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DASLS Sustainability Conference
Date: Wednesday 21st October 2026
Time: 9:45am - 3:00pm
Venue: Michelmores, Pynes Hill, Exeter
Supported by: Porsche Exeter. Porsche will be exhibiting two new models of electric cars.
Programme:
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9.45 am – 10.15 am |
Was the Summer of 26 (when I look back now that summer seemed to last forever) |
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10.15 am – 10.45 am |
Reduce, Report, Restore |
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10.45 am - 11.00 am |
COFFEE/TEA |
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11.00 am – 11.30 am |
Sally Redman, Landmark |
From Data Challenges to Employee Engagement: Building A Net Zero Journey |
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11.30 am – 12.30 pm |
Fraser Browning, Kurb Carbon |
Adding value through sustainability and ESG agendas |
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12.30 pm – 1.00 pm |
LUNCH |
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1.00 pm - 1.30 pm |
Dr Laurence Couldrick, Westcountry Rivers Trust |
Putting water in Net Zero |
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1.30 – 2.00 pm |
Chris Chandler, Lex Auto Lease |
Providing employees with sustainable vehicle solutions through Company Cars and Salary Sacrifice |
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2.00 pm – 2.30 pm |
Sarah Bailey, Nexus Open Systems |
Think Before You Prompt - The real cost of AI in your law firm |
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2.30 pm – 3.00 pm |
Rob Marsh - Client Success Director Team Jump |
Why nobody cares about Climate Change |
Prof Robert Lee, Was the Summer of 26 (when I look back now that summer seemed to last forever)
The Summer of 2026 delivered a stark, recurrent lesson in what a warming climate now means for the UK with record heat and prolonged drought straining water supplies and power generation. These cascading failures exposed how much of our infrastructure was designed for a climate that no longer exists.
Climate risk is now systemic and simultaneous, challenging major areas of policy and investment such as energy, water, transport, health and food. Adaptation is no longer a peripheral issue of "resilience" but a pressing agenda of infrastructure renewal .
Lawyers will be central to this agenda — translating climate risk into enforceable duties, re-writing the contracts, standards and codes that govern infrastructure, securing the finance and consent pathways for renewal, and holding public and private bodies to account when adaptation commitments are made but not met. It presents an opportunity but also a significant responsibility.
Sophie Hill, Climate Growth Manager, Ecologi
- Introduction to Ecologi: Our 3R Framework for effective climate action (Reduce, Restore, and Report)
- Reduce Overview: Brief overview of what carbon accounting is and why it is important for law firms to measure their annual emissions
- Restore: Nature vs. Carbon: An in-depth dive into nature-based restoration vs. carbon credits - weighing the pros, cons, biodiversity co-benefits, and greenwashing risks
- Law Firm Use Cases and Reporting: Aligning impact with firm operations and having verifiable data for ESG disclosures and clients
From Data Challenges to Employee Engagement: Building A Net Zero Journey
In this session, Sally Redman will share the challenges of starting Landmark’s net zero journey, from collecting emissions data and navigating carbon reporting requirements to working with sustainability platforms that did not always deliver as expected. She will discuss how engagement was built across the organisation, the initiatives successfully implemented, and Landmark’ FY27 plans, including how we're using our knowledge and experience to support DASLS and its Green Badge Initiative.
Key topics include:
Join us to hear practical lessons learned and ideas for accelerating your own sustainability journey.
Adding value through sustainability and ESG agendas
Fraser will be delivering an interactive session on how legal firms can add genuine value through sustainability and ESG agendas. With pressure mounting for businesses of all types to engage with sustainable best practice, the business case for sustainability is writing itself.
Fraser will talk through where these pressures are coming from, using case studies to showcase how sustainability can add genuine commercial value for law firms. Fraser will also deliver an interactive session to help law firms identify how they can progress their sustainability agenda in a way that goes beyond tick boxing, and maximises the value delivered.
Putting water in Net Zero
Dr Couldrick explores how integrating water into Net Zero strategies benefits businesses but also directly protects local rivers. Treating and pumping water consumes high energy, driving carbon emissions. By reducing usage, optimising wastewater facilities, and lowering urban runoff, we cut carbon footprints while preventing river pollution and sustaining critical aquatic ecosystems.
Providing employees with sustainable vehicle solutions through Company Cars and Salary Sacrifice
The session will cover the rise of electric vehicles in the UK fleet market, the current and future markets. It will then go on to and the tax benefits of electric vehicles for both company cars and Salary Sacrifice and why we are seeing increased demand in these areas, and the benefits it can provide both businesses and their employees.
Think Before You Prompt - The real cost of AI in your law firm
Sarah Bailey, Head of Marketing, Nexus OS. AI might feel instant and invisible, but every prompt has a footprint. Behind the tools we use every day are data centres consuming energy, water and resources and as AI adoption accelerates, so does that demand.
In this 20-minute session, we'll look behind the prompt at the real-world impact of AI, how Microsoft and others are rethinking the infrastructure that powers it, and what that means for law firms.
Most importantly, we'll bring it back to practical action: how firms can use AI more intentionally, choose the right tools for the right tasks and balance productivity, sustainability, cost and professional responsibility. This isn't about using less AI. It's about using AI better.
Rob Marsh - Client Success Director at Team Jump, a climate-tech business on a mission to empower and motivate people to take action for a sustainable future will be delivering a session on 'Why nobody cares about Climate Change' where he'll be sharing insights from Team Jump's 2026 Sustainability Engagement Trends Report about the reasons why people aren't taking climate action, and what employers (specifically law firms) can do to change that.
Fees:
DASLS Green Badge Subscribers £20.00 plus VAT (3 for 2 offer)
DASLS Members/Affiliates: £40.00 plus VAT (3 for 2 offer)
Non-members: £80.00 plus VAT (3 for 2 offer)
We are pleased to announce we will be joined by the following speakers:
Robert Lee is is a former Dean of two Russell Group law schools: Cardiff and Birmingham. He remains Professor of Environmental Law at the latter, where he researches questions of technology regulation. He holds a higher doctorate (LL.D.) awarded for his work on regulation and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and of the Academy of Social Sciences and is an Honorary Life Member of the UK Environmental Law Association. He chairs a water remediation company, Daphne Water Solutions Ltd, which brings a zero carbon, zero waste, nature-based solution to removing persistent chemicals from water.
Sally Redman is the Net Zero Lead at Landmark Information Group, driving the organisation’s decarbonisation strategy and helping clients define and deliver their net zero ambitions. She supports organisations in collecting and interpreting emissions data, translating it into credible near term and long-term targets aligned with climate commitments. With over a decade of experience in environmental risk management—now expanded to include emerging climate related risks—Sally brings strong technical expertise to her net zero work. Her background spans Phase 1 Environmental Assessments, Phase 2 Ground Investigations, flood risk assessment, and climate risk evaluation. She holds a BSc in Environmental Hazards, an MSc in Contaminated Land Risk Assessment, and is an IEMA accredited auditor and Fellow of the Geological Society. 
Fraser Browning
Fraser is a sustanability expert who founded Kurb Carbon Ltd in 2025 with a view to find new ways to share sustainability knowledge with those who need it, empowering others to embed sustainable best practice deep into their organisation.
With a decade of experience in the sustainability space, Fraser's experience spans compliance, consultancy, carbon accounting, and strategy development and implementation across a range of sectors, including hospitality, construction, social housing, professional services, residential, manufacturing, and education." 
Dr Laurence Couldrick is the Chief Executive Officer of the Westcountry Rivers Trust, an environmental charity dedicated to restoring freshwater habitats across Southwest England and 2024/25 DASLS Charity of the Year. Holding a PhD in biology, he has spent over two decades pioneering integrated catchment management, multi-million-pound conservation projects, and sustainable funding models like Payments for Ecosystem Services. 
Chris Chandler in the Principal Consultant at Lex Autolease. Chris has been a high-profile Fleet Management Consultant for approaching 30 years and has always has had a strong focus on environmental fleet management and vehicle technologies. Pushing the agenda for cleaner vehicles and more sustainable transport has been at the heart of his time in the industry working with organisations such as The Energy Saving Trust, Go Ultra Low, OLEV-OZEV, HMRC and the BVRLA. In 2015 he won the Energy Saving Trust’s Green Fleet Hero Award, 2021 the BVRLA’s Industry Hero Award and in 2024 GreenFleet’s EV Champion Award.
At Lex Autolease, Chris set up the plug-in vehicle proposition which has resulted in Lex Autolease operating one of the largest alternatively fuelled fleets in the UK, and financed the first Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle to operate in a UK fleet. He works closely with customers developing their transition to zero emission vehicles, and Chris is very proud to have been in the prestigious GreenFleet 100 (the industries 100 most influential people) since its’ inception, and is currently at number 24. As well as providing strategic fleet support to Lex Autolease’s largest fleet customers in all areas of fleet operation, policy design, cost saving and sustainability, Chris is also the SME for electric vehicles and alternative fuels for Lloyds Transport which includes the Lex Autolease, Tusker and Black Horse brands. Lloyds Transport currently fund over 300,000 battery electric vehicles (BEV) in the UK (July 2026 across both fleet and retail markets. In 2025, Lloyds Transport funded 1 in 8 electric vehicles in the UK and one of its core strategies is the full decarbonisation of their funded fleet.
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17th December 2016 | Management Training
DASLS Leadership & Management Conference Date: Thursday 12th November 2026Time: 9:30am - 5:00pm Venue: The Courtyard Marriott Hotel, Exeter Programme will include: Economic Update – Arbuthnot Latham Janice Jones – Neurodiversity in the work place Charlotte Ferguson – Direct Hiring PII Update Alastair Banks - AI: The Art of the Possible 1 year on Why AI Governance Must Come Before AI Scale - Nexus OS AI is creating new opportunities for law firms to improve productivity, unlock knowledge and enhance client service. But successful adoption starts with governance. This session explores how firms can embrace AI confidently by putting the right guardrails in place around client confidentiality, data access, compliance and professional judgement. Attendees will learn why governance is not a barrier to innovation, but the foundation for scaling AI safely, empowering employees to use tools like Microsoft Copilot, and building long-term competitive advantage. Key takeaway: Governance isn't what slows AI down. It's what enables firms to adopt AI faster, safer and with confidence. Andrew Allen - Accountants Update Fees: DASLS Members/Affiliates: £145 plus VATNon-members: £165 plus VAT Alastair Banks, Optix Solutions Digital Marketing Strategist, Keynote Speaker and Lecturer. Alastair has more than 25 years of experience helping organisations navigate change, build brand authority and embrace emerging technologies. He is the co founder of Optix Solutions, Your Digital Future and the Marketing Leaders Community. He is an international keynote speaker and regular guest lecturer at the Entrepreneurship Summer School, part of London Business School’s MBA programme, as well as the University of Exeter. He has also lectured at Imperial College London, the University of Cambridge, the University of Chicago and the London School of Economics. He is a former member of the Forbes Business Council. Alastair co founded Optix Solutions at the age of 19 while studying at the University of Exeter. Today, Optix is recognised as one of the UK’s leading strategic digital marketing agencies, employing more than 20 people and working with organisations including the Met Office, University of Exeter, Pearson Languages, the NHS and London Business School. In 2023, Optix was named Campaign’s Best Boutique Agency to Work For and has since achieved B Corp status. A regular on the European speaking circuit, Alastair delivers thought provoking keynotes on subjects ranging from digital trends and brand building to generative AI in marketing. His sessions are known for blending long term strategic thinking with practical, real world application. Alongside his agency work, Alastair runs a consultancy with his wife, Lizz, supporting professionals within global organisations to build their personal brands and leverage LinkedIn more effectively. He has contributed to initiatives such as the Met Office Ambassador Programme and has delivered LinkedIn Masterclasses for organisations including HSBC as part of global employability and leadership programmes. He has also developed a strong presence within the Knowledge Exchange and Tech Transfer sector, working closely with Jeff Skinner, former Director of Entrepreneurship at London Business School and Sean Fielding, former Director of Innovation at Exeter University. Their Miracle methodology has been delivered across Europe. Alastair leads a membership community for senior marketing leaders, providing regular insight into emerging trends, tools and strategic shifts within digital marketing. He lives in Exeter with his wife, Lizz, their two children, Oscar and Alexa, their dog Freddie and cat Wilbur. Outside work, he is a passionate skier and golfer and supports West Ham, the Exeter Chiefs and Pittsburgh Penguins Ice Hockey. He is active across social media and remains committed to sharing knowledge, connecting people and helping ot...
26th December 2016 | Residential Conveyancing Training
Reporting to the Lender and other Hot Mortgage Issues Date: Tuesday 20th October 2026 Time: 9:45pm - 1:00pm Speaker: Richard Snape Venue: The Courtyard Marriott Hotel, Exeter Course Programme: The course aims to look at frequently met issues and problems when reporting to the mortgage company and suggests solutions.- Conflicts of interest and third party obligations- Leasehold issues: Building Safety Act, Ground Rent Issues, EWS 1 certificates and mortgagee requirements- Flying freeholds- Air BnB- Parental gifted deposits- Planning and building regulations issues Fees: DASLS Members/Affiliates: £145 plus VAT Non-members: £165 plus VAT 3 for 2 offer! Book 3 places on this seminar and get the cheapest FREE! Richard Snape has been the Head of Professional Support at Davitt Jones Bould since 2002. He speaks at numerous courses for law societies all over the country, various public courses, in-house seminars within solicitors’ firms and has also talked extensively to local authorities and central government bodies. His areas of specialism include both commercial and residential property, in particular in relation to local government law, conveyancing issues, development land, commercial property and incumbrances in relation to land. ...
26th December 2016 | Residential Conveyancing Training
Residential Conveyancing Update Date: Tuesday 20th October 2026 Time: 2:00pm - 5:15pm Speaker: Richard Snape Venue: The Courtyard Marriott Hotel, Exeter Course Programme: Conveyancing in England and Wales is undergoing major changes both in relation to statute and case law. In particular, the Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026 is due to start coming into force in April 2027. The course aims to look at some of the changes and how to prepare for them. A contrast between the Renters’ Right Act 2025 and the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 Latest on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 Implementation of changes to commonhold The Building Safety Act 2022 and Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026 The new TA6 6th Edition and responses to enquiries Recent case law on email signatures, boundary issues and agreements, adverse possession, leasehold and car parking rights Fees: DASLS Members/Affiliates: £145 plus VAT Non-members: £165 plus VAT 3 for 2 offer! Book 3 places on this seminar and get the cheapest FREE! Richard Snape has been the Head of Professional Support at Davitt Jones Bould since 2002. He speaks at numerous courses for law societies all over the country, various public courses, in-house seminars within solicitors’ firms and has also talked extensively to local authorities and central government bodies. His areas of specialism include both commercial and residential property, in particular in relation to local government law, conveyancing issues, development land, commercial property and incumbrances in relation to land. ...
20th December 2016 | Paralegal & Support Staff training
Residential Conveyancing for Paralegals & Support Staff Date: Monday 3rd & Tuesday 4th November 2026Time: 10:00am - 5:00pm each day Venue: TBC, Exeter Speaker: Ian Quayle SRA Competency B This two day face to face training course will provide delegates with an in depth examination of the law and procedure in the conveyancing process . The course is designed for secretarial staff, paralegals, conveyancing support staff, qualified lawyers wanting to retrain in residential conveyancing and anyone engaged in the residential conveyancing process who needs or desires an insight into the mechanics and legal principles involved in modern residential conveyancing. DAY 1 - Monday 3rd November Getting started - Taking instructions, Money laundering, Dealing with residential clients Acting for the Seller - Obtaining and checking the title, dealing with the TA forms and drafting the contract, preparing the contract bundle Acting for the Buyer - Checking the contract bundle, searches, enquiries, client inspection , and acting for lenders Exchanging Contracts - Preparing for Exchange ,the mechanics of exchange , protecting the contract Preparing for Completion - Acting for the seller - completing TA13, approving the transfer, preparing completion statements, dealing with notices and restrictions. Acting for the buyer – drafting the transfer, pre-completion searches, dealing with the lender, preparation of completion statements and advising the client Completion and completion day problems - The Law Society Code for completion by post, dealing with undertakings , practical issues including the transmission of funds, advising clients and what to do if things go wrong – notices to complete, rescission and other steps DAY 2 - Tuesday 4th November Post Completion - Acting for the seller – discharging charges, compliance with undertakings. Acting for the buyer – SDLT returns, registration of dispositions Land Registration Issues - Boundaries, notices, restrictions, adverse possession, and problem areas Residential leases 1 - An overview of leasehold transactions Residential Leases 2 - Leasehold enquiries , service charge issues, key clauses in residential leases Drafting Residential Conveyancing Documentation - Drafting contracts, transfers and leases Avoiding Negligence Claims - Tips and traps for the unwary Fees for both days: DASLS Members/Affiliates: £330 plus VAT Non Members: £375.00 plus VAT 3 for 2 offer! Book 3 places on this course and get the cheapest FREE! Speaker: After many years in private practice Ian Quayle has spent the last 14 years delivering training courses in connection with property law for a number of the leading training providers to the legal profession. Ian has spoken at a number of conferences dealing with negligence in conveyancing transactions and has designed and delivered a number of courses on this subject. In addition he has undertaken consultancy work for a number of law firms and organisations looking at conveyancing systems, claims and complaints. His relaxed, informative, and engaging style, combined with extensive legal and practical knowledge ensures his courses are always well attended. ...
