played all sort of games and, you know, you know, sort of bonding kind of games. But people absolutely loved it. And it really, it just shows how much we need that connection outside of work, because that's where know-how gets shared. That's where people share their playbooks, what they've done before, how they did it. And we'll share numbers, like you can give me a call, you know.

9:42Sharon Thomas:So, and people, I think some of the younger people as well, they got to meet really, really senior lawyers who, in their daily course of work, they're just not going to have exposure to them. But they're there in that space. So, for example, you know, we've got Barbara Mills, who's the chair of the Bar Council coming along. We've got Shagun Osintokan, who is the global managing partner at BCLP. And just a huge amount of partners from across the city, from UK heritage national firms like Osborne Clark, from all of our sponsors. and in-house we've got a lot of GCs coming along so our younger people are able to be in the space of these much more serious so it's much more senior people for two days and it's just a casual atmosphere it's not all stuffy and people are craving that aren't they it's it's not a lot of lawyers in in a conference it's a lot of humans you know just connecting and you know um i learned very early on it's so true you know that the quality of the conversational data you get access to coming to these conferences like hearing from those voices maybe it could be a five minute coffee chat with that individual but you're acquiring maybe 10 20 30 years of their wisdoms packaged into the right question at the right time to get the right piece of information that could unlock something that could take you to the next level of your career and that's why again i'm so passionate about people getting out there and networking meeting people and and getting the the energy from it but also that information because if you can act on that information you're going to be able to go a lot further okay I want to talk now again about things that you and I are both very passionate about which is diversity inclusion and impact so how specifically you touched on a bit before but I'll go a bit deeper how specifically is the Black Council Forum addressing diversity inclusion through this year's event it's really for me about the practicalities for me the dni conversation is about talent how do we make sure that we utilize the best talent from across the profession that we don't inadvertently exclude people and therefore what we have in law firms and in-house legal departments and across the profession is not representing the best of talent so we're really focused on learning and development learning skills the skills that you need to be able to navigate your career so that firms then have less of an issue with um retention attrition and it's not so much anymore um at least in this demographic around hiring talent it's around retention it's around nutrition it's around you know progression so we're really focused on what can we do to make that happen or to improve the stats around that it's all very very practical yeah and it's it's it's it's such a win for the firms when they get it right you know and i've seen it you know from both sides as you know being you know headhunting and you know speaking to associates and lawyers that are very disgruntled and you know it's it's a big cost it's a big time and it's a big effort actually if you can really focus on these things it's a far richer experience for everyone involved and it's far better for the firms as well so I think it's um yeah a really important point that we can't stress enough and again events like yours that you're putting on is just only going to help hopefully make a positive impact so people have more fulfilled um careers ultimately okay so why is it vital for the wider profession, not just sort of black lawyers to engage with forums like BCF?

13:23Sharon Thomas:I think it's really, really important because we don't live in a vacuum. We don't live in isolation. Very often in most organisations, there'll be one or two black lawyers, some firms, obviously, there's more. But typically, you know, we're not a huge population in this country anyway. So I think, you know people always talk about diverse teams producing better outcomes and I think that's really true I think you need to make sure that every single person within your team is producing the best possible output and whenever you get the DNI EDI whatever you want to call it when you get it right when you are able to manage a diverse team everybody benefits from that everybody benefits Because if you can do something for the 1 % or the 2%, the 99 % are going to benefit, right?

14:20Sharon Thomas:They're going to benefit from better management, better processes. Because at the end of the day, it's all about maximizing talent. And as I said, BCF is a really inclusive space. I remember last year, a white female partner came along. and she said to me that she's made some of the best relationships and support networks that she's made in a really long time so that just shows that we all regardless of background we all need these supportive spaces don't we yeah and we need people prepared to put in the work to put them on like yourself so we're grateful for that um you know specific is terrific right and everyone's favorite radio stations typically w-i-t-f-m what's in it for me so you touched on it but again going a little bit deeper for people that might be you know common reservations rob i'm time poor rob i'm too busy to go to events rob i'm not quite sure um why is this one different to everything else that's out there so what can attendees expect from the career mastery future of techs and sort of ai tracks is there anything you would say that perhaps should entice people to actually think about coming along yeah there's so much so one of the things that we've done this we have these sort of action lab workshops, okay, whereby they're split by level.

15:36Sharon Thomas:So we've got, starting at the premium level, you know, we've got a session which is called What Do GCs Want? Where we're going to have a panel of GCs talking to the partners about what really makes the difference for them in terms of how they select and retain their outside council, which I think is really important. But right at the other end, you know, we've got a a workshop for emerging talent so principally for uh trainees and solicitor apprentices where we're going to be going through um a case study of a young man who was a trainee who didn't get kept on and these are all the things we're going to look at what could he have done differently during that two-year interview to make sure that he had a different outcome so we're really focused in on the challenges like we for example we've got um a session called read the room know the game and that's all about are you picking up some of the messages some of the subtle messages about your performance without people you know in British culture people are quite subtle and are you picking up some of those subtle messages we've got a session on how to manage feedback yeah how to ask for it proactively and when you get it what do you do with it so these are all really practical oh there's another workshop actually which i also want to mention which is called rainmaker dna how to build it from day one and i'm really yeah a real spread from all different levels come along and hear from partners and other practitioners in business services about how they're helping people to build that dna it's really important to be thinking along those lines very early on in your career set yourself up the right way right from the beginning there's so much though Rob there's about there's almost 40 different sessions going on across the two days we've got a faculty of almost 70 people and that's a combination of professional coaches and senior lawyers as well who are who are giving up their time to give back and invest and share those cheat codes, you know, share that insight know-how about how they navigated it.

17:56Sharon Thomas:I think it's, I think you can't miss it. It's so important. It's once a year, come along and get that spiritual nourishment as well as, you know, all of those tactics that you need to manage. And if you have, you know, we're going to be doing one-to-one coaching as well. So if people have any particular issue that they want to just talk through, they can pre-book and come and sit down with one of our highly respected coaches as well it really sounds like no stone unturned in terms of you know really covering everything super practical tactical content um you know and it's great that you've got so many people that are involved that are willing to pay it forward as well and to give back and share that knowledge because i think that's really important when it comes to community and you know something i picked on there, which is so important, is EQ.

18:46You know, yes, lawyers typically, they're book smart, they know the law inside and out, but actually more and more in the world of technology where knowledge-based work is declining in terms of its impact, it's more that e-skill, that human, that strategic thought, that is really what's going to separate you. So, you know, really picking up on those sort of EQ parts is super important. And like you say, stories, you know, actually people have been there and done that and lost. You know, I always use the acronym LOSE, which is life offering some experience. You don't actually lose. You get some experience and you learn from that.

19:17You move on. You pay it forward. And I think that's very true. And I love that you've got that all stacked up and also potentially to get your own bespoke one-to-one coaching.

19:24Sharon Thomas:What's there not to like? Love it. Okay. So with five tracks in total, and I think I always want to write a course on this. I wish I had this because how do you attend a conference and get the best out of it? And I mean that in a serious question, because how should attendees, there's 40 odd sections, you know, it's probably impossible to do everything. it's probably impossible to meet everyone you're time poor you've got a lot of things going on in your head you're a busy professional but you want to come to this so how should attendees think about curating their own journey across the summit is there like a best practice guide having done this three or four times in the past that you would offer to people attending so they get maximum output well we've never had as many sessions and tracks as we have advice on this well but you know in the next couple of days we're going to be sending out the link to the event app which has all of the sessions on it and people can bookmark what they're interested in i think it's just important to sit down take stock of where you are what do you need do you need to feel inspired right now we've got some amazing speakers on our super power stage and one of the beautiful things about bcf is it's chatham house rules and so people come frank yeah it's real talk we call it real talk about their experiences no one is pretending if it gets said in the room it stays in the room if that's what you need come you know book it in but you can balance that right because we've got sessions on well-being we've got such you know we've got meditation we've got um you know mindfulness as well as some of the practical workshops so I think the best thing is to do a combination of all of it because you don't want to tire yourself out you want to leave sufficient time to just sit in the avenue where we've got beautiful seating and just bond with people just share with people just have a laugh as BCF goes on year after year people come back and they know people and they may not have seen them for the whole year so it's a wonderful opportunity to just reconnect as well as to meet new people yeah it just sounds amazing and i'm very much looking forward to it for you and all the attendees so it just leads me to ask how can people get involved for lawyers that are watching this or people in around the profession interested in attending um how can they go and register is there anywhere they can go feel free to share any web links or any information just so people can go and find out yeah we'll do so blackcouncilforum.com is our website and if you go on there look up bcf 25 superpowers summit there's an embedded link and you can buy tickets on there or just reach out to me if you've got any queries you can just message me on my linkedin and i'll come back to you as soon as possible and remind people of the dates it's friday the 26th saturday the 27th of September so literally what's that three weeks away it's literally just around the corner and we already have more than 400 lawyers registered we've got a space for a few more but if you want to attend please do get in contact very quickly thank you and just I might mention is that with because it's learning and development, firms will pay, okay, both in-house and law firms.

22:51Sharon Thomas:So do approach your inclusion team, your learning and, you know, attorney development, learning and development, and see if they will fund your ticket, because that's the route that most people take to come to the Superpower Summit. There we go. Perfect. Well, yeah, definitely go and check it out. Any questions as Sharon says do reach out to her directly but I wish you every success with the conference and everything that you've been doing I know a lot of hard work behind the scenes goes into this but I know it's going to be bigger and better than ever this year so very excited love the theme love that everything it stands for so from all of us on the League of Speaking Podcast for now over and out.

23:30Sharon Thomas:Thank you Rob thank you so much for having me. Bye everyone. Bye.