Conference programme

Join us at the awards breakfast where the IBA Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Legal Practitioner to Human Rights, the IBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, and the IBA Pro Bono Award will be presented.

An open meeting of the Pro Bono Committee where committee members and those interested in joining the committee, are invited to learn more about the extensive activities of the committee, provide feedback and collaborate about new ideas and initiatives. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming markets, and regulators are trying to address potential market consolidation and harm before it happens. In this dynamic environment, businesses from all sides of the AI universe – AI model owners, AI app developers, AI business users, data owners, cloud infrastructure owners –  need to understand the heightened scrutiny over investments in this sector and act in compliance with increasingly intrusive regulation and antitrust law. 

This panel will discuss the issues that arise in AI creation and business use and regulators’ responses to AI including in the context of the new ex ante regimes in the European Union and United Kingdom, the approach of the United States and other jurisdictions around the world and discuss how divergences between jurisdictions might affect cross-border businesses.

In this session we will tackle the issue of toxic behaviour in the workplace, and how this can be addressed in law firms.

As regulatory requirements and ethical expectations continue to rise, the discussion will focus on how far companies should go to ensure compliance and best practice, including corruption, anti-money laundering (AML), labour, environmental, and human rights standards. We will discuss best practices in balancing cost-efficiency and regulatory obligations while maintaining responsible and sustainable supply chains in an increasingly regulated world.

This panel will explore the growing relevance of Creditor Cooperation Agreements (CCAs) as a tool to manage inter-creditor dynamics and prevent disruptive holdout or priming strategies in liability management transactions (LMTs).

Panelists will examine recent case studies and legal innovations where CCAs have been used to align creditor interests and reduce the risk of creditor-on-creditor violence in both consensual and coercive deal structures. The discussion will also address practical drafting considerations, enforceability challenges, and the evolving role of CCAs in enhancing predictability and fairness in distressed debt scenarios.

This session will be about M&A strategies for acquiring distressed businesses in challenging situations.

An exploration of energy policies and environmental protection interests, including approaches to renewable energy, across Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

This panel will explore the rapidly evolving field of greenwashing litigation, focusing on the legal strategies used to combat deceptive environmental claims and the regulatory landscape shaping these efforts. With an emphasis on cross-border challenges, we will examine jurisdictional conflicts, varying legal standards, and enforcement mechanisms that complicate international greenwashing cases. Through case studies and expert insights, the panel will provide a comprehensive understanding of how legal professionals can navigate these complexities to ensure corporate transparency and accountability on a global scale.

In this session we will review issues that are hot within the industry at the time.

As efforts to combat climate change intensify, businesses across the globe are increasingly under pressure to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable practices. International agreements and regulatory frameworks mandating or encouraging carbon reduction strategies present challenges for clients and significant opportunities for law firms ready to guide companies through the complex web of rules and regulations. 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 is the future for carbon credit exchanges? This panel will address these and many other topical issues arising from a challenging environmental issue facing the legal practice. 

This session will examine the role that male champions of gender equity can play as catalysts for change in our profession. The entire legal community must work together to achieve parity. Women lawyers are acutely aware of the challenges they face and what needs to be done to level the playing field. However, this is not just a women’s issue. Law firm leaders globally (including managing partners, executive committee members, shareholders/equity partners, etc.) are primarily male and can serve as accelerators in providing opportunities for women.

This panel will discuss the characterisation of fee payments: royalties, services fees, access fees or other? We will also explore source issues and implications from a transfer pricing, withholding tax and treaty interpretation perspective.

The session will discuss the most recent virtual asset regulations, what they cover and don’t cover, and the challenges faced by enforcement authorities on categorising and regulating emerging financial products. 

This panel will cover issues on construction, management and transactions, coverage regulatory aspects, and litigations.

This panel will discuss the impact of the change of leadership in the United States, Canada and Mexico, on the review of the North American’s free trade agreement (the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement), scheduled in 2026. The previous revision introduced ground breaking changes, including the thorough supervision of labour standards at a company level. What will the next revision bring? 

The panel will discuss the current state of domain name protection and what companies need to be thinking about over the next 25 years.

This session is organised to discuss possible role of lawyers in using law and legal procedures to broker peace talks/ bring war crimes to justice and related issues.