Conference programme

Mediation offers small and closely held businesses a practical, low-risk, time- and cost-effective way to resolve disputes that can otherwise cripple an enterprise. Whether the conflict involves shareholder deadlock, succession issues, employment claims or commercial-contract disputes where even modest dollar amounts feel high-stakes, mediation provides a flexible forum that litigation and arbitration often cannot. This session explores why mediation frequently succeeds and, in particular, the importance of selecting a mediator whose style, expertise and credibility can materially shape outcomes. Panelists will also tackle the real-world challenges counsel face: information asymmetry, family dynamics, imbalanced bargaining power and founders who resist change. Attendees will gain practical guidance on drafting stronger mediation clauses, preparing their clients for the process, choosing the right mediator and leveraging mediation to secure value-preserving resolutions – competence clients notice, appreciate and will return for.

An interactive panel to discuss practical issues in M&A deals, focusing in particular on remedies that may be required to get the deal through across multiple authorities around the world and how to negotiate risk allocation. The panel will also cover situations of increasing uncertainty that complicate negotiations, such as timelines getting longer and the merging use of call-in powers by regulators to scrutinise smaller deals.

Public procurement and military contracting often become complex 'battlefields' where legal, commercial and institutional interests collide. This panel examines how mediation and ADR tools can help prevent and resolve disputes in public and defence procurement, from tendering to contract performance. Focusing on the role of legal departments in public bodies and armed forces, speakers will discuss how mediation enhances transparency, efficiency and continuity in supplier relations. Real-world cases will show how structured dialogue and facilitated negotiation can transform potential conflicts into opportunities for collaboration, innovation and sound governance in sensitive procurement environments.

This panel will examine how restructuring frameworks shape the allocation of negotiation power among debtors, creditors, and other stakeholders throughout the reorganisation process. Particular attention will be given to the mechanisms that influence leverage in plan negotiations, including control over the process, defenses against coercive tactics used by debtors, and creditors’ ability to file competing plans, where permitted.

Panelists will explore the policy trade-offs between debtor-driven and creditor-influenced processes, analysing how different regimes address concerns such as coercive tactics, valuation disputes, and strategic behavior. Drawing on comparative perspectives from North America, Europe, and Latin America, the discussion will assess how these dynamics affect bargaining outcomes, deal efficiency, and perceptions of fairness in restructuring proceedings.

This panel explores how rising geopolitical fragmentation, regulatory divergence and energy security pressures are reshaping the oil and gas sector, creating both opportunities and uncertainty for investors, host states and practitioners. The session compares regulatory trends across key regions and assesses their impact on investors and host states. The discussion will highlight modernisation efforts, including streamlined regimes and digital tools. It will also address developments in bilateral investment treaties (BITs), investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), and risk mitigation in a volatile geopolitical context. 

The Digital Network Act (DNA) is the European Union’s response to current technological shifts in communications infrastructure. It updates the European Electronic Communications Code as well other connectivity regulations to support investment, innovation and secure deployment of next-generation networks, paving the way for 5G Standalone and the arrival of 6G technologies. Key discussion points include: the DNA’s objectives in modernising the EU regulatory telecoms framework; investment incentives and regulatory certainty for network evolution; key legal and technical challenges for 5G Standalone and future 6G deployment; balancing connectivity innovation with security, competition, and resilience; and the evolving role of national and European authorities.  

Join us for our open committee business meeting where all members and Officers are invited to learn more about the current and upcoming activities and developments of the Committee.

More than 50 per cent of lawyers under 40 identify meaningful work as essential for their career, confirming that values and purpose now play a central role in new lawyers’ career decisions.  

This session will explore how purpose-driven lawyering is impacting the attraction and retention of talent, and also how this requirement of purpose is influencing firm culture, education, leadership and client relationships. It will invite participants to reflect on how meaning and impact can coexist with excellence, performance, and profitability.

AI development in this past decade has seen a fairly steep curve. But are persons with disabilities being equally taken along on this roller coaster ride? In this session we will discuss the opportunities and challenges that this new tech presents for persons with disabilities. Opportunities can include assistive technologies such as AI-powered tools like voice recognition, screen readers and predictive text enhance accessibility for people with visual, hearing or motor impairments. Further, they can create inclusive hiring processes: AI tools can adapt tests or interviews to individual accessibility needs, helping level the playing field for candidates with disabilities. AI can help reduce human bias in recruitment when properly designed, by focusing on skills and qualifications rather than personal attributes.

They can also create flexible work environments: AI-powered systems can help facilitate remote work, job customisation or workflow automation that accommodates different needs. Challenges can include biases in AI hiring tools: hiring and performance evaluation tools may inadvertently disadvantage candidates with disabilities due to lack of representation or implicit bias in algorithms. Further, there can be a lack of accessibility in AI systems: AI-powered systems (eg, chatbots, automated scheduling) may not be designed for assistive technologies like screen readers or voice control. There are also privacy and surveillance concerns: employees may feel pressured to disclose disabilities in environments where AI tracks health, mobility or productivity patterns. Finally, there are automation risks: routine or low-skill jobs, often held by persons with disabilities, are most at risk of automation.

This panel will examine the multiple and countervailing roles of artificial intelligence in conflict, including: the ethical and legal responsibility challenges that are arising; the uses of AI in monitoring and early warning systems for atrocity prevention; accountability, international standards and guidelines on the use of AI; and other pressing issues.

The boundaries between legitimate tax planning and criminal tax evasion are increasingly under scrutiny. This panel will examine the criminal law risks associated with cross-border tax structuring and the evolving distinction between tax avoidance and criminal conduct. Topics include national and international approaches to criminal liability for aggressive tax planning, the reporting obligations of tax advisors and the mechanisms for information exchange and cooperation in cross-border investigations. The discussion will also address the institutions and legal instruments available to prosecutors and regulators confronting complex, multi-jurisdictional tax cases.

Cross border e-commerce has grown exponentially in the past decade, creating unprecedented challenges to border controls. The inability for customs authorities to control compliance in billions of small parcels has resulted over time in the importation of products that often do not comply with product regulations, supply chain due diligence requirements, and are imported in fraud to customs duties and other import taxes.

As a reaction, in 2025, the United States removed the de minimis exemption that allowed the importation of those products duty free. The European Union adopted in March 2026 an entirely new customs code, and created a new customs authority and central EU customs data hub, to better control its borders and address the challenge of cross-border e-commerce.  The EU will also remove its own de minimis exemption on 1 July 2026. These recent changes will have a profound impact on anyone involved in cross border e-commerce: logistics operators, platforms and sellers in China and elsewhere. Flows of products that were intended for the US and EU are likely to be directed to other markets. The recent customs reforms will have an impact on all imports, beyond ecommerce.

Our panel of customs lawyers and officials from customs authorities and the European Commission will review and discuss these issues and be there to answer your questions.

Across Europe, governments are stepping up to accelerate innovation through targeted incentives, funding schemes and policy reforms. Moreover, private initiatives are driving harmonisation and helping to overcome market fragmentation. This panel explores how such initiatives are driving startup and scaleup growth, attracting venture capital, and shaping the continent’s competitiveness in the global innovation landscape. Experts will share insights, best practices and lessons learned from leading European ecosystems.

A session presented by the India Working Group of the Asia Pacific Regional Forum.

Given the number of recent trade deals that India has entered into, its continuing attraction as an investment destination, and India Inc.’s interest in investments overseas, India is very well poised as a strategic player in today’s global business. Given India’s demography, talent pool and geostrategic position, it attracts investments in manufacturing, service and infrastructure sectors as well as upcoming technology-based and sensitive sectors such as data centres, defence, nuclear and space.

In the same breath, Indian corporates are looking to expand their horizons overseas with both financial and strategic investments. This session will seek to address both typical and complex questions on India’s investment opportunities and regulatory landscape, industrial and tax policies and how best to navigate them on behalf of both Indian and global financial and strategic investors.

The panel will focus on the interaction between the enforcement of IP rights and competition law and particularly how the legitimate enforcement of exclusive rights can be reconciled with the prohibition of abuse of dominant position or economic dependency. While the uneasy coexistence between exclusive rights and competition law has kept regulators and courts busy for many years, it has come to the forefront again following the decision of the European Commission to fine the pharmaceutical company Teva not less than EUR 462.6m for abusing its dominant position to delay competition by playing a 'divisional game.' The panel will address questions about abuses of IP protection systems creating actionable competition abuses.

This session, popularly known as the M&A café, is dedicated to international M&A lawyers looking to hone their craft and meet new M&A contacts from around the world. It will involve 10 roundtables and five topics, with moderators knowledgeable on each topic guiding the conversation at the table. Unlike panel discussions, the format is highly interactive and conducive to engaging in meaningful conversation, sharing the experiences of peers and exchanging contacts, with or without coffee. Every 30 minutes, participants will rotate to another table, providing the opportunity to discuss two topics of interest, meet at least 30 new M&A lawyers from around the world and build their network.

Table topics:

1. Evolution of the due diligence exercise
2. Current trends in FDI and merger control in cross-border M&A
3. Impact of AI on dealmaking
4. How is geopolitics shaping the M&A market?
5. Current trends in private equity transactions

This session will explore how innovation can be balanced with client trust, confidentiality, and professional responsibility. It'll look too at flexible, AI-enhanced roles, on-demand talent (including contract lawyers, project-based specialists, etc) and the implications for client service, cost efficiency etc. How can leaders navigate with agility and resilience when navigating rapid change from regulatory shifts, geopolitical issues, and client demand?

This session will examine how activist investors increasingly shape shareholder litigation and corporate governance. Panellists will explore the strategies activists use to influence legal action, challenge management decisions and drive governance reforms. The discussion will also address key ethical and regulatory considerations – such as transparency, alignment of shareholder interests and litigation financing – along with the resulting market and corporate impacts. Attendees will gain practical insight into the evolving role of activism in high-stakes litigation and its implications for global legal practice.

A discussion regarding the state of international law, norms and institutions under the stress of a world shifting towards multi-polarity and great power rivalry.

Inspired by the words of former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Rosalie Abella at the opening of the IBA Annual Conference in Toronto, this session will consider how lawyers and the law can be used as tools of authoritarianism and how justice must inform and infuse the rule of law.