ABOUT GCF
The UK’s leading professional community for Black and under-represented lawyers. Home of the SuperPower Summit. Built by the community it serves.
Who we are
We are a professional infrastructure
Global Counsel Forum is the UK’s leading professional community for Black and under-represented lawyers – home of the Superpower Summit.
Talented lawyers from Black and other under-represented backgrounds are no longer rare in the profession. What remains rare is access – to the relationships, the sponsors and the rooms where careers are made, work is awarded and leaders are chosen. GCF builds that access, deliberately and at scale.
Our Story
How we got here
GCF began in 2022 as the Black Counsel Forum, founded by Sharon Thomas, a commercial lawyer with three decades of in-house experience in the technology and outsourcing sector. It grew out of something even older: a dinner series for senior lawyers that became a network, then a movement – proof that when this community gathers with intent, doors open.
From the beginning, GCF was built on deep foundations. Our founding advisory board : Paulette Mastin CBE, Sharon Blackman OBE, Lorna Smith and Lewitt Nurse, brought several decades of experience leading communities of Black lawyers and championing pro bono work: leaders who had spent their careers building the networks, opening the doors and doing the unglamorous work that made what came next possible. GCF stands on what they built.
The name changed. The mission didn't.
2022
Senior lawyers group (SLG)
Sharon Thomas started the senior lawyers group (SLG) in 2017 building a community for them.
2023
Black Counsel Forum Founded
The Black Counsel Forum is formally founded. The founding advisory board is established. The first Summit draws lawyers from across the profession.
2025
Amicus Launched
GCF’s year-round community platform launches, extending the Summit into a professional home open every day of the year.
2025
BCF25 - The Final Summit Under the Old Name
The largest BCF yet and the last under the old name.
2026
Global Counsel Forum
The community becomes Global Counsel Forum. The SuperPower Summit 2026 is the first under the new name. The mission remains unchanged.
Who makes us different
Owned by the community it serves
We are not a diversity initiative. We are professional infrastructure, owned by the community it serves.
Everything we build is designed around a single conviction: careers are not advanced by talent alone, but by relationships, sponsorship, and an honest understanding of how the profession actually works.
We don’t just open the door to the room where it happens — we teach the game being played inside it, and we back our members to win.
Who makes us different
A Word From Our Founder
“We built GCF for two kinds of lawyer. The one coming up who needs the map, the sponsor and the room. And the one at the top who’s looking for talent, for connection, for the next opportunity and knows this community is where to find it. Put them in the same room often enough and careers change, business gets done, and the whole profession shifts.”
what we do
Five ways we build access
The answer has never been more talent. It has always been access to relationships, to sponsors, to the rooms where careers are made. That is what we build, across across five pillars of our organisation.
The Superpower Summit
Our flagship annual conference - the UK's largest of its kind bringing together in-house counsel, private practice lawyers and barristers for two days of candid conversation about power, progression and leadership.
Amicus
Our year-round community platform, where the conversations from the summit continue every day - peer support, opportunities, events and connection, on tap.
Training & development
Practical programmes that teach what law school doesn't: how to originate work, build sponsorship, navigate organisational politics, and lead.
Research
Evidence on the experiences and progression of Black and under-represented lawyers, because what gets measured gets changed.
Corporate membership
Partnership with law firms, banks and corporates who want to move beyond statements to infrastructure - investing in the community their future leaders come from.
what we do
A community with range
GCF is for lawyers at every stage and for the organisations serious enough to invest in them.
In-house Counsel
Building influence and considering their next move, whether that’s a step up, a sector change, or a seat at the table they’ve been working towards.
Private Practice Lawyers
Pursuing partnership and the clients that sustain it. Looking for the honest intelligence that top firms rarely share with everyone equally.
Barristers
Growing their practice. Building the relationships outside chambers that bring in work and sustain a career at the Bar on their own terms.
Senior Leaders & GCs
Ready to give the next generation what they never had and who know this community is where the next wave of standout talent is coming from.
Trainees & Juniors
Who need the map, the sponsor and the room at the start of a career where getting those things early makes all the difference.
Firms & Organisations
Serious enough to invest in the community their future leaders come from moving beyond statements to infrastructure, through corporate membership and Summit partnership.
what we do
The Room Is Open
Whether you’re starting out or running a legal function, there’s a place for you here. Explore [Amicus], secure your seat at the [Superpower Summit], or talk to us about [corporate membership].
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
SuperPower Summit
Secure your seat at the UK’s largest conference for Black and under-represented lawyers. 25–26 September 2026, Windsor.
yEAR-ROUND CONFERENCE
Amicus
Explore GCF’s membership community — peer support, opportunities, member events and connection, every day of the year.
For Organisations
Corporate membership
Talk to us about corporate membership — investing in the community your future leaders come from.
GENERAL ENQUIRIES
Get In Touch
Talk to us about corporate membership — investing in the community your future leaders come from.