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.
REGISTER NOW
Wednesday 3rd June 2026
What do the behaviours of shoppers today mean for the retail landscape of tomorrow? Retail Week Features Editor Ellis Hawthorne presents this opening keynote, revealing insights and exclusive data on the direction of travel and key trends set to dominate categories including food and drink, fashion and beauty over the next decade.
Cyber security is now a core business and legal risk for retailers, with disruption, data compromise and consumer harm firmly on the Board agenda.
Building on recent NCSC priorities and ministerial direction, this session will explore how cyber threats facing retailers are evolving, where the weaknesses are and what legal teams need to know about avoiding, and dealing with, attacks.
In this presentation, the NCSC explore:
- The current retail cyber threat picture , including ransomware, data theft, supply chain compromise and the emerging role of AI in scaling attacks
- The role of the NCSC and the support it can offer retailers
- Why "getting the basics right" matters more than ever
- What good looks like during a live cyber incident
Reputation matters.
From cyber incidents to CMA investigations, it’s often the legal team that colleagues turn to first if things go south.
Are your teams ready to navigate the scrutiny and stakeholder pressure of a crisis? Particularly in a fast paced AI enhanced social media landscape.
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
Following Royal Assent in December 2025, the Employment Rights Act will consult on and implement measures of significant impact to the retail industry, from the approach to guaranteed hours and shift changes, to the treatment of seasonal work, new trade union requests and more.
Here we outline the top line picture of challenges facing retail workforce - including and beyond the Employment Rights Act - and the direction of play over the months to come.
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 will 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.
The retail sector is at the forefront of ESG transformation, facing intense scrutiny from regulators, consumers, investors, and civil society.
With fast-evolving ESG regulation and rising expectations around sustainability, inclusion, and ethical governance, many legal teams are grappling with complex risk and compliance demands under tight resource constraints.
This session explores how to prioritise, manage and leverage ESG risk and opportunity in an increasingly challenging economic, cultural and geopolitical landscape.
RPC share key findings from their ESG Evolve whitepaper, bringing together insights from GCs, Heads of legal and sustainability leaders from across the sector in a practical, digital toolkit.
We will explore:
- Emerging ESG regulatory risks impacting retail legal teams
- Increased scrutiny and the rise of ESG litigation
- The role of ESG in unlocking commercial value
- Practical insights and top tips from GCs navigating these changes
Delegates to attend one of three roundtables*:
Consumer protection: in with the new but not out with the old
Cyber security 101: how to protect your supply chain
When AI goes wrong: navigating legal and financial exposure
*Roundtable places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis – delegates are to self-select roundtables on the day
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
Interested in sponsoring?
Our daylong conference provides an ideal platform for you to position your brand as a trusted partner to the retail industry and gives you access to General Counsels and in-house Legal directors across the community.