Conference programme

Unicorns may be attributed high valuations, but if the Initial Public Offering (IPO) market is not available (generally or for a specific unicorn) and cash is needed urgently, what are your options? The panel will disucss potential solutions and pitfalls.

This is an exclusive event for corporate counsel only - by invitation only.

With a panel of law firm leaders from across the globe, this breakfast session will discuss the latest hot-topics in law firm management.

Join us for the annual breakfast of the Power Law Committee.

This session will examine how emerging corruption risks and a shifting global enforcement landscape are reshaping anti-corruption compliance, and what this means for compliance practice, organisational culture and risk management strategies in an increasingly complex regulatory environment.

This session will examines AI’s growing role in immigration law — from tools assisting lawyers with research, drafting, and analytics to government use in adjudication, fraud detection, and border control — highlighting opportunities, ethical risks, and transparency concerns.

Panellists will review global trademark filing and maintenance, combating bad faith registrations, consistent trade dress, social media and marketplace enforcement, anti-counterfeiting and domain name disputes, trade secret hygiene in manuals and training, and the licensing of technology stacks and content across networks. Attendees will gain practical frameworks and contract clause concepts to safeguard brand assets across jurisdictions and channels while supporting scalable growth in franchise and distribution systems.

Directors and boards face increasing criminal prosecution and personal liability for oversight failures. For example, in November 2024, the Italian Supreme Court convicted all members of a company’s board of directors for manslaughter after a workplace safety failure, highlighting that delegating tasks does not absolve board members from ensuring robust organisational controls and compliance. Similarly, the UK’s new 'failure to prevent fraud' offence which came into force in September 2025 exposes directors and executives to criminal sanctions if their companies lack effective anti-fraud procedures even if senior management was unaware of the specific misconduct.

These cases demonstrate the urgent need for boards to understand and fulfil their duty to prevent corporate crime, ensuring personal accountability for oversight and governance lapses. The panel will examine how board members and executives can manage personal liability while fulfilling their duty to prevent corporate crime. Focusing on practical strategies, we will discuss how effective governance, compliance systems, and good corporate housekeeping such as oversight, internal controls and ethical cultures can protect both the individual and the company.

Real case insights will illustrate how proactive leadership balances regulatory expectations with business priorities in today’s cross-border landscape.

Access to data has become a central legal and economic challenge in the data-driven economy. One year after the EU Data Act entered into force, the promise of greater data availability and fair access is being put to the test. The Act, together with the Data Governance Act and other emerging international frameworks, aims to break down barriers to data use, reduce data-driven lock-in effects, and enable a more balanced distribution of data value across stakeholders.

This session will examine how the right of access to IoT data, the sharing obligations for private and public entities, and the introduction of Model Contractual Terms and Standard Contractual Clauses are reshaping the legal architecture of the digital economy. Are these new mechanisms truly empowering users, SMEs, and public bodies to access and reuse data? How are businesses adapting their data governance models and contractual strategies to comply while remaining competitive globally?

Drawing on the first year of practical experience, legal experts and policymakers will discuss whether the EU’s approach to data access is setting a global standard — and will also conduct a deep dive on the Model Contractual Terms and the Standard Contractual Clauses.

Launching products across 100 jurisdictions can be a monumental undertaking that requires strategic foresight, legal precision and operational agility. This panel will bring together leading experts in international product law, regulatory compliance and dispute resolution to explore the challenges and opportunities inherent in global product rollouts. The discussion will examine how organisations can harmonise compliance strategies across jurisdictions with varying consumer protection laws, and product liability and regulatory frameworks. It will also address risk management approaches for identifying and mitigating cross-border risks, including crisis management for product recalls and liability exposure. Attendees will leave with a roadmap for balancing speed-to-market with regulatory rigour, ensuring both consumer safety and brand integrity worldwide.

Across many regions, defending justice has become an act of courage. This panel unites lawyers committed to protecting colleagues who face persecution for upholding the rule of law in contexts such as politically sensitive litigation, human rights defence, anti-corruption matters, election-related disputes, media and free-expression cases, and criminal defence where due process is at risk. Through powerful personal stories and on-the-ground examples, speakers will showcase defenders who have risked their safety to represent others, and the international networks that rally in their support. Panelists will explore how the global legal community can mobilise—through advocacy, pro bono assistance, and cross-border collaboration—to protect the independence of the legal profession and the right to counsel everywhere. The end goal is actionable: equip participants with a clear support options and how to activate networks before, during, and after a crisis. At its heart, this conversation celebrates solidarity in action: lawyers standing with lawyers to ensure that justice itself is never silenced.

What should we expect from innovative lawyers? Join us as we explore the topic.

This session will explore multiparty, parallel proceedings and other complexities.

Beyond the massive casualties of armed conflict, war also systemically impoverishes. Markets collapse, services vanish, and livelihoods are targeted or incidentally destroyed. This panel interrogates poverty in conflict zones through a legal lens, mapping how international humanitarian law, international human rights law, refugee law, sanctions regimes and domestic frameworks can sometimes entrench and sometimes alleviate material deprivation. Speakers will examine poverty-producing practices such as siege and starvation, forced displacement, property destruction and gendered barriers to work; the political economy of conflict including illicit trades, corruption and aid diversion; and avenues for redress including strategic litigation, reparations, conditionality and accountability mechanisms.

In a time of rapid change, driven by technology, client expectations, and evolving talent, law firms must continually rethink their culture and focus. This session will explore how business professionals can lead with clarity and purpose, balancing innovation, efficiency, and human connection.    

Designed as an interactive discussion, senior leaders will share experiences of leading through shifting priorities and redefining “focus” for their firms. We also propose building on our 2025 global survey, repeating it with a renewed focus on how cultural factors influence collaboration, leadership, and performance in business services. This will provide valuable continuity while deepening insights into the role of culture in driving resilience and results.

This panel will examine how traditional legal concepts of fault, duty and causation apply to AI systems and will discuss the allocation of risk among developers, users and third parties. We will address ethical, regulatory and enforcement challenges in AI-related harms and review frameworks for responsible AI governance and compensation mechanisms.

The convergence of video gaming, live streaming, and social content platforms has given rise to a vibrant, but increasingly complex, ecosystem. Governments and regulators worldwide are now racing to define and enforce rules governing user safety, platform accountability, and digital rights in this evolving landscape.

This panel discusses the emerging legal frameworks and compliance practices shaping the future of online safety and content moderation on gaming and streaming platforms. Panellists will examine different regulatory approaches across jurisdictions, including the EU Digital Services Act, the UK Online Safety Act, and Australia’s online safety legislation, with a focus on their implications for platforms hosting live-streamed gameplay, esports tournaments, and influencer-driven gaming content.

It is a vexed question as to whether social media platforms are “fit for purpose” services that should be accessible to children.  Different jurisdictions have taken different approaches to this issue.  Some have restricted access by children but would the better approach be to impose a duty of care on platforms?
 

This session will focus on term sheet level structuring and negotiations related to 'talent deals', exploration of the 'mega acquire' trends used to navigate around regulatory scrutiny, competitive structures used by mega tech buyers, company side protections regarding retention and non-compete structures and other creative enticements used by today’s serial buyers in the tech space around the world. 

The IBA Aviation Law Committee has once again organised an outing for the IBA Annual Conference. Please note that places are limited. Delegates registered for the conference will be invited to sign up in person at the conference help desk. Attendees are advised to show up 5 to 10 minutes before the start of the tour to make sure there are no delays.