It is now firmly established in some jurisdictions that assets held in a discretionary trust are at risk of being treated by the court as a potential financial resource in divorce proceedings if either or both of the parties are beneficiaries of the trust. The vulnerabilities of trusts on divorce are sometimes misunderstood. This session will look at those vulnerabilities, and we will deal with a common misconception that trusts are only relevant to common law jurisdictions. On this issue we will look at situations where common law trusts have civil law jurisdiction foundations appointed as trustees, where criminal offences can be committed by the trustees if trust disclosure is provided, causing in turn major conflict ramifications for settlors and/or beneficiaries going through divorce in the more generous common law jurisdictions in the world (generous for the financially weaker party, that is). We will also look at the most effective way to handle litigation when trusts are being attacked in the divorce courts - including whether trustees should submit to the jurisdiction of the divorce court. What happens if the trustee is joined into the divorce proceedings?

We will look at PNAs from an international perspective and particularly why responsible trust structuring in tandem with PNA structuring may be the best approach to adopt. When should you enter into a PNA? What are the pitfalls? What do you have to watch out for? Do they work? We will be reviewing some key international PNA cases of significance. We will be looking at how PNAs can sometimes help relationships. Conversely we will deal with circumstances when they should be avoided: a ‘shot gun’ PNA for instance, or negotiation of a PNA where one party is clandestinely sabotaging its effectiveness, because often millions or billions are at stake. We will be looking at the situation where there is fraud, misrepresentation or undue pressure, and what evidence is relevant: PNA ‘amnesia’ is not an infrequent occurrence, where, after the divorce petition has been filed, the financially weaker party asserts that he/she can remember very little about any legal advice they received, and the circumstances surrounding, and the events leading up to, the signing of the PNA. Sometimes, the amnesia is genuine, sometimes not. Does it matter? In the family court, the judge may want to know every piece of that evidence. 

With no doubt the world has accelerated a number of significant changes affecting the way employees work. Work from home, cross-border remote work, hybrid on-and-off the office arrangements, need to conciliate with personal requests, are all just examples on how the world at work has changed. These changes also affect other significant issues such as how to give proper training, how to motivate employees, how to compensate employees, and how to monitor performance. These were all aspects to be discussed as part of this session. 

The rise in the frequency of online cross-border legal services, already in evidence before the pandemic but doubtless increased by home working and travel restrictions during the pandemic, poses challenging questions about whether bars’ existing regulation of foreign lawyers, often based on their physical presence, needs to be reconsidered in the light of digital advances.

YoungLawyersPresentation of the Young Lawyers' Committee and its activities and projects by its Officers. You will learn how you can contribute and get involved in the Young Lawyers' Committee. This session will also include a presentation of the highlight of the IBA Young Lawyers’ Report released earlier this year.

An open meeting of the Poverty and Social Development Committee held to discuss matters of interest and future activities.

In 2016, the IBA Annual Conference included one of the first panel discussions about the legal issues arising from what was then the beginning of a change in US law on the legalisation of marijuana. Six years later, this budding industry has become a literal “growth” practice, with law firms embracing this as a new practice area, and a wide variety of legal issues to be addressed. Our expert panel will discuss how changes in the law in the US and other countries are impacting the legal landscape, and how law firms are navigating the ethical boundaries.

We will be returning to our popular hot topics session to feature issues that are topical at the time of the Miami conference. Topics may include: cyber security in the shipping industry and risk management of same, the current sanction regimes, recent highlights in courts or new important legislation in different jurisdictions; and/or focus on specific shipping sectors such as cruise industry which is very important in Miami. This session’s speakers will largely be drawn from younger and/or newer members of the IBA Maritime and Transport Law Committee, taking advantage of the opportunity to introduce them to other Committee members.

Governments around the world are looking to investment in infrastructure as one of the key tools to drive economic recovery. The need for massive spend on infrastructure globally in order to tackle climate change is also clear. This session will explore the particular challenges and opportunities related to financing, procuring and delivering infrastructure projects in developing countries including the role of multilateral agencies.

Recurring initiatives in multiple jurisdictions to amend the taxation of partnerships leads to opportunities and risks for the industry. This applies to sponsors, investors, and the vehicles themselves facilitating or obstructing cross-border investments. Different approaches for how to tax carried interest are in place in the countries of sponsors. Is the pressure on policymakers behind the preferred treatment of sponsor return as capital gain, rather than as ordinary income, the same in all countries? And for investors: pension and retirement funds, sovereign funds, individuals, and corporate treasuries? What about the promoting entity jurisdiction, will source countries respect the look-through nature of investment vehicles and tax investors accordingly? The anti-hybrid rules should give answers, but often cause more confusion and complexity.

DiversityInclusionFrom an L&D perspective, the difficulties faced during the pandemic have made it clear that all organisations would be sensible to adopt more agile approaches to learning in order to improve performance, and embrace educational techniques that meet the opportunities and challenges of the adjusted world we now live in. One of the many dilemmas of L&D is figuring out how to use advances in technology as a means of engaging learners and improving access to learning for a more diverse audience with different needs and preferences. This session will be led by industry experts in learning design and delivery who will provide an insight into how a digital approach to learning can best serve learners of the future.

The Pandora Papers leak of confidential files again highlighted that clients may seek to misuse corporate structures and trust arrangements to hide assets. While the structures may be lawfully established in many jurisdictions, the assets placed in them can be tainted as deriving from the proceeds of crime.

Accordingly, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has called on various professions, including Lawyers, Accountants, Financial advisers, Trustee service providers and Real Estate dealers to do more to prevent financial crime.
FATF has support from groups ranging from the UN, OECD, World Bank, and Transparency International, to national and regional law enforcement agencies. And the G-20 nations’ leaders are pressing for beneficial ownership registers to be compiled in high risk countries. 

This session will explore how, and why, banking and financial controls seeking to detect and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing have been gradually expanded into the traditional professions, including:
• What is the FATF’s perspective on the major risk areas, and how they should be addressed?
• How have Bar Associations and Law Societies around the world tried to educate, guide, and monitor their members commitment to AML requirements?
• What more can be done to make the professions resilient against financial crime, and ensure AML-CFT controls are sufficiently adapted from their banking origins to meet the special features of the legal profession?

RuleOfLawThe Rule of Law is vital in the European Union - one of the fundamental values upon which the E.U. is based. But lately it has been threatened by many events.

What role can commercial law firms play in supporting the Rule of Law in wider civil society? If you are a lawyer working for corporates, have you ever experienced the emerging need to address Rule of Law issues from the aspect of your client? 

This area may be very new and at some points scary for lawyers not trained and used to work with individuals, not being used to addressing Rule of Law issue and not being close to human right issues in their daily work. 

The panel in this session will discuss the Rule of Law related journey of commercial law firms working in the business and corporate environment, you may find out that you deal with human rights issues even if you have never thought about it that way, we will have an interesting insight to the approach of the United Nations and we will set the picture for the near future with an aim to help commercial law firms moving forward on this journey. 

The ABA recently conducted a survey: "In their own words: Experienced Women Lawyers - Explain Why They Are Leaving Their Law Firms and the Profession". There is a global trend to note in the legal industry that female lawyers leave the law firms much earlier than their male colleagues – irrespective or even despite of being “on track”. Law firms have started to steering against this trends, but so far the success is limited. Based on the ABA survey this session shall review the following questions: what negative factors or experiences do women identify as forces that make them consider leaving the practice of law in a law firm? And what changes can be made to encourage women to stay in law practice? Are there any models or structures on the market which appear to be promising?

On our panel we shall have (male and female) legal practitioners and HR experts from different jurisdictions analysing the above questions.

The Saudi Arabian economy grew at its fastest past in a decade in the third quarter of 2021, leading to growth in not only a myriad of industries but also to a boom in the legal services sector.  Kingdom's vision (2030) foresees a promising future for the legal services sector by increasing the number of regulating legislations and amendments: New Companies Laws, Financial Market Regulations, Competition Rules, Law of Evidence …  This new and moving legal frame will be covered by specialists from KSA , the region and beyond. The increasing presence of major law firms is also undeniable in the following industries: Corporate/M&A, Capital Markets, Banking & Finance and Real Estate, Construction & Infrastructure projects, Energy (oil, gas, and mining). Furthermore, the panel will tackle how Saudi lawyers are trained and the legal profession is regulated including through the Saudi Bar Association, and the route to becoming a lawyer in the KSA. We’ll thus also cover the key legal players in KSA and in the region. The panel will then turn to discussing the various sources of legislation in the Saudi legal system, including Shariah and the influence of civil and common laws, as well as how the Saudi judiciary actually works. At last, there will be a lot to say about the 2012 Enforcement and Arbitration Laws and the rising Saudi Centre for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA).

The Covid-19 pandemic has propelled mediators and parties, ready or not, into the virtual word. This shift in practice has highlighted comparative advantages of online mediation and also exposed its limits. This session will explore the psychology of mediation at a distance and consider how mediators and mediation counsel are adapting to the digital world.

A discussion of the role of investigative journalists in combatting crime and, relatedly, the role of professional enablers as so often uncovered by journalists (see e.g. Pandora Papers).

HumanRightsIn December 2020, the United Nations' Human Rights Office and the University of California, Berkeley's Human Rights Center published an advance version of the Berkeley protocol on digital open source investigations. Created through a collaborative
international process, the protocol was designed to set professional standards and guidelines for the identification, collection, preservation, verification and analysis of digital open source Information. The ultimate aim was to improve the effective use of
such information in international criminal, human rights, and humanitarian investigations, and ultimately, courts. In early 2022, the protocol will be released in all of the languages of the United Nations. To mark the protocol's global release, members of the protocol's coordinating committee will provide an introduction to the document, as well as a brief training for international judges and/or lawyers that spotlights the opportunities and challenges that come with using such information in court processes. The training will be designed to help participants systematically evaluate digital open source information's authenticity and reliability, including how to assess whether such information is disinformation or misinformation, and how to minimize the risk of human or machine bias in such information's collection and evaluation.

The IBA has completed its ground breaking global survey of the legal profession and issued its principles for addressing the situation. What comes next? How can bar associations go about implementing the principles and work with regulatory bodies and the private sector? Within the IBA, the regional for a are already engaged. But is programming enough? This program focuses on next steps, and will feature wellbeing professionals, bar leaders and others in the private sector to offer their points of engagement.