Superpower Summit 2026 Programme
Two days residential experience for Black and other under-represented lawyers building careers of consequence. Set on a Georgian estate two miles from Windsor Castle.
An architecture for two days that change a career.
450+ lawyers. Two days. One room. This is not a conference, it is the most commercially valuable gathering of Black and under-represented legal professionals in the UK.
Every session is an opportunity to learn. Every break is an opportunity to connect. Every conversation is an opportunity to do business. Come with intention. Leave with clients, collaborators and a clearer path forward.
08:00
09:30
Summit Registration
Main Entrance and Hanover Lounge
09:15
09:45
Summit Opening
Summit Host: Denise Nurse
Sharon Thomas - Founder, Global Counsel Forum Lorna Nsoatabe - Partner, Slaughter and May
Hanover Suite
All delegates
09:45
10:30
Keynote panel - The Next Five Years - What's real. What's next. What's ours to shape.
A forward-looking view of the forces reshaping legal and investment markets from AI to global capital flows and how lawyers position themselves to stay relevant and competitive.
Moderator: Denise Nurse
Speakers: David Ziyambi Sharon Blackman OBE Barbara Thomas Darren Johnson
Hanover Suite
All delegates
10:33
11:15
Keynote panel: How They Got Here - The truth. The whole truth. Nothing but the truth.
Senior leaders share honest reflections on the decisions, trade-offs and moments that shaped their careers beyond the polished narratives.
Moderator: Paulette Mastin
Speakers: Trevor Faure Akima Paul-Lambert Ferdisha Snagg Lorna Nsoatabe
Hanover Suite
All delegates
11:45
12:30
The Agentic Advantage: How Lawyers Use AI to Build Leverage, Visibility and Power
Most of us are still using AI like a search engine. In this session we build an agentic AI workflow live in the room, and you leave with something you can actually use on your own career, not just your matters. Laptops welcome, not essential.
Judith Olloh
Hanover Suite
All
Making yourself known: visibility, reputation & strategic presence
Being good at the work isn't enough. This is the deliberate practice of building profile and credibility until your reputation opens doors on your behalf.
Visibility is career currency.
Kolarele Sonaike Charlotte Witherington
Tudor Suite
All
Navigating mid level roles in-house: culture, visibility & progression
The middle of an in-house career is where the map runs out - the work stops being the differentiator and the criteria are rarely written down. Put your questions to the people who make the decisions.
Moderator: Georgena Clarke
Lara Oyesanya James Hanlon Vanya Bromfield
Hampton
All
Power Circle: Navigating Politics, Power and Influence at Work
Making sense of the unwritten rules, relationships and dynamics that shape influence and progression.
For mid-to-senior level lawyers who are looking to progress, increase their influence or navigate a challenging situation within their organisation. Through discussion, coaching and practical reflection, the session will explore some of the formal and informal dynamics that shape how work gets done and careers progress.
Participants will have opportunities to reflect on situations they are navigating, exchange perspectives with peers and consider how to navigate organisational politics while staying true to their own values and approach.
Coach: Alison Mackay
Lancaster 6
All
Power Circle: Power Circle: Who gets the microphone? Choosing which voice leads your career
For lawyers who know they’re capable of more, but recognise the Saboteur that shows up at the moments that matter, telling them to wait until they’re ready, soften what they really think or play safe. In this experiential coaching circle, you’ll learn to recognise when your Saboteur is influencing your choices, understand what it’s trying to protect, and access your Leader Within so you can make your next career decision with greater agency and intention.
The Saboteur can stay in the room. It just doesn’t get to run the show anymore.
Coach: Kamal Patheja
Lancaster 2
Mid- to Senior
Power Circle: Building visibility beyond your professional brand
Visibility is key to managing your career as a lawyer or in-house specialist. Visibility helps to build connections and can also generate new work opportunities to boost your career experience. Visibility is also about celebrating the value, skills and expertise you bring to the team or your clients.
Coach: Sunita Harley
Lancaster 3
All
Power Circle - The Silent Stress Response: How to Perform Without Burning Out
Law is a high-demanding, high-achieving profession, and it asks a lot of the people in it. This session helps lawyers recognise the toll that demand takes on the body, often silently, and equips them with personalised, evidence-based techniques and habits they can weave directly into their working lives, without it costing them their career. The goal isn't to survive the pressure. It's to protect their health inside it.
Coach: Sheree-Anne Michelle
Lancaster 4
All
12:30
14:00
Lunch
Restaurant
13.30
14:00 [does this need to be longer]
Legora and guests
Legora and Kizzy Augustin Amy Goss
Hanover Suite
All
14:00
15:00
Excellence Is the Baseline. Origination Is the Difference.
Technical excellence is taught. Origination isn't. Three partners on how they actually built a book of business — what worked, what failed, and what changed their thinking. Start now, before you're behind.
Moderator: Sunita Harley
Speakers: Noline Matemera Marcia Longdon Jennie Dorsaint
Hampton
Mid to Senior Associates
Inside the Business of Law
The conversation your firm isn't having with you. How the business actually makes money. Why leverage decides your hours and your bonus. What "good work" looks like economically. The strongest careers belong to the lawyers who work this out early
Trevor James
Beaumont Room
Junior to Mid Level
14:00 to 15:00
Legora: Before the Coffee Gets Cold Escape
You're the lawyer. The client's in a panic. There are 200 documents to get through, and you've got 45 minutes. This interactive, slightly competitive escape room challenge drops you into a realistic (but fictional) scenario where you'll work through the problem using Legora: finding answers, piecing things together, and pulling a clear output together before the clock runs out. We'll start with a 10-minute demo so you know your way around the platform, then dive in as a group. No prior experience with Legora is needed, and our Legal Engineers will be on hand throughout to guide you. Expect a few twists, some hidden clues, and the occasional "oh, that's clever" moment along the way.
Legora team
Windsor 3
All
Power Circle: Navigating Politics, Power and Influence at Work
Subheading: Making sense of the unwritten rules, relationships and dynamics that shape influence and progression.
For mid-to-senior level lawyers who are looking to progress, increase their influence or navigate a challenging situation within their organisation. Through discussion, coaching and practical reflection, the session will explore some of the formal and informal dynamics that shape how work gets done and careers progress.
Participants will have opportunities to reflect on situations they are navigating, exchange perspectives with peers and consider how to navigate organisational politics while staying true to their own values and approach.
Coach: Alison Mackay
Lancaster 6
All
Power Circle: Who Gets the Microphone? Choosing Which Voice Leads Your Career
For lawyers who know they’re capable of more, but recognise the Saboteur that shows up at the moments that matter, telling them to wait until they’re ready, soften what they really think or play safe. In this experiential coaching circle, you’ll learn to recognise when your Saboteur is influencing your choices, understand what it’s trying to protect, and access your Leader Within so you can make your next career decision with greater agency and intention.
The Saboteur can stay in the room. It just doesn’t get to run the show anymore.
Coach: Kamal Patheja
Lancaster 2
Mid- to Senior
Power Circle: Building visibility beyond your professional brand
Visibility is key to managing your career as a lawyer or in-house specialist. Visibility helps to build connections and can also generate new work opportunities to boost your career experience. Visibility is also about celebrating the value, skills and expertise you bring to the team or your clients.
Coach: Sunita Harley
Lancaster 3
All
Power Circles - The Silent Stress Response: How to Perform Without Burning Out
Law is a high-demanding, high-achieving profession, and it asks a lot of the people in it. This session helps lawyers recognise the toll that demand takes on the body, often silently, and equips them with personalised, evidence-based techniques and habits they can weave directly into their working lives, without it costing them their career. The goal isn't to survive the pressure. It's to protect their health inside it.
Coach: Sheree-Ann Michelle
Lancaster 4
All
15:00
16:00
Power Circle: Navigating Politics, Power and Influence at Work
Subheading: Making sense of the unwritten rules, relationships and dynamics that shape influence and progression.
For mid-to-senior level lawyers who are looking to progress, increase their influence or navigate a challenging situation within their organisation. Through discussion, coaching and practical reflection, the session will explore some of the formal and informal dynamics that shape how work gets done and careers progress.
Participants will have opportunities to reflect on situations they are navigating, exchange perspectives with peers and consider how to navigate organisational politics while staying true to their own values and approach.
Coach: Alison Mackay
Lancaster 6
All
Power Circle: Who’s Running the Show?
Meet the Saboteurs getting in your way - and learn how to stand them down.
We all have Saboteurs - those familiar inner voices that can make us doubt ourselves, play safe or hold back.
In this interactive Coaching Circle, we will explore how our Saboteurs show up in our working lives, what triggers them and the impact they can have on our confidence, choices, and behaviour. Through powerful questions, reflection, and shared conversation, we will learn to recognise when a Saboteur is running the show, and consciously choose who gets to lead instead.
Coach: Kamal Patheja
Lancaster 2
Mid- to Senior
Power Circle: Building visibility beyond your professional brand
Visibility is key to managing your career as a lawyer or in-house specialist. Visibility helps to build connections and can also generate new work opportunities to boost your career experience. Visibility is also about celebrating the value, skills and expertise you bring to the team or your clients.
Coach: Sunita Harley
Lancaster 3
All
Power Circles - The Silent Stress Response: How to Perform Without Burning Out
Law is a high-demanding, high-achieving profession, and it asks a lot of the people in it. This session helps lawyers recognise the toll that demand takes on the body, often silently, and equips them with personalised, evidence-based techniques and habits they can weave directly into their working lives, without it costing them their career. The goal isn't to survive the pressure. It's to protect their health inside it.
Coach: Sheree-Anne Michelle
Lancaster 4
All
Money & wealth - building financial power
Lawyers protect everyone else’s wealth. This session is about building your own. We look at why high earners stay asset poor, the tax most quietly overpay, how to invest with structure in the UK and abroad, and what generational wealth genuinely requires.
Emmanuel Asuquo
Hanover Suite
All delegates
17:00
18:00
LGBTQ+ In Law
A private, Chatham House conversation for LGBTQ+ legal professionals. Anonymous index cards set the agenda, and a facilitator opens the themes out to the room — authenticity, progression, visibility, leadership and allyship. Participant-led, practical and career-focused. No recording.
Isaac Eloi
Carlton Daniel
Windsor 4
· LGBTQ+ lawyers
The Opportunity Room
A structured session to find and connect with lawyers across private practice, in-house and the Bar who work in your area and turn those connections into real commercial relationship
Hampton
All
18:30
19:30
Pre-dinner Cocktails
Hanover Lounge, Beaumont
19:30
22:00
Gala Dinner
Hanover Suite
22:00
late
Party with DJ Manny Norte
The Chapel
Jazz Lounge
Hanover Lounge
07:30
09:00
Breakfast
Main Restaurant
08:00
09:00
Power Circle: Navigating Politics, Power and Influence at Work
Subheading: Making sense of the unwritten rules, relationships and dynamics that shape influence and progression.
For mid-to-senior level lawyers who are looking to progress, increase their influence or navigate a challenging situation within their organisation. Through discussion, coaching and practical reflection, the session will explore some of the formal and informal dynamics that shape how work gets done and careers progress.
Participants will have opportunities to reflect on situations they are navigating, exchange perspectives with peers and consider how to navigate organisational politics while staying true to their own values and approach.
Coach: Alison Mackay
Lancaster 6
All
Power Circle: Who Gets the Microphone? Choosing Which Voice Leads Your Career
For lawyers who know they’re capable of more, but recognise the Saboteur that shows up at the moments that matter, telling them to wait until they’re ready, soften what they really think or play safe. In this experiential coaching circle, you’ll learn to recognise when your Saboteur is influencing your choices, understand what it’s trying to protect, and access your Leader Within so you can make your next career decision with greater agency and intention.
The Saboteur can stay in the room. It just doesn’t get to run the show anymore.
Coach: Kamal Patheja
Lancaster 2
Mid- to Senior
Power Circle: Building visibility beyond your professional brand
Visibility is key to managing your career as a lawyer or in-house specialist. Visibility helps to build connections and can also generate new work opportunities to boost your career experience. Visibility is also about celebrating the value, skills and expertise you bring to the team or your clients.
Coach: Sunita Harley
Lancaster 3
All
Power Circles - The Silent Stress Response: How to Perform Without Burning Out
Law is a high-demanding, high-achieving profession, and it asks a lot of the people in it. This session helps lawyers recognise the toll that demand takes on the body, often silently, and equips them with personalised, evidence-based techniques and habits they can weave directly into their working lives, without it costing them their career. The goal isn't to survive the pressure. It's to protect their health inside it.
Coach: Sheree-Anne Michelle
Lancaster 4
All
09:00
09:45
Sistas in Law
A confidential, peer-led conversation for women across the legal profession.
Host: Coleen Mensah
Tudor Suite
Brothas in Law
A confidential, peer-led conversation for men across the legal profession.
Host: Marvyn Harrison
Hampton
09:45
11:00
Deep Skills: Why some trainees get kept and others don't.
One of the hardest things a trainee faces is not the law itself, but getting the information they need to do the job well. Partners and supervisors are busy, instructions are vague, and trainees are often left trying to act on half a brief without knowing what's really being asked. We'll cover:
What firms actually judge them on, and why the ability to elicit information and exercise judgement matters more than ever in an AI-driven profession.
A live simulation. A senior lawyer will step into an AI-powered simulation in front of the room, playing the role of a trainee trying to extract a proper brief from a distracted, senior colleague. It shows just how much skill sits in something we assume is simple.
Live coaching. We'll break down what happened together, drawing out the specific moments that separate a trainee who gets what they need from one who walks away under-briefed.
Practical takeaways every trainee can use the very next day, on managing up, asking better questions, and making sound decisions under time pressure.
Facilitator: Egbe Manton/Inspired Global
Speakers: Jamaal Jackson Tina Zhuo
Windsor 2
Trainees & Paralegals
Deep Skills Workshop: “It’s Not Personal. It’s Progression.”
Junior to Mid-Level Lawyers.
Negative feedback hits harder when you’re the only one in the room - and no generic career advice accounts for that. In this Deep Skills workshop, Caroline Flanagan, The Black Lawyers’ Coach, challenges the belief that negative feedback is bad news for your career. It isn’t. It’s the fastest lever you have. You’ll learn how to ask for it before it’s too late to use, how to receive it without it becoming personal, and where to find it when no one’s giving it to you straight.
Walk out with a written next move you can act on the minute you’re back in the office.
Facilitator: Caroline Flanagan
Speaker: Ope Osinubi
Hanover Suite
Junior to Mid-Level Lawyers.
The Inner Game: Your Next Best Move
Senior progression takes more than excellent work and good contacts. A practical planning session for lawyers weighing their next step — partnership or otherwise. Leave with a business case, defined priorities, milestones, and a next move you've committed to.
Facilitator: : Usha Puri-Dewage
Speakers: Jivaan Bennett, Charlotte Witherington
Buckingham 4/4a/4b
Senior Associates and Counsel
Owning Your Career
Explore alternative legal careers beyond the traditional path, from Fractional GC roles to Legal Operations and Legal Tech - what they involve, how to make the move and where the opportunities are.
Facilitator: Kamal Patheja
Tudor Suite
In house
Barristers Roundtable
Facilitator: Laurie-Ann Power KC
Windsor 1
Barristers — all levels
09:45
11:45
Role play: Navigating Challenging Conversations
In this dynamic and interactive workshop the facilitators bring the world of the participants to life by enacting a challenging conversation between two lawyers. The workshop will provide a practical toolkit to help participants navigate challenging conversations more effectively, with a live rerun of the original conversation to show how the toolkit can be applied in practice.
Facilitators: Nikki Squire and Sam Oladeinde
Windsor 4
All levels
11:00
11:30
Coffee break
11:30
12:15
The View from the Top: Leadership, Strategy and the Future of Law
Leading a law firm or legal function has rarely been harder. AI, cost pressure, shifting talent expectations and a cooling institutional climate all land on the same desk. Three leaders talk candidly about the toughest calls they're making now — and what it takes to thrive, not just survive.
Moderator: Trevor James
Speakers: Segun Osuntokun Trevor Sterling Maria Barros Margot Day
Hanover Suite
All delegates
12:15
13:15
Letters to Our Younger Selves: Lessons from Senior Leaders from the USA
Four senior US leaders share letters to their younger selves, revealing the career lessons, pivotal moments and advice they wish they had known earlier and what the next generation can learn from their journeys.
Moderator: Werten Bellamy
Speakers: Kellye Walker Andrez Carberry Michael Marsh
Hanover Suite
All delegates
12:30
14:00
Lunch & open networking
Restaurant
14:00
15:00
Microagressions, Big Impact: Navigating Setbacks and Difficult Environments
A candid conversation about navigating microaggressions, setbacks and challenging workplace environments and how to respond with confidence, protect your sense of self and keep moving forward in your career. A candid conversation about navigating microaggressions, setbacks and challenging workplace environments —and how to respond with confidence, protect your sense of self and keep moving forward in your career.
Moderator: Lewitt Nurse
Speakers: Elaine Banton Rebeca Lewis Natasha Adom Melinda Albert
Hampton
All
The Seats Beyond the Practice NED, judiciary, board, trustee - the roles that build influence and how to get them.
Explore the influential roles beyond day-to-day legal practice — from NED and trustee positions to the judiciary and boardroom — and learn how to position yourself, build the right profile and secure a seat at the table.
"
Moderator: Nicolina Andall
Speakers: Annabel Tagoe Bannerman Nicola Williams
Hanover Suite
Senior
Alternative career paths: Fractional GC, Legal Operations & Legal Tech
Explore alternative legal careers beyond the traditional path, from Fractional GC roles to Legal Operations and Legal Tech - what they involve, how to make the move and where the opportunities are.
Moderator: Merley Okine Speakers: Cheryl Ashman Lorraine Chimbga
Windsor 3
All
14:00 to 15:00
Power Circle: Navigating Politics, Power and Influence at Work
Subheading: Making sense of the unwritten rules, relationships and dynamics that shape influence and progression.
For mid-to-senior level lawyers who are looking to progress, increase their influence or navigate a challenging situation within their organisation. Through discussion, coaching and practical reflection, the session will explore some of the formal and informal dynamics that shape how work gets done and careers progress.
Participants will have opportunities to reflect on situations they are navigating, exchange perspectives with peers and consider how to navigate organisational politics while staying true to their own values and approach.
Coach: : Alison Mackay
Lancaster 6
All
Power Circle: Who gets the microphone? Choosing which voice leads your career
For lawyers who know they’re capable of more, but recognise the Saboteur that shows up at the moments that matter, telling them to wait until they’re ready, soften what they really think or play safe. In this experiential coaching circle, you’ll learn to recognise when your Saboteur is influencing your choices, understand what it’s trying to protect, and access your Leader Within so you can make your next career decision with greater agency and intention.
The Saboteur can stay in the room. It just doesn’t get to run the show anymore.
Coach: : Kamal Patheja
Lancaster 2
Mid- to Senior
Power Circle: Building visibility beyond your professional brand
Visibility is key to managing your career as a lawyer or in-house specialist. Visibility helps to build connections and can also generate new work opportunities to boost your career experience. Visibility is also about celebrating the value, skills and expertise you bring to the team or your clients.
Coach: : Sunita Harley
Lancaster 3
All
Power Circles - The Silent Stress Response: How to Perform Without Burning Out
Law is a high-demanding, high-achieving profession, and it asks a lot of the people in it. This session helps lawyers recognise the toll that demand takes on the body, often silently, and equips them with personalised, evidence-based techniques and habits they can weave directly into their working lives, without it costing them their career. The goal isn't to survive the pressure. It's to protect their health inside it.
Coach: : Sheree-Anne Michelle
Lancaster 4
All
15:00
15:30
Trial by Media
When scrutiny becomes a story of its own. A powerful conversation about media narratives, reputational attacks and how individuals navigate being judged in public before the full story is heard.
Moderator: Laurie-Anne Power KC Speakers: Garry Green KC Martin Forde KC
Hanover Suite
All
15:30
16:15
Keynote: Afua Hirsch
An insightful conversation with Afua Hirsch exploring identity, belonging and culture.
Host: Denise Nurse
Keynote Speaker: Afua Hirsch
Hanover Suite
All
16:15
16:30
Closing remarks
Lewitt Nurse, GCF Advisory Board
Hanover Suite
All
TBC
Windsor Castle — State Apartments & St George's Chapel
—
10-min walk from venue
All
Sunday brunch
—
De Vere Beaumont
Delegates & speakers
Legoland Windsor
—
5-min drive
Great for those with family
Windsor Great Park
—
Adjacent
All
Thames river cruise
—
From the promenade
All
Eton College & town
—
Across the bridge
All
Royal Windsor Golf
—
10-min drive
Golfers
Legoland Windsor
—
5-min drive
Great for those with family
Windsor Great Park
—
Adjacent
All
Thames river cruise
—
From the promenade
All
Eton College & town
—
Across the bridge
All
Royal Windsor Golf
—
10-min drive
Golfers
Our Speakers
The leaders, innovators and practitioners shaping the programme.
More exciting speakers will continue to be announced. Check back soon for the latest additions to the programme.
Ready to build a career of consequence?
Join 450+ Black and under-represented lawyers at De Vere Beaumont Estate, Windsor, 25–26 September 2026.