Conference programme

This session will examine which role male champions of gender equity and equality at corporate law firms can have as catalysts for change. While women law firm leaders and women lawyers need to work towards achieving greater gender parity, they are keenly aware of the challenges they face and what needs to be done to have an increasingly levelled playing field. Thus, having women discuss these matters solely amongst themselves is like preaching to the choir. Given that in most countries a wide majority of law firm leaders are men (including managing partners, executive committee members, shareholders/equity partners, etc), the question arises whether greater male involvement in and ownership of gender parity goals can serve as an accelerator towards reaching those goals. The panel will present the latest research on the subject, as well as the panellists' experiences and best practices regarding male champions of gender equity and equality at corporate law firms.

This session will explore recent trends and practitioner best practices related to the acquisition of a listed company under the capital market rules of several jurisdictions.

Metaverse is growing exponentially with increasing support from investors and business entities. It provides real-life experiences in a simulated environment with unmatched potential for entertainment and earnings, which can be divided into two sorts of platforms in general. The first involves leveraging nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies to create blockchain-based metaverse startups. People can buy virtual products and create their own settings on web platforms. The second group uses the metaverse to describe virtual worlds in general, where people might meet for business or enjoyment. In addition, an array of technology solutions for closing contracts and solving disputes is available with the blockchain technology.
These activities trigger a number of legal issues, as for instance the applicable law, securities issues, NFTs and crypto currency regulations, IP enforcement and brand protection, tax issues, contract and tort laws, defamations laws and dispute resolution procedures.
Our panel of experts will discuss these and other aspects to get a clear picture as to what you might come across when exploring the Metaverse field.
 

An open meeting of the Asset Recovery Committee held to discuss matters of interest and future activities.

This is our traditional land transport session and this year we will discuss the future of rail transport and multi modal transport based on the thesis that in 2034, rail carriage under CIM will rule global multi modal contracts of carriage. The session will consist of short presentations introducing the topic followed by panel discussion.

In recent years the risk of companies being excluded in a jurisdiction from public procurement procedures or MDB financing for misconduct committed in another jurisdiction has increased. This panel of experts will consider differing approaches across the globe and related strategic considerations.

The proliferation of disinformation and its impact on democracy and the international rules-based order is a critical challenge of our time. Enabled by the rapid development and deployment of digital technology, state-sponsored disinformation campaigns are being used in the guise of protecting national security and ensuring peace and prosperity whilst successfully creating distrust in democratic systems and institutions.  
 
In reality, the right to freedom of expression and media freedoms, among other fundamental rights, are being severely curtailed. Human rights defenders, including journalists and media workers as well as media and civil society organisations across the world have been subjected to restrictive laws and punitive measures in the pretext of addressing disinformation. This often creates a chilling effect and intimidates individuals into silence or censorship.  
 
Join members of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom and special guests to discuss the role of international law in the face of the threat to disinformation and identify solutions to combat this global challenge effectively.   

We are facing unprecedented and existential challenges, such as climate change, pollution and declining biodiversity. Investors and many other stakeholders require immediate action from governments, corporates and increasingly also professional services firms, including law firms.

ESG has a major impact across the board on the organisation and legal practice, offering unprecedented business opportunities, from new type of ESG-related work for existing clients to “traditional” legal work for new type of clients and new (sustainable) sectors. But ESG – driven by both clients and talent - also requires that law firm start developing their own genuine ESG strategies and policies.
In this interactive session:
•    ESG experts will present briefly both the fundamentals and latest developments on ESG.
•    In breakout groups the participants are invited to discuss the impact of ESG on the strategy and organisation of law firms and present their findings.

When performance of a contract is substantially impacted by circumstances that could not be foreseen by either party, the law offers a limited range of remedies. Such remedies have come to the forefront of recent legal discussions due to the unexpected impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and conflict in Ukraine. In civil law jurisdictions, the principle of rebus sic stantibus can effectively change the commercial balance between affected parties. In common law jurisdictions, equitable doctrines of "frustration of contract", "impossibility" and "impracticability" can also rebalance the allocation of commercial risks between parties when a contract is substantially altered by unforeseen circumstances. This session will dive into the dilemma of what may or may not be considered to be unforeseen and will compare the available remedies in civil and common law countries, offering examples based on recent disruptions to international commercial contracts.

This panel will examine the specificities and challenges of advising clients from jurisdictions that present unusual hurdles to typical cross-border representation. The countries represented on the panel may be blacklisted or jurisdictions will otherwise be subjected to strict regulations and/or constraints for lawyers to provide their services. The panel will discuss legal nuances, such as reporting and disclosure obligations, creative strategies and structures, as well as pitfalls associated with planning in these jurisdictions.

We will deal with the at the time main issues related to asset management.

Claims involving insolvency proceedings or brought by parties subject to those proceedings arise with increasing frequency under investment treaties and raise specific issues, including relating to jurisdiction, attribution, merits, causation/damages, and procedure. In this session we will discuss the preliminary findings of the Insolvency and Arbitration Group of the Arbitration Committee on the intersection between investment arbitration and insolvency.

Based on key findings of the 2021-2022 Legal Policy and Research Unit tech competency survey report, the session will discuss tech competency as a core legal skill and the need for developing a sustainable concept for the IBA’s existing code of principles.

In this session, seasoned industry legal and business experts will touch on the most recent trends in PE driven M&A in light of the challenges that deal makers in today’s unpredictable markets are facing. While their LPs expect returns to be materialized and new capital to be deployed, PE funds are currently struggling with limited and expensive sources of debt financing and gaps in expected valuations. Resourceful as they are, however, innovative deal and financing structures have been invented to bridge these gaps and to ensure continued deal making.

Decarbonising extractive industries operations is a vital component of their fundamental role in the green energy transition, meeting investor and community expectations, and supplying critical minerals and energy fuels to the renewables, automobile, high-tech and other industries.  Promising pathways to reducing and ultimately eliminating the carbon footprint of projects or achieving net-zero objectives include:

• the emerging potential to source new energy from hydrogen and scalable modular nuclear technology;
• electrification of equipment and facilities;
• point source carbon capture and sequestration for minerals and gas processing;
• carbon diligence in relation to companies’ upstream supply chains; and
• contemporaneous and post-operations utilisation of disturbed lands for co-siting renewables facilities.

A panel on the essential legal considerations surrounding anti-competitive agreements.

LGBTQI communities are used as scapegoats to distract citizens from practical bread and butter governmental policies and even the protections of the rule of law. Recent political groups both in the west and nations throughout the world have been using this strategy effectively to win elections. What can the world’s lawyers do to support the rule of law and protect citizens from being swept away by these manufactured scares. Learning from advocates organising for human rights and immigration protection, lawyers can harm themselves with knowledge to put these tactics in the trash bin of history.

COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the redefinition of the employment relationship. The traditional master vs servant relationship has shifted into a more cooperative approach. The impact on this change on employment laws will be discussed as part of this session.