Money and politics: what’s new in Private Equity in 2022? This panel of experts will discuss the trends in transactions and regulatory issues that are driving deals and deal structures in the private equity arena in the US, Asia and Europe.

From Venezuela to Haiti to Central America and elsewhere, refugee migration is challenging countries throughout the Americas.

Work from home, cross-border remote work, hybrid on-and-off the office arrangements, need to conciliate with personal requests, are all just examples on how the world at work has changed. These changes also affect other significant issues such as how to give proper training, how to motivate employees, how to compensate employees, and how to monitor performance. These were all aspects to be discussed as part of this session.

Topics may include: cyber security in the shipping industry and risk management of same, the current sanction regimes, recent highlights in courts or new important legislation in different jurisdictions; and/or focus on specific shipping sectors such as cruise industry which is very important in Miami. This session’s speakers will largely be drawn from younger and/or newer members of the IBA Maritime and Transport Law Committee, taking advantage of the opportunity to introduce them to other Committee members.

As technology advances continually open up the ability for the world to re-engage in space, will the world be able to provide stability and consensus to countries capable of participating in research and exploration in Space. The panel will discuss international treaties and agreements already gathering momentum and members, along with changes to national legal systems to incorporate issues relating to space that have ramifications outside of their borders. The issues are many, including, intellectual property rights, insurance coverage, environmental concerns, and so much more.

As a consequence legal, regulatory and ethical challenges have imploded.  Values such as dignity, bodily integrity, autonomy, and privacy are dramatically at stake. These ethical concerns have triggered complex legal issues, especially as regards human safety, informed consent, confidentiality and data privacy.

Latin America continues to be a large, growing and dynamic market for deals, and this panel of leading dealmakers will teach you what you need to know at the cutting edge.  FinTech, Venture Capital Unicorns, growth of Multi-latin companies and Private Equity Funds focusing on the region as if it was a single market with varying regions have pushed collaboration, cross border and multijurisdictional M&A transactions to a new level within the region. The session will involve a review of trends, experiences and opportunities resulting from the above, among active participants in the regional M&A ecosystem.

Leisure and intellectual property in the magic city!

The panel will explore a multitude of IP issues, strategies and challenges as they relate to recreational and non-recreational Cannabis and two areas Miami is famous for: tattoos and NFTs, including Digital Art and Collectibles. And to top it off, the panel will link IP issues in Cannabis and tattoos to the evolving reality of the metaverse.

SustainabilityFocusHumanRightsThe session will explore and explain the human rights and development link, within the meaning of Climate Change Justice. Moreover, it will identify challenges faced by the most vulnerable with the focus on women and girls, in accessing fair, equitable and meaningful access to climate justice.

SustainabilityFocusThe purpose of the panel is to bring non-executive directors from public and private companies to demonstrate the challenges within administration boards to seriously include the climate change agenda.

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS sessions marked as such are part of the IBA Annual Conference 2022 sustainability focus on Tuesday and Thursday, grouping sessions discussing different aspects of ESG and sustainability across the different legal fields.

ESG and sustainability are trending topics around the globe, led by Green Finance and Climate Change fight. What are law firms and law schools doing about ESG factors? What are law firms and law schools doing to be sustainable?

The reparation movement is one of the most pressing internationally and it presents some very challenging jurisprudential problems worldwide regarding the very concept of damages and the assessment and quantum of damages and the availability of other remedies. The aim of the panel will be to discuss how these challenges shall be addressed locally and internationally.

The impact algorisms and other forms of Artificial Intelligence in the workplace is significantly increasing.

The session will address different legal and practical aspects of containers, such as:

• Demurrage and detention
• The shortage of container and how to overcome it
• Safety issues and different types of containers
• Challenges concerning pre- and on-carriage / intermodality

This session will look at the relationship between academic law and law in practice, and the marked differences between the common law world and civil law jurisdictions. These differences may be seen in the perceived value of academic qualifications, in the perceived benefit of practising lawyers pursuing parallel academic careers, and in the courts' approach to academic publications. We will explore what academic law brings to the practice of law, and how the practice of law is improved, the service to clients optimised, and the development of the law itself enhanced, by striking the right balance.

This session will look at the following four aspects of asset management:

- trends in private equity: evolution of secondary transactions (general partner (GP)-led or otherwise) and continuation funds - focus of regulators;

- Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) review: the latest position;

- crypto - will the latest volatility lead to a co-ordinated approach to regulation in this area; and

- asset classes: is the potential slowdown going to show us a different asset class for limited partnership (LP) fundraising?

Or a way to produce better decisions and reduce the biases and inefficiencies that make life tougher for immigrants in many jurisdictions? This panel will explore how different countries are approaching AI and immigration law and look at the advantages and disadvantages associated with making immigration decisions with an algorithm.

In this session we will explore the standards and practical examples of dos and don’ts in international maritime arbitration with a focus on conflicts of interest in maritime arbitration following recent international decisions.

This session will describe which are the main current threats to biodiversity and the connection between the need to stop it and the development of new products and services to consumers, analysing the shifting of paradigms on economy, with an overview of the key proposals of circular economy, blue economy and collaborative economies. Speakers will also address the law´s role is promoting or adjusting to these trends and preventing further collapse.

The question now is to what extent and how quickly will this change occur and be embraced by forward thinking lawyers and clients. This session will explore the rapidly developing technologies and novel products that are changing the way lawyers are supporting M&A activity in the digital age, the benefits to both law firms and clients of embracing new ways of doing deals, the opportunities technology presents, as well as the challenges created by such innovation.  Topics to be explored include: how technological innovations are impacting transactional efficiency; how the M&A lawyer’s role has evolved and will evolve in shaping successful deal making by leveraging technology; the potential impacts of the digital age on shareholder engagement, empowerment and transaction approval; and regulatory implications and ethical considerations of utilising new technologies to support M&A transactions.