The countdown is on. BIALL 2025 Annual Conference – the event for legal information professionals – is heading to Birmingham this June, and the programme is packed with reasons to get attendees genuinely excited.
This year’s theme, “Playing a Blinder: Moving Forward in the City of a Thousand Trades,” nods to Birmingham’s inventive and creative spirit and asks us to think just as boldly about our own evolving roles. What should we hold onto? What do we need to reimagine?
As I scanned the sessions, three big themes stood out, each one speaking to the real-world challenges and opportunities we’re all navigating.
Yes, AI is a big talking point (we’ll get there), but what’s striking this year is how many sessions focus on people. Our users, our teams, ourselves.
The way people progress into and through their legal career is changing, so our research training must evolve too. Anne Coles, Helena Marshall, and Wendy Johnson explore how legal information professionals can support new joiners arriving through diverse qualification routes. This session will share smart, practical ways to adapt training, build consistency, and ensure no one’s left behind.
From “Positive Action Recruitment at IALS” to “Ditch the Doubt: The Importance of Self-Advocacy,” we’re seeing real conversations about identity, inclusion, and confidence in how we move through our careers.
In what will be a thought-provoking closing session, Greg Bennett will dive into the skills and expertise that define law librarianship today and ask which of them are truly future-proof. Drawing on real job ads and emerging trends, he’ll explore how AI and automation could reshape our value and where we must double down to stay essential.
If there’s one thing that unites us, it’s the constant work of showing our worth, not just doing great work, but proving it.
The opening plenary on KM and IS collaboration promises tangible ideas for aligning our work with firm strategy. Jenni Tellyn is an inspiring speaker and I look forward to hearing her practical and informative takeaways.
Case studies exemplify how strategy impacts what you and your team do daily. Check out the case study on how simple data analysis can enhance service delivery. If you’re feeling entrepreneurial, join Gavin Sheriden in his session on setting up your own legal tech company.
The lightning talks feel laser-focused this year – importance of language, legal research, and service delivery that makes a difference. The mood? Less big reveal, more here’s what works.
Yes, it’s everywhere. But BIALL 2025 brings a critical lens and much-needed nuance to the AI conversation. We’ll hear from people actually using GenAI in practice; what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what they’d do differently.
Sessions like “7 Issues for Legal Info Pros to Consider about Current AI Business Models” and “Legal Database Renewal in the AI Era” help us understand what’s at stake for everybody in relation to this new era of tech. We will consider different perspectives on whether AI is safe, legal, secure, transparent, and accurate – and if we can fully trust the tech.
More crucially, the ethics of AI will receive thoughtful consideration and will be covered in “Ethical Use of Generative AI in Legal Research”. But it’s not just the sessions, I am looking forward to post-session discussions with colleagues about the impact of AI.
KM engagement: we all talk about it, but how do we get people to use the tools we implement? That’s the real challenge. In this session, I take a practical look at what drives user adoption and what holds it back. I draw on research, sector insights, and lived experience to unpack the barriers that stand in the way.
There’s also a nod to Birmingham’s own Samuel Johnson, whose lifelong obsession with words, structure and access to knowledge still resonates in our profession today. I will introduce a KM engagement lexicon to help make your tools not just known but used, trusted, and valued. If you’ve ever launched a KM system to the sound of silence, this one’s for you.
Whether it’s your first BIALL or your fifteenth, this year’s programme offers both provocation and practicality. It’s designed for the big questions – about strategy, tech, and the future of the profession – but it never loses sight of the day-to-day.
Hope to see you in Birmingham, at the sessions, at the stands, or over a slice of pizza at The Distillery. Let’s talk about what’s next.
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