Co-Chair
Chris Helmer
Co-Chair
Carlo
Portatadino
The Litigation Committee focuses on the legal, practical and procedural issues involved in conducting litigation. The issues arising in international litigation receive particular attention, including issues such as jurisdiction, choice of law, and the role of international judicial assistance in dispute resolution. Find out more via the tabs below.
The Litigation Committee focuses on the legal, practical and procedural issues involved in conducting litigation. Differences and developments in individual jurisdictions are compared. The issues arising in international litigation receive particular attention, including issues such as jurisdiction, choice of law, and the role of international judicial assistance in dispute resolution. Practitioners involved in larger scale or international litigation can debate topical issues and share their experiences of handling and solving the problems arising from such disputes. In particular, the committee seeks to explore the differences of approach between the common law and civil law traditions, and to encourage a dialogue between practitioners from these two systems.
Close links are maintained with various organisations such as the American Bar Association Litigation Section, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association.
The committee meets annually at the main IBA Conference and also has a specialist litigation conference generally held in May or June each year, together with regular seminars and events organised by the committee’s local country chairs. The Annual IBA Conference also provides an occasion for the Young Litigators Forum to offer a forum for young lawyers to present papers and exchange ideas.
Committee members receive regular copies of the committee’s newsletter which provides details of the committee’s current activities plus recent developments in the law worldwide. Members also receive the biannual journal of the IBA's Dispute Resolution Section, Dispute Resolution International. Full details of the committee’s Executive Committee and its regional and country chairs are published in the newsletter, and are available on this website. The committee welcomes applications for membership from all lawyers with an interest in litigation.
09 Feb - 10 Feb 2025
Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates
09 Apr - 11 Apr 2025
Singapore
02 Oct - 03 Oct 2025
Milan , Italy
Authors from almost fifty jurisdictions have taken part in this project. For each jurisdiction, our aim is to outline the key requirements for enforcing a foreign judgment against a state entity. The guide covers the basic criteria for enforcement of a foreign judgment, the application of sovereign immunity, and due process standards and exceptions (service, representation, etc). It also considers how these principles apply where states are involved in armed conflict, which is sadly relevant to a number of litigants around the world currently seeking to recover for wartime damages against aggressor states.
To our knowledge, no similar guide exists, although the need for one is clear. View guides
In light of the magnitude of Covid-19, the IBA’s Litigation Committee has prepared a special report that addresses the impact of the pandemic on the operation of courts and litigation practice in 37 jurisdictions around the world. Download report
The Hague Conference on Private International Law set up a Special Commission to prepare a draft convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in civil and commercial matters. The Special Commission published a draft convention in 2016 and finalised it in 2017.
The attached report (and annex) has been compiled by members of the IBA Litigation committee named in the report and focuses on specific issues and concerns in regard to the draft convention.
In this issue of the Litigation Committee newsletter, under the title of ‘A brave new world: managing litigation and teams in the digital age’, we dive deep into some of the most pressing topics facing disputes lawyers today. With the digital transformation accelerating, the ways we approach litigation, team management, and client service are being reshaped. We explore the potential of AI to enhance case preparation, manage data, and assist in predictive analysis. Our experts share insights on leveraging digital tools to enhance collaboration and foster a sense of unity, even when colleagues are dispersed across locations and time zones. We delve into best practices for securing sensitive data, protecting client confidentiality, and mitigating the risk of cyber threats. We also report on the excellent sessions from our Annual Litigation Committee Forum in Amsterdam in April 2024, and our webinar on litigating in China.
Released on Dec 02, 2024
The integration of AI into legal practice has raised concerns about maintaining client confidentiality and legal privilege. Whilst AI tools offer significant efficiency gains, they pose risks to the confidentiality that is fundamental to the legal profession. Public generative AI models may inadvertently store sensitive client data, creating potential breaches of legal obligations. The uncertainty surrounding whether AI-generated documents are protected by legal professional privilege complicates matters further. As AI usage grows, the legal community may need to adopt ethical safeguards, such as using secure, private AI systems and disclosing AI involvement in legal processes, to protect client information and uphold the integrity of the profession.
Released on Nov 29, 2024
In today’s digital age, business email compromise (BEC) has become a threat to businesses and individuals. BEC can be defined as ‘a criminal act where criminals illegally access an email account and communicate as if they are the user’. Courts globally have had to determine who becomes liable for the loss suffered in such instances. This article provides brief examples of how this issue has been dealt with in different jurisdictions.
Released on Nov 29, 2024
More and more, banks’ customers file judicial actions to hold the bank responsible for losses incurred when the bank has completed a payment request made at the request of third-party fraudsters instead of the ‘real’ customer. This article looks at how the Portuguese Supreme Court of Justice decided who should be held accountable in two recent cases, the first involving a case of phishing via text message and the second involving the misuse of an e-mail address belonging to the bank’s customer.
Released on Nov 29, 2024
Dispute Resolution International (DRI) is the journal of the IBA's Dispute Resolution Section, which includes the Arbitration Committee among other related committees. It provides in-depth discussion of current developments and topical issues in all areas of dispute resolution, including litigation, arbitration, mediation and other areas of alternative dispute resolution, as well as negligence and damages.
The latest issue of DRI is now available to access online for all members of the IBA Dispute Resolution Section.
The IBA Litigation Committee has joined the Stakeholders Cross-Border Committee of the EFFORTS Project, a consortium comprising the University of Milan (coord.), the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law and the Universities of Heidelberg, Brussels VUB, Vilnius and Zagreb, with financial support from the Civil Justice Programme of the European Union.
Embracing a practice driven approach, a group of renowned experts in international procedural law analyses the legislation and case-law of seven EU Member States (namely Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, and Luxembourg), promotes the exchange of practices among operators, and collects good practices with the purpose of assessing the interaction of the EU Regulations on the recognition and enforcement of judgments with national legislations.
The targeted EU legislative instruments are the Brussels 1a Regulation and the Regulations on the European Enforcement Order, the European Small Claims Procedure, the European Payment Order, and the European Account Preservation Order. The interaction of said EU instruments with national rules signifies a major weakness of the system, making it difficult for practitioners, and even more for consumers and businesses, to be aware of the mere existence and practical functioning of the available procedures and mechanisms.
The consortium will pursue clarity by means of seven Practice Guides on the cross-border recovery of claims in the targeted Member States. It will contribute to the improvement of existing EU and national legislation by drafting policy recommendations for national and EU policymakers. Finally, it will foster clarity and access to information by setting up the EFFORTS Network and a Working Group on the digitalisation of enforcement procedures. The project involves judges, enforcement agents, EU and national policymakers, lawyers, in-house counsel, consumer associations, and academics.
Additional information concerning the EFFORTS Project is available here
The Litigation Committee also coordinates the activities of the following subcommittees/working groups.
If you are a member of the Litigation Committee, for additional networking opportunities, programs, interviews with fellow members and tips all exclusive to members, join our LinkedIn page at: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7439234/.