Tower of London

The D&O Diary’s European Sojourn finished up last week with a return visit to London. I returned to London in order to attend an event postponed from the week before. Although the postponement required me to extend my travels for a few more days, it did also mean that I got a bonus day in London, as reflected in the pictures below.

The primary purpose of return visit to London was to attend the Clyde & Co law firm’s Global Financial Institutions and Directors and Officers Conference 2024, which was postponed for a week due to labor strikes on the commuter rail lines on the original date. It was a pleasure and an honor to be a part of this well-organized and well-attended event. It was also great to meet so many enthusiastic readers of The D&O Diary. I would like to thank Mark Sutton, James Cooper, and all of their Clyde & Co colleagues for inviting me to participate in this event. It was great fun for me.

Mark Sutton of Clyde & Co and I participated together in two sessions during the event, one at the beginning of the day and another at the end of the day. I am grateful to Mark not only for moderating our discussions, but also for inviting me to attend this event and for coordinating my participation. I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to be a part of this event.
It was very gratifying for me to meet so many enthusiastic readers of The D&O Diary at this event. Before the day’s sessions even began, I met Rajah Steede of Travelers, who introduced herself to me while the audience will still just gathering.
Before the sessions began, I also met Sophie Robson of Marsh, who approached me to introduce herself (and to take a picture!) before the sessions began.
In addition to meeting new friends, I also had the chance to see some familiar faces as well, including Ellie Simon from Inigo.
I also got a chance to catch up with another prior acquaintance, Patricia Ramos of Lockton.

One of the things I particularly enjoyed about this conference is that there were attendees and participants from around Europe, and in fact from all over the world. It was great to meet, for example, Alejandra Llobera of AXA XL in Madrid and her colleague Tavpraneet Singh, of AXA XL in London.

It was also great for me to have the chance to meet many of the attorneys from the Clyde & Co law firm, including Leah Barratt and Bradley Baker.

At the post-event reception, I had a chance to speak with Richard Eveleigh of AIG, Karen Boto of Clyde & Co, and Sarah Coutts of Marsh.
Here is a group shot taken with many of the Clyde & Co attorneys for all over the world who participated on panels during the day’s sessions: Ned Kirk; Susana Martinez; Heather Gray; Mark Sutton; Saud Al Saab; Karen Boto; Stuart Maleno; Laura Cooke; James Cooper; and Mandip Sagoo.
Because the week-long postponement of the law firm event required me to extend my trip and to return to London, I had an unexpected extra day in London, which I used to visit Richmond-Upon-Thames, a pleasant suburb of west of London, located on the Thames River. Here is a view of the river from Richmond Hill, looking north (the river takes a 90 degree turn from the east-west to the north-south in Richmond).
Looking back to Richmond from the river. I walked for miles along the river, a stroll that I highly recommend. Here’s a note for anyone who might visit in the future, though: the Thames is a tidal river, and it is critically important to find out when high tide is before setting out on a walk. At high tide, the area shown in this picture is entirely under water. On a prior visit we were almost got completely cut off by the rising waters, and our feet definitely got wet. So: check the tidal schedule before planning a riverside walk in Richmond.

One of Richmond’s permanent residents — a grey heron looking for some lunch along the Thames.