Legally On The Move: The Lawyers Retreat is Back in Ibiza 2026 – Kate Burt & Kirsty Pappin – E06

You can hear Rob, Kirsty and Kate discussing:

Connect with Kate Burt here – https://uk.linkedin.com/in/kate-burt-hiverisk-co-uk

Connect with Kirsty Pappin here – https://uk.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-pappin-legal-practice-manager

Transcript

Welcome to Legally on the Move, The Lawyers Retreat Ibitha 2026, a special legally speaking podcast miniseries sponsored by Cleo. We’re back here in Ibiza as the official media partner for the Lawyers Retreat. And if last year taught me anything, it’s this: when you get the right people in the right environment, good conversations quickly turn into real opportunities.

Across this series, we’ll be bringing you voices, ideas and honest reflections from a retreat built around leadership, well-being, AI, growth, business development and the future of lore. So whether we’re poolside, post-panel, or catching up in between sessions, expect practical insights, fresh thinking, and conversations that go beyond the surface. So let’s get into it.

Welcome to the Legally Speaking podcast recording live here from Ibiza. I am joined by name, title, and organisation. Kate Burt, CEO, Hyde Risk. And Kirsty Papin, founder and director of Ares Legal Practice Management. And of course, founders of the Lawyers Retreat, where we are today. So looking back now, what are you both most proud about in terms of this year’s Lawyers Retreat? Coming to you, Kirsty, first. I think

What I’m most proud about for this year and I think it’s gonna be I think it’s this workbook. Yes, I suspect. we we d we don’t do death by PowerPoint and actually it’s proven to be a really, really good resource this year, I think. ⁓ everyone’s writing lots of notes in it, you know, there’s contact information. ⁓ so yeah, I think we’re gonna definitely bring that back next year and we’ll evolve it further. Perfect. And Kate?

I’m most proud of the the collaboration and the the teams that form from different teams to build one community from the legal sector ecosystem, like the way everyone’s come together.

And just joined in and got involved. I’m so proud of us as a community at a micro level and sort of a macro level with who we’ve got in the room. Yeah, and there’s been a real sense of connection within that community as the ⁓ retreat went on. Okay, so stay with you then, Kate. When you were actually shaping this year’s agenda, you know, what was the thinking behind balancing? We’ve had well being, we’ve had business growth, AI, compliance, of course, your zone of genius, marketing and sort of finance. What was the thinking behind the agenda?

It’s holistic. We’ve got to take a holistic approach. To be successful in business you need all of those elements. So we were really clear, I mean from on a fundamental level, we needed people to step back and relax and to be in a a ⁓ safe space to absorb the information. So that wellness had to run through it as a good foundation, a starting point for the business learning. It was really important for us to get into the agenda business learning that’s actionable.

And something perhaps lawyers hadn’t heard before. So we we were really keen to get strategic coach involved and also EOS as well, to have those real practical tools to implement it all. And I’ve been hearing a lot of sort of ⁓ integrator and visionary, and if people are wondering what we’re talking about, definitely look into more EOS for for sure. Okay, Kirsty, coming to you, which conversations or sessions or moments seem to land most, would you say, with people who have been here in Ibiza? Honestly, I think

Every session and workshop so far has landed something for everyone. Yeah. So we had Ryan Hopkins who started off with our wellbeing keynote. There was lots from that that people went back and they’re reflecting on or felt inspired about making those small steps to have a compound effect. I think that was really, really you know, a big takeaway for most people. The business keynotes, as Kate’s mentioned, that we’ve had again

Taking things away from those. We’ve had ⁓ client wise discuss, you know, the five Ps in business development. Again, a really, really important area for law firms, but not just law firms, actually the founders of some of our ⁓ our partners and and other businesses that are in the room. So it’s you can’t it’s very hard to pick one thing. I think every session is is giving something. We’ve just had a really, really good conversation with Jody Hill and Oscar Davies, both ⁓

gave an elevation of conversation that you know difficult conversations and elevated how best to deal with those and then in a different different setting. We’ve still got loads to come, we’ve still got sessions today and and some more in the morning. So ⁓ lots of takeaways I think for everybody. Yeah I love that. And for me last year this led to lots of collaborations such as Courtside Conversations which you’re both present at and supported in Dubai. It led to our legally live lounge which obviously Adam Guy is back and he’s DJing tonight for the NEON party and it led to some

mini series we did with professional training with Nadeen Stanton coming as well. So what do you think coming to you ⁓ Kate, this environment particularly, why does it create this momentum and collaboration that seems to happen as a result?

think there’s the energy in the room, you’re bringing together like-minded people, but it’s not an echo chamber because we’re all coming from s from different walks of life, b different disciplines, but with that that core value is similar. But one of the things that really struck me this time, which I think I’ve felt more prominently than last year, was

So everyone when they agree, they agree. But I love the the moment where someone throws a curveball in, throws a question in, challenges the speaker. We’ve had a couple of those today and it just

I like the tension that that creates and I like the the excitement and the passion that comes out when there’s disagreement, when there’s debate. We’ve just had that and I can’t wait to go and speak to the speaker ’cause I really want to dig into that. Yaron said some fairly controversial things that have sparked a debate and I know over lunch we’re just going into lunch now. I know that there’s gonna be a lot of people talking about that, but there’s that that’s where

It’s exciting for me. Yeah. And that’s why the point of coming to a retreat, you get to have these deeper conversations, thinking about your business, working on your business. So coming to you, Kirsty, what did you learn from the first retreat that’s helped you make this year even stronger? Because you’ve been talking very openly and showing us that you’ve raised the bar. Year one was great, but this is even better. We I think when we came out of year one, it it was a it was amazing. Like we were we were on a high, we felt like it went really, really well. But Kate and I were

we’re quite ambitious. We were never gonna just be like, okay, let’s rinse and repeat. We’re like So we we had already last year and we’ve we’ve done it on a much more extreme level this year you could say, looked at what went well and actually what we can improve on. So we knew that the strategic coach talk went really well last year and people loved it. But there wasn’t enough of it. And people wanted more. So actually using that as just an example and there are so many but I I’ll just keep to this one.

Is this year we’ve got strategic coach Jaron, we’ve got EOS with Johnny, and we’ve got Ryan Hopkins with Wellbeing. We’ve not we’re not having them just do one talk. In actual fact, they’ve done one talk and then they’re leading into another talk the day after. So Johnny spoke on on day two when we sort of kicked off at 9am with workshops and so did Ryan. Johnny then spoke again today, but then Johnny joined in with this conversation today. ⁓ and then tomorrow.

Johnny’s had his second and then tomorrow is Ryan and Yaron doing their second part of their sort of you could say their little series, their two parter. And I think it then that’s going to pull it all together. And then we’ve got sort of then we’ve had ⁓ Joanna, for example, today on the BD, but then actually because we’ve looked at B D and discussed that networking’s important, we’ve got Darren Cantor coming in tomorrow to give a bit of a conversation and a workshop and actually how to go out and do that networking in person and and get people’s sort of juices flowing and everything ready for when they leave. Actually

This is great, we’ve done this, this is what worked well and what can I do going forward. So it that’s just a little bit of what we’ve done to sort of level up and then ⁓ and then this year we’ve already kept a list list, sorry, ⁓ getting ready, we’re already in planning stages for year three because you know, Kate and I were never just gonna just stop at this works well, we want actually we wanna elevate again for year three. Th the the key message there is you’ve listened to people from year one. And if it’s not a community if you don’t let them feel seen, heard and valued and execute and you’ve gone away and

And sort of executed on that and as a result of that, even people are getting an enhanced experience. Because let’s be honest, Kate, a lot of traditional events are very transactional, aren’t they? So, you know, what do you think this why is this so different, would you say? I think it’s drawing and pull and progressing on what Kirsty said, it’s layering, it’s layering the richness and it’s not the one and done transactional. And even those that came in year one and have come back for year two, it’s that layering of the richness, and there’s actually a deeper level.

And we’re seeing that with each day. So you s you know, when you start in a environment and you’re first meeting someone, there’s a surface level conversation. Day two is getting richer, you drop your your barriers a little bit. By day three, there’s a completely different conversation going on. ⁓ and you if you layer that in with the doing that exact same thing not just with the delegates but with the speakers and the experts, you’re getting a really rich experience that you can’t just ship out. You can’t just

It’s not a one off purchase, it’s an experience that’s got multiple levels. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. Well said. Okay, so Kirsty, coming to you, if every attendee just took one thing home and acted on it next week, what do you think that would be? Or what would you want it to be for them? Take a moment and just breathe before you make a decision. They’ve learnt lots of things, they’ve got lots of notes, they’ve you know there’s there’s been lots of you know, development and learnings for them. Just take a moment to just breathe and then just think actually what

change am I going to make Monday morning? Yeah. Make that change. Love it. What am I going to make maybe halfway through the week or the following week? And then just keep on those small changes, whatever it is in business, wellbeing, BD, HR, whatever. ⁓ And just keep making changes and have that compound effect. And I think we started discussing that with Ryan and we’re probably going to finish with that at the end. ⁓ And having that time, yeah, to just really think and breathe. And we don’t say retreat, regroup, recharge.

for for no reason. It’s genuinely what’s happening and we’re hearing that from the people that are in that are attending both partners and delegates. They they’re actually finding that they’re having a moment to just and we always we said we had that when we arrived in twenty twenty four. ⁓ but that is happening right now for everybody. Yeah and from twenty twenty four let’s think about twenty twenty seven because you’ve teased there that you’re already sort of thinking, planning working on it. So looking ahead then Kate with a bigger vision for the lawyers retreat, where do you want to take it next? It may or may not be IB third. Yeah.

It may or may not be IB3 if you want that. So yeah, we I think for the time being it’s it’s always gonna be ⁓ e external to the UK because I think it pulls people out of their comfort zone. It has to be outside the UK. We know we don’t want to lose that that really intimate feel. We want to keep the connection. So again it’s that layering and building on and it it will grow in numbers but we don’t want to take over in terms of of capacity at all. So

What I would really you ask Kirsty about what’s the one thing you’d you’d want to take away ⁓ or want the delegates to take away, mine would be stay connected to this community. Stay because if you follow everyone in or connect the LinkedIn’s great for this, but stay connected and offline DMs in the DMs, keep connected because this community is together and you’ll you’ll see them at GBLO, at the Regal Heart, at Courtside Conversations.

A a mix of this core group. There’s a like a groundswell of this community. And you you’ll I mean you live this and breathe this, don’t you, Rob? You know exactly what I’m talking about. But for for some watching may not know that that community is exists, that movement is growing. And you’re building a fabulous community here. There is magic in this momentum, isn’t there? And you the fortune in the follow-up carrying those conversations on and new innovations and things happen. It’s been wonderful and it’s been great to have you both back and congratulations on a hugely successful ⁓ 2020.

Six going into next year. We’re hopefully definitely gonna be joining you. It’s been an absolute privilege. So if people want to know more about the Lawyers Retreat or indeed 2027, where can they go? Feel free to shout out and we’ll share with this episode for you too. Thanks very much, Rob. So if they want to find out more, ⁓ you can either drop a LinkedIn DM to myself, Kirsty Papin or Kate Burt, or just email Hello at the Lawyersretreat.com. We can say it will be in May twenty twenty-seven.

But as soon as we’ve got those confirmed dates, we will definitely be letting the the wider community know. And ⁓ we know that there are lots of people already here that are eager to find updates so they can get booked on for next year. So yeah, get on the waiting list and send us an email. There we go. Well thank you both so much. Congratulations once again. But from all of us here in Ibiza for the Legally Speaking podcast at the Lawyers Retreat over an hour. That’s a wrap for this series of Legally on the Move.

The Lloyd’s Retreat Ibiza 2026 here on the Legally Speaking Podcast sponsored by Cleo. A big thank you to everyone helping make this retreat what it is. A space for legal professionals to step back, think bigger and connect properly. If there’s one thing this retreat proves time and time again, it’s that when the right legal minds get in the room, good things happen. The conversations, the collaborations, the ideas keep moving long after Ibatha.

Thanks for listening and stay tuned. There’s plenty more content and miniseries coming your way soon. Over and out.