The retail legal landscape is undergoing a fundamental transformation. Teams are leaner, budgets are tighter, and the scope of the GC’s role is broader than ever before.
But the regulatory landscape is also in flux, making the job of a legal leader in 2026 increasingly complex and strategically critical.
What strategies, technologies and skills will retail legal teams need to succeed in the year ahead?
Retail Week’s General Counsel Summit returns on June 3, 2026, at the Ham Yard Hotel in London, with the answers.
Register for complimentary tickets for you and your senior team to access a full day of business-critical discussions, practical insights and unmatched networking opportunities.
REGISTER NOWWhether you’ve attended before and are raring to return, or you’re new to this thriving community, now is the time to register your interest for this popular event.
Boasting invaluable networking opportunities, cutting-edge content and inspiring discussions with the industry’s leading legal leaders, the conference is free to attend for senior legal professionals that work at retailers and brands.
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Wednesday 3rd June 2026
To be announced soon...
Retail crime costs the industry an estimated £4bn annually, encompassing both the direct value of loss and the heavy resource and technology investment needed to protect colleagues and stores.
Crime-prevention measures in 2026 go beyond security tags and guards, with the use of AI-facial recognition, behaviour detection and body-worn cameras on the rise.
How can legal teams support the implementation of these new security measures while ensuring businesses stay secure and compliant?
In this session, we bring together a retailer and an industry expert to explore:
- What does the regulation say, and where are there divergences between UK and EU thinking on AI and monitoring?
- The line between protection and surveillance – for both colleagues and customers.
- How to manage consent, transparency, communication and training with new technology rollouts.
- The legal team’s role in setting guardrails and establishing the escalation process.
Reputation matters. And it’s the legal team that colleagues turn to first if things go south.
But would your teams be ready to navigate the regulatory scrutiny and stakeholder pressure of a crisis?
Taking into consideration the current regulatory landscape, in the context of the government’s commitment to support business growth, this session will examine what this means for GCs tasked with managing corporate reputation.
It will cover:
- The key threats facing retailers today
- Why proactive risk management and strong governance are critical to brand trust.
- Practical insights into crisis management with lessons learned from real retail case studies.
- How GCs can work collaboratively with corporate PR advisers to protect and restore reputation.
Retailers have evolved beyond traditional sales channels, harnessing first-party data to drive successful retail media networks. But with new revenue streams come new responsibilities.
How can retailers turn customer data into commercial value, without crossing legal, privacy or regulatory lines?
In this session, we bring together a retail media lead and their GC to explore:
- The emerging models of commerce driving revenue for retailers and which technologies are enabling them.
- How to mitigate risk across controller responsibilities, contractual obligations and customer expectations.
- How to establish effective cross-team training programmes to ensure compliance.
Retail legal teams are facing the perfect storm: tighter budgets, smaller headcounts, rising responsibilities, and increasing regulatory obligations driven by AI, consumer protection, ESG and emerging legislation.
In this conversation, we will explore how retail legal teams are delivering strategic impact while managing costs, working smarter – not harder, and collaborating across the business to ensure protection.
We will cover:
- How retail legal teams are using automation, AI and emerging technologies to increase capacity, and which technologies are worth the investment.
- Where to strategically rely on external resourcing to lighten workloads and broaden horizons.
- Case studies from retailers that are confident in their stress testing for risk, despite smaller teams.
- The role of tomorrow's legal leader in driving wider business change, beyond the legal function.
As evolving, more prescriptive ESG regulations come into play across the UK and EU, legal teams need to be prepared for changes that could impact trade, reputation and the bottom line.
Here, we will discuss how legal teams can navigate complex international rules, manage supply chain risk and turn compliance into a strategic advantage.
We will explore:
- The emerging ESG regulations set to most impact retail legal teams.
- How leading global retailers are coordinating cross-border legal, compliance and commercial teams to reduce risk and maintain consistency.
- Practical tips for supply chain oversight: what’s working in tracing, verifying and monitoring suppliers, materials and emissions.
- How to anticipate regulatory scrutiny and turn obligations into potential business advantage.
Roundtable content to be announced soon.
Artificial intelligence has stepped up. With agentic AI, it doesn’t need to just recommend what shoppers buy, it will do the purchasing for them.
Whether consumers are buying groceries through ChatGPT or ordering a wedding outfit directly via a retailer's AI agent, this is a clear shift in shopping habits.
But what do legal teams need to consider as autonomous agents take hold across retail?
In this panel discussion, we will explore:
- The emerging regulatory thinking, in the UK and abroad, and where legal frameworks are likely to catch up.
- What agentic AI means for retailers’ legal responsibilities and why this autonomy represents a significant change.
- The greatest risks AI poses to retailers and how legal teams are successfully mitigating against the threats.
- Strategies to remain proactive when deploying agentic tools, staying ahead of regulatory uncertainty.
GCs navigate the full breadth of retail capability. From AI, data monetisation and sustainability to global trade and more, offering novel insight into the key challenges and strategic opportunities facing brands.
Looking beyond compliance and risk mitigation, what value will tomorrow’s legal function add across the retail ecosystem?
As the role of the GC continues to evolve, we explore how senior legal leaders are shaping the legal function of the future to drive growth, protect reputation and embed legal insight across the business.
We will cover:
- Is the legal function in retail evolving at a quicker or slower pace than other industries, and what can we learn from their journeys.
- How legal teams are transforming expertise into commercial advantage, driving brand trust and operational agility.
- Hiring for tomorrow’s legal team – what mindset, capabilities and experiences are needed to thrive in the next decade of retail?
- Blue sky thinking on the technologies teams want to deploy to streamline mundane tasks and free up time for critical evaluation.
If you are a retailer or retail brand with a great story to tell and would like to speak at the General Counsel Summit, please contact
Rebecca Taylor
Commercial Content Editor
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