Conference programme

Art exhibitions, in cultural institutions and/or public spaces, face growing interferences by governments, patrons, and/or lobbies regarding their content, scientific organisation, financing, and even their existence. The purpose of this session is to analyse such interferences, describe their legal grounds and goals, and explore the means to address them legally (freedom of speech, copyright, public financing law, etc.).

An exploration of public interest litigation in advancing LGBTQI+ rights and attempts by entities to use litigation to suppress diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives.

In this session we will be taking a look at the risks involved in acquisitions, and how to manage them, when it comes to closely held companies.

The panel will explore the unique aspects of financing mining transactions in various jurisdictions, including lenders’ due diligence, collateral requirements, and other appropriate contractual protections in loan agreements.

This panel will discuss Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disputes and the role that the burden of proof plays in these disputes.

This panel will discuss various trade agreements such as European Union- United Kingdom (Trade & Cooperation Agreement), ⁠Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Mercosur, ⁠bilateral treaties, as well as the impact on business immigration policies, employer sponsorship and mobility provisions, challenges and opportunities for businesses, and future trends in trade and immigration law.

Witness the intersection of corrupt activities and environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns play out in the courtroom at the IBA Criminal Law Section’s annual mock trial. As is now tradition, the mock trial will showcase the hearing and resolution of a corruption case involving individual and corporate defendants in the public and private sectors through IBA members acting out a real-life case study. This year, register to watch our advocates prosecute, defend and judge allegations involving ESG, greenwashing, bribery and corruption.

This panel will discuss alternative means of settling disputes with tax authorities, whether before the issuance of an assessment or via non-judicial proceedings including International Compliance Assurance Programme (ICAP), Mutual Agreement Procedures (MAP) and various treaty arbitration procedures.

Emerging GenAI applications present promising uses for both financial institutions and their legal advisers. The panel will explore the most promising use cases for transactional, regulatory compliance, and credit risk work. The panel will also explore the risks inherent in GenAI, the do’s and dont’s, data related policy issues, and risk guardrails that are necessary. 

A discussion of the legal issues relating to concepts of nonbinary identity as viewed through the eyes of indigenous cultures around the world.

Biodiversity and nature-related risks are increasingly recognised as material risks and opportunities for companies and their directors alike. Moreover, global and regional legal frameworks to disclose biodiversity-related risks are emerging and nature-related litigation is on the rise in many jurisdictions. This session explores these trends, and how lawyers can help clients stay ahead of the regulatory curve.

A discussion on the global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights involving business activity.

This panel will offer an in-depth examination and review of cannabis legalisation across North America.

This panel will explore one of the most complex and contentious issues in climate litigation: establishing a causal link between specific greenhouse gas emissions and the damages caused by climate change. As courts grapple with holding corporations, governments, and other entities accountable for environmental harm, proving direct causation remains a major legal hurdle. The discussion will be about how courts worldwide are addressing this challenge, the role of scientific evidence in tracing emissions to concrete impacts, and the potential evolution of legal standards in this field. Experts in environmental law, climate science, and international litigation will contribute insights to this pressing global issue.

The panel will examine the heavily debated treatment of AT1 (perpetual) bondholders in the Credit Suisse resolution, whose claims were fully written down at the point of non-viability while equity holders retained residual value. This outcome surprised many international stakeholders and triggered sharp reactions from EU regulators, who reaffirmed the standard creditor hierarchy under the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD).

The session will discuss the Swiss approach, legal and contractual basis for the FINMA decision, the status of the current litigation in New York and Switzerland, and implications for future bank resolutions in distressed across jurisdictions as well as structuring options for AT1 instruments.

This session will look at the intersection of intellectual property (IP) rights, contractual obligations and creative talent management.

This session will discuss the different aspects of leadership and what skills are needed in a leadership position.

The project, funded by the IBA and carried out jointly with the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, has brought together the relevant professionals from divergent geographic regions and legal systems in order to analyse how judicial selection processes can be reviewed in order to improve outcomes and accountability, thereby strengthening the rule of law. The project has started in July 2024 and is expected to be concluded in December 2026. By the time of the 2025 IBA Annual Conference in Toronto, the advisory group of the project would like to share its emerging findings with the audience. In particular, the session will test ideas for the  “toolkit” of recommended actions that practising lawyers can take to strengthen judicial selection in their jurisdictions, and to counteract the rule of law damage that can result from opaque, nepotistic or unduly politicised selection processes.

In an increasingly globalised legal profession, the appetite for dual-qualification has never been greater. This session will explore issues like employability, market perspectives and challenges from the viewpoint of law firms, lawyers and legal educators. 

Legal actions and threatened legal actions are increasingly used against journalists and media organisations to attempt to silence their reporting and stop their work. SLAPPs (‘Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation’) are typically brought by powerful individuals or corporations with the intention of harassing, intimidating, and financially or psychologically exhausting opponents via improper use of the legal system, and evading scrutiny in the public interest. They are often framed as defamation cases brought by wealthy individuals against investigative journalists, writers and publishers. SLAPPs undermine freedom of speech and the rule of law.

This expert panel will examine the growing global trends in the use of SLAPPs, and efforts to tackle them (including anti-SLAPP laws in the USA, Canada and Europe).