The Silent Lunch Series #9

*PLEASE NOTE, that registering for a ticket does not guarantee a seat. We will review your application before confirming*

What is it?

Meet the architects: The Silent Lunch Series is an intimate, two-hour, “silent conference” in Sandton where 100 senior legal industry professionals will gather each month, and rotate through four focused 20–25 minute sessions each time. Each session runs simultaneously in its own zone, and guests listen via wireless headsets while enjoying complimentary coffee, tea, water, and snacks. Every 25 minutes, you move to the next zone, until you have heard all 4 speakers. Then pick up some free snacks and head back to the office.

When is it? Lunch number 9

The second silent lunch conference is between 12pm - 2pm on Thursday 30th Sept 2027, and is being held in the atrium of the WeWork, 155 West St, Sandton.

Lunch 9 – Ethics, Regulation and the Pay Arms Race

Theme: The ethics and regulation of remuneration innovation

Target market: Managing Partners, Risk/Compliance Partners, Bar/Regulator reps, Ethics committees

Value Proposition

When pay drives bad behaviour - billing pressure leading to burnout, origination credit causing misconduct, AI over-reliance risking negligence—regulation and ethics matter. This lunch brings together managing partners, risk leads, and regulator representatives to discuss guardrails for 2035: how to design compensation that is sustainable, defensible, and regulator-proof.

We'll cover billing ethics, AI accountability, non-lawyer ownership rules, and stress-testing your policies before they blow up.

Four Topics

1. When pay drives bad behaviour: Billing pressure, burnout, misconduct - documenting the link between compensation structures and ethical breaches.
2. Regulating AI-linked remuneration: Supervision, accountability and professional indemnity when lawyers rely on AI outputs - who carries the risk?
3. Non-lawyer ownership and fee-sharing: How regulatory change (or lack of it) in SA could transform who gets paid and how - lessons from UK ABS and Australia.
4. Guardrails for 2035: Designing compensation policies that are sustainable, defensible, regulator-proof and align with professional conduct rules.

Where is it?

WeWork, 155 West St, Sandton. Go to the front entrance, ask for the Silent Lunch, and they will show you where we are.

Cost?

Zero for attendees

Who will attend?

Depending on the monthly theme, the audience could be Legal Industry professionals at every level. From students, candidate attorneys, associates, advisors, and counsel to legal technologists, founders of AI ventures, marketers, senior partners, GCs, CFOs, and CEOs.

Why attend?

1. High value, zero fluff
2. Curated lunchtime sessions on pay, careers and AI that directly affect bonuses, promotions, hiring and retention.
3. Four punchy briefings in two hours, with direct access to experts who see what’s working across firms and in-house teams.
4. Deep focus, no noise
5. Silent headsets supplied, short 20–25 minute talks, and intimate 25-person zones keep the content sharp, practical and easy to engage with.
6. Low-pressure, lunch-time format
7. Running 12–2pm in Sandton, so you don’t lose a billable afternoon or a travel day.
8. Coffee, tea, water, snacks and natural networking through zone rotations make it feel more like a small-room briefing than a formal conference.
9. Real, usable takeaways and strategies shared.
10. Every session answers “what should we change in the next 6–12 months?” on remuneration, training and careers, while 100 delegates rotate through all four zones benchmarking and sharing ideas.

For Sponsorship Opportunities, contact Sue Smith on [email protected]