Conference programme

The use of artificial intelligence to create works of visual art has raised a host of questions about originality, authorship, and the marketplace. This session will explore the implications of AI on copyright, fair use, securities, and technology law.

It is here, it is happening and how the real estate industry is responding.

In October 2022 the European Union published two pieces of legislations for regulating content and fairness and contestability in digital services. Accordingly, online intermediary services, and in particular online platforms, are subject to stringent regulations, which may impact how they conduct their business and develop new services. This panel will look at the latest developments around the DMA and DSA and whether the same approach is being followed in other parts of the world.

Closely held companies have been affected by post COVID economic environment, the Ukraine-Russia war and the increase of energy prices. A number of companies from various sectors are suffering signs of stress. This interactive session will explore, among other issues:

       - the opportunities for investors prepared to engage in the acquisition of distressed companies (including PE, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds);
       - the implications of ongoing restructuring processes or formal insolvency proceedings;
       - transaction structuring issues, including carve-outs and related tax and commercial implications;
       - how to address the gap between valuation expectations of buyers and sellers (earn-outs and other mechanisms);
       - the different incentives of the parties involved (buyer, seller, creditors, shareholders, board);
       - time constraints;
       - limited due diligence scope and uncertainty and implications for pricing and risk allocation (including warranty protection and W&I insurance); and
       - how to prepare a company to get sold.

Diversity remains front and center of the goals of any bar association. One of the areas where attention is not always focused is on disability. This Bar Issues Commission programme addresses this component of diversity in terms of discussing current definitions of disability, issues facing further inclusion of the disabled in achieving diversity in the workplace and volunteer organisations, and recommendations for the future.

This session will take a critical look at fixed-price EPC as a viable method of procurement in the current world market. It will explore whether the risk premium demanded by contractors on megaprojects delivers value to project owners.

This session will consider key considerations, common elements and differences in hotel acquisition transactions on a cross jurisdictional basis, while focusing on certain distinguishing factors in certain select jurisdictions.

In this panel, our experts will delve into the intricacies of international trade agreements and their impact on labour rights, unions, and gender equality. We will explore the recently introduced USMCA rapid response mechanism and its effectiveness in protecting labour rights, and compare it with the measures in the recent EU-Vietnam FTA meant to protect labour rights. And, we will examine the UFLPA and similar efforts concerning China. Our panellists will also address critical issues surrounding supply chains and their impact on labour rights, including the use of forced labour, and ways in which jurisdictions and companies intend to ensure that global trade respects human dignity. Moreover, we will discuss the role of gender in international trade and explore ways to ensure that trade measures are gender-sensitive and promote gender equality. With the rise of feminist trade policy, the panel will address how trade policies can be designed to promote gender rights and empower women or LGBTQ+ persons.

Nobody can question that the role of a law firm partner is increasingly difficult. Nor that financial success today is mere table stakes. In this emerging post-Covid normality, the survival (and success) of a partner requires the "softer" skills of leadership and building trusted relationships with both clients as well as the new generation of younger lawyers. Plus, the need to support positive aspects of the culture have never been higher on the agenda. But how to make this work in practice? During this session we be sharing the results of the IBA’s 2023 Law Firm Management Committee’s Remuneration Survey, while hearing practical examples and success stories from firms who are re-evaluating partner contribution, changing gear from partner evaluation to partner development and updating their financial and non-financial metrics of success.

This panel will address the complexities associated with incapacity for high net worth individuals in the cross-border context. Panellists will discuss both the ramifications of little or no planning in the event of incapacity, as well as appropriate documentation in advance of the loss of capacity. Panellists will explore strategies associated with incapacity in their jurisdiction as it may relate to assets, accounts, or other property interests.

This session will address the challenges that sports tribunals face, in particular the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and assess what improvements are being proposed. The main topics on which the panellists will debate will include:

• Why is CAS arbitration characterised as "forced arbitration"? How to tackle problems of consent and access to justice for athletes?
• What arbitrator disclosures for what conflicts - are repeated appointments problematic?
• Interim measures: before sports tribunals or state courts?
• Appeals: to whom and for what grounds?

Law firms, regardless of size, face the challenge of evolution, and nowhere is this more evident than in the sphere of leadership change. How firms tackle the problem of succession can determine the course the firm takes, for better or worse, for many years to come.

This session addresses the importance of succession planning for law firms. It will examine policies and practices at medium and small, multi-generational firms, as well as the state of affairs when founding partners retire or when a firm has lasted more than one generation within family control. The panel will include leaders from law firms of all sizes and put forward suggestions for best practices. In this context, the session will also address the pivotal issue of the transfer of leadership knowledge and experience from senior lawyers to prospective new leaders within the firm.

This panel will consider how tax incentives are key criteria affecting international start-up talent attractiveness within the framework of an increasing competition between jurisdictions. Regarding the creation of the start-ups, beyond the anticipation of the personal tax situation of the founders and the institutional investors financed their growth once the start-up reaches maturity to go to market or is sold, the recent developments and trends in international and domestic tax laws are also likely to impact the start-ups structuring and financing.
 
Lots of jurisdiction provide for tax incentives related to research and development (R&D) but also for tax exemption regimes available sometimes for many years, which, in practice, may trigger heavy tax audits on the tax incentive regimes thus granted. Therefore, this panel will discuss such issues as practical considerations that star-up founders and institutional investors should be aware of from the perspective of practitioners in multiple jurisdictions.

This LPD Showcase session will be divided into two panels:

Panel 1: Fashionably Metaverse, AI and Web3: everything you need to know about the intersection of fashion and technology
 
Major luxury brands are seeking creative ways to embrace high technology. The Louis Vuitton Group launched Louis, a game, which gave players the opportunity to win historical postcard NFTs.  Valentino partnered with UNXO to opening doors to never-before-seen digital and physical hybrid experiences. Together Balmain released a Balmain X Barbie collection bringing the famous dolls to the Metaverse. Many have partnered with Roblox and Fornite to sell digital goods while some have used web3 tools to have virtual concerts and worlds. This session will not only explain and exemplify AI, Web3, Metaverse and other virtual worlds, it will also explore the evolution of technology incorporated in all phases of fashion – from production to consumer sales - whether digitally or in bricks and mortar stores, as well as the promotion, marketing and content creation strategies being utilized by fashion brands.

Panel 2: Fashionably Metaverse, AI and Web3: the future of fashion, retail and technology
 
Just as styles come and go, so do the tools utilized by fashion brands to sell those clothes.  Building on session one, this session will take a look at where fashion is going, so that attendees can be prepared to assist clients with the latest developments in this fascinating and rapidly changing world! The session will also discuss how traditional high-end fashion is embracing high-tech in ways never imagined before. What does the future of shopping look like? We will look further at IP protection strategies and infringements, how they can be litigated, and what jurisdictions and laws apply. Additionally, the session will discuss sourcing challenges in light of ESG (environmental, social and governance) and how tech can aid, as well as slow, fashion trends (including commercial implications and how to maintain customer intimacy online).