Paul D Paton

The IBA Annual Conference 2025 in Toronto was a triumph of connection, community and insight. I’m proud to have chaired the Alternative and New Law Business Structures (ANLBS) Committee, dedicated to thinking ‘outside of the box’ and encouraging debate about developments in the legal profession, the future delivery of legal services, and regulatory change and new challenges for lawyers and law firms that deliver services across borders and boundaries. Our officers include leading lawyers from North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, including nations such as Israel, India and Thailand. Committee membership is free and includes lawyers from all over the globe who are interested in the broad range of themes we cover. They contribute ideas and insight, helping us keep attuned to the pulse of the profession and move ideas forward.

I was honoured to work with a tremendous team to present three compelling panel discussions at this year’s gathering of over 5000 lawyers from around the globe, which I briefly outline below.

Law firm mergers: new perspectives, cross-border and multidisciplinary complications and solutions, co-sponsored by the Regulation of Lawyers Committee (Monday 3 November 2025)

What incredible insights from a panel spanning the globe: The inimitable (and hilarious) Alberto Navarro from Argentina; ANLBS Officer Panupan Udomsuvannakul, whose dual qualification and experience in Japan and Thailand is unique; Anna Balinsky from KPMG Canada; Ashish Razdan from Mumbai; and ANLBS Officer Tal Eyal-Boger from Israel. It was a privilege to co-chair the session with the distinguished Eduardo Quintanilla, another ANLBS Officer, from Bolivia.

As Eyal-Boger aptly asked: Is a merger like a marriage? Is bigger always better? And what do lawyers really want? Her observation: no matter where we practice, people are people. When evaluating a potential merger, the key question remains: who are we joining forces with, and is there a true DNA match?

My question: are regulators there to facilitate a global approach or are new rules needed to address cross-border and multidisciplinary dimensions? A wonderful discussion ensued!

Lawyering inside and outside the ‘sandbox’: Canadian and international trends, co-sponsored by the Bar Issues Commission and the Professional Ethics Committee (Wednesday 5 November 2025)

What is a ‘sandbox’ and does it facilitate regulatory innovation or simply preserve the power of the guild? How have the pilot projects worked in Utah, Arizona and across Canada? What impact does California’s slamming the door on non-lawyer owned law firms have on other initiatives? Do ethical rules serve to promote consumer interests or act as anti-competitive barriers? And is private equity (PE) investment disrupting even the limited impact a sandbox might have? Iain Miller, the ‘walking encyclopaedia on professional discipline’ (Chambers UK 2025) and lead partner in Stratify by Kingsley Napley offered a trans-Atlantic perspective on regulatory transformation and PE investment in law firms; Shirin Mirsaeidi from Deloitte Canada (and my former student!) provided insight on the ‘law-adjacent’ space; Chad Aboud from Canadian disruptor Goodlawyer delivered an important personal and professional perspective on what lawyers (and clients) really want; and Art Wilson, head of the Access to Innovation (A2I) program for the Law Society of Ontario helped situate the Ontario regulator’s approach to permitting providers of innovative legal tech services to participate in the legal services delivery space.

My takeaway: the market is moving, whether or not the regulators are moving with it. Lawyers want more flexibility and the ability to work within the regulated space, but that requires regulators to offer predictability, certainty and a level of creative thinking not traditionally associated with legal services markets. Watch this space!

Integrating carbon credit markets into legal practice: a multidisciplinary approach? (Thursday 6 November 2025)

New practice opportunities thrive where guidance is needed and political and regulatory dynamics change. With international agreements and regulatory frameworks mandating or encouraging carbon reduction strategies, challenges for clients and significant opportunities for law firms that are ready to guide companies through the complex web of rules and regulations abound. What is the potential for law firms to expand their environmental law practice through advising and facilitating transactions in the carbon credits market? How should multidisciplinary advisory teams (biodiversity, Fintech and others) be deployed? What does the future look like for carbon credit exchanges? Drawing on the phenomenal expertise of Lisa DeMarco (who was jetting off to COP30 in Brazil immediately after the session), Conor Chell from KPMG Law in Calgary and Levi McAllister from Morgan Lewis in Washington DC, and interventions and insights from lawyers from Africa, South America and Asia in attendance, moderator and ANLBS Vice-Chair Sean Mason helped navigate through the options and opportunities available in this brave new world.

My takeaway: how we think of value has already changed. And where finance changes, lawyers will follow (or can lead). I wish we’d recorded this for a future podcast and hope to present a webinar in the coming year to achieve greater reach.

My thanks to all of the panellists and to the global team who share the mission we’ve redefined for the one IBA committee specifically focused on thinking ‘outside of the box’: Co-Chair Jimena Gonzalez de Cossio; Vice-Chair Sean Mason; officers Martine de Koning, Panupan Udomsuvannakul, Tal Eyal-Boger, Saranya Mishra, Fernando Davila Bond and Eduardo Quintanilla; and Advisory Board members Karl J Veldkamp, Sönke Lund, Hanim Hamzah and Derya Durlu Gürzumar.

As I complete my two year term as ANLBS Chair and five years with the Committee, I am proud that our committee membership is one of the strongest in the Section on Public and Professional Interest (SPPI), our programming has been creative and innovative, and we have brought together the world’s leading lawyers and firms for high-profile sessions on everything from environmental, social and governance (ESG) to Multi-Disciplinary Practice (MDP), alternative business structures (ABSs), artificial intelligence (AI), PE and the rest of the alphabet soup that represents the future of the profession. Our officers span the globe and are among the leading innovators in the profession. I remain grateful for their tremendous support and friendship.

We have once again secured three coveted spots for panel sessions at next year’s #IBA 2026 Annual Conference in Copenhagen on issues that span across interests and borders and will define the future of the profession: how PE is reshaping law firms through management service organisations (MSOs); the future of law firm ‘alliance’ networks made up of independent law firms; and AI and (the end of) traditional billing. We’ll be shaping the panel composition in the new year and will plan for robust discussions on what is taking place and what we might expect in a new day and age of the practice of law around the globe.

I look forward to remaining on the Advisory Board, continuing as a Commissioner for the Future of Legal Services Commission and sitting on the SPPI Council. A busy year ahead!