From the Co-Chairs - Litigation Committee, 2022

Dear friends, 

After an unprecedented period in which Covid-19 made it impossible to meet in person, we find ourselves once again faced with challenges, particularly the worrying situation in Ukraine. We want our Ukrainian colleagues and their families to know that we are thinking of them and hoping for their continued safety. 

Against the background of these challenges, which included adapting to virtual conferences, it was wonderful to finally meet in person at the Annual Litigation Forum in London this past April. We are grateful to our fellow committee members who worked tirelessly to make the event possible. Due to an unforeseen change in Covid-19 protocols, they had just two months to switch venues from Amsterdam to London. But excellent litigators must be able to quickly adapt and switch gears; they brought these skills to bear with competence and equanimity, and organised an excellent conference. We thank everyone who participated, including the moderators, panellists, delegates and sponsors. It was lovely to see so many of you there. For those who were not able to attend, in this newsletter you will find summaries from the sessions, all of which were devoted to the topic of climate change litigation. 

Now for some exciting news: we are pleased to announce that our next mid-year conference will take place on 3–5 May 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This will be the first Annual Litigation Forum held outside Europe or the United States. After two years of a global pandemic, during which Rodrigo García and his team at Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal waited patiently for the opportunity to host us, we are pleased that the committee will finally benefit from their steadfastness and hard work. We look forward to enjoying the beautiful city of Buenos Aires and spending time with you there. In the meantime, please look for the IBA’s updates about additional upcoming activities, such as the committee’s private international law conference, which will take place in Milan, Italy in the spring of 2023.  

 We wish to thank our newsletter editors – Daan Lunsingh Scheurleer and Akima Paul Lambert – for producing another excellent edition. We hope you enjoy the contributions, which, among other things, include: summaries of the sessions on climate change litigation held at the Annual Litigation Forum in London; comments on ESG topics; interviews; and articles on Russian sanctions and crypto disputes. In the next edition, we will look back on the Annual Conference which was recently held in Miami. 

We hope you stay safe and look forward to meeting in person soon!

Yvette Borrius
Fred Acomb