The Legal Wales Foundation is delighted to announce that the 2024 Legal Wales Conference and Dinner will be hosted in West Wales, for the first time. 

Split between two fantastic and spacious venues, we will cater for over 100 legal professionals, VIPs, members of the judiciary and representatives from the Welsh and UK governments, academics, students and those who support the legal sector, for a one-day conference and an evening dinner to follow. 

The Legal Wales Conference, now in its 21st year, provides a platform for significant contributions to the continuing dialogue on constitutional and legal developments in Wales, and the future shape of the profession. The Conference also includes a presentation of the Sir Samuel Evans Prize 2024 for the best undergraduate result at a Welsh Law School. 

The Programme

The full and final programme can be found here.

Venues

Conference Venue:

Pembrokeshire Archives, Prendergast, Haverfordwest, SA61 2PE

Dinner Venue:

Tŷ Milford Hotel, Milford Haven, SA73 3AA

 

Keynote speakers

Keynote speakers and session chairs for the 2024 conference include: 

• The Lady Chief Justice of Wales and England, Rt Hon. Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill DBE
• Rt Hon, Lord Reed of Allermuir, President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
• Rt Hon Lord Lloyd-Jones, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Chair of the Law Council of Wales and session chair
• The Counsel General for Wales
• Judge Barry Clarke, President of Employment Tribunals (England and Wales)
• Sir Gary Hickinbottom, President of Welsh Tribunals (session chair)
• Ambassador Stephen J Rapp, Former US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues & Senior Visiting Fellow, Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford
• Professor Laura McAllister, Chair of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales
• Jonathan Elystan Rees KC, Chair of Legal Wales
• Huw Williams, Chief Legal Advisor, Senedd Cymru (session chair and chair of Conference Programme Committee)

 

Breakout sessions

The Conference offers nine breakout sessions, including the following themes: 

• Freeport Developments and Opportunities in South and West Wales
• Major Public Inquiries: Challenges and Opportunities for Wales
• Workplace Culture and Regulatory Considerations Post Covid 
• Legal Apprenticeships in Wales
• Update from The Law Commission of Wales and England
• A Conversation on Accessibility at the Bar: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Legal Practice
• Pathfinder: Why the pilot was transformative in Wales
• The Youard Lecture on Welsh Legal and Social History: Giraldus Cambrensis as a Canonist: ‘Thrice to Rome’
• Le Pardon de St Yves, 2025 (presented by delegates from Brittany)

Conference Dinner Speaker

This year’s Dinner Speaker is John Hyde, Deputy News Editor at the Law Society Gazette (profile), who will talk about his time covering the Post Office Inquiry and thoughts on the impact of the inquiry narrative for the legal sector.

Sponsors, Exhibitors & Media Partner

Both the conference and the dinner are held in conjunction with our Media Partner, Legal News Wales.

Headline Sponsors: Browne Jacobson and 30 Park Place.

Lunch Sponsor: No5 Chambers

Delegate Pack sponsor: Geldards.

Photography Sponsor: 11 KBW

Exhibitors:

• The Bar Standards Board
• CILEx
• Watkins & Gunn
• University of Wales Trinity St David
• Victoria Bookshops
• Pembrokeshire Archives

Book your place 

 

- Conference Ticket Only: £95 pp 

The conference ticket includes a full day at the conference, with lunch and refreshments included. Plenty of free parking is available at the venue. 

 

- Dinner Ticket Only: £75 pp 

Please note: The evening dinner ticket includes a welcome drink and three-course meal, with tea / coffee. Wine and other drinks are to be purchased separately. A pre-order drinks list will be sent to all attendees, to be ordered directly with the Tŷ Milford Hotel. 

 

Booking instructions 

Please complete the booking form, available here: https://forms.office.com/e/h6pU8URaYv 

• The Treasurer of the Legal Wales Foundation (Hannah Menard) will send an invoice to you. Please note: your tickets will only be confirmed once payment has been received.  
• If you have any questions regarding the conference or bookings, please contact the Conference Director, Emma Waddingham, via email: emma@legalnewswales.com. 

 

Accommodation at the Tŷ Milford Hotel

Located on the Pembrokeshire coast and just 400 metres from Milford Beach, Tŷ Milford Waterfront offers stylish accommodation in Milford Haven and features a fitness centre, a restaurant and a bar at Dulse. The hotel was launched in partnership with the Port of Milford Haven and Milford Waterfront and is operated by the Celtic Collection. 

Hotel Book Direct Process:  

Guests can book a room online at celtic-manor.com using the ‘Book Online’ tab on the homepage or call the reservations team on 01633 413000.

 

Conference Exhibition Stands

For more information or to book one of the final exhibition packages available for the Legal Wales Conference 2024, please contact the Conference Director, Emma Waddingham (emma@legalnewswales.com). 

 

“The 2023 Conference was a resounding celebration of our 20th anniversary and has set the bar high for the next 20 years. As the Conference goes from strength to strength, our ambition for the future is to continue broadening our platform for speakers of national and international status and expertise to address legal matters relating not only to Wales but also to the world around us.” 

- Jonathan Rees KC, Chair of the Legal Wales Foundation.

“I was a member of the programme committee for the first Legal Wales Conference, and I am delighted to have been involved long enough to see the event grow to become an established part of the Welsh legal scene. It continues in its original aim of providing a platform for speakers of national and international status and expertise to speak about legal matters of relevance to Wales.”

- Huw Williams, Chair of the Programme Committee.  

 

 

Book Here