Conference programme

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.

Development Director Louise Panum Baastrup leads a walking tour around Refshaleøen, a former shipyard area that has been developed as a leasing business, with a wide range of visionary tenants across, among others, music, gastronomy, sports, art and craft production. These activities play a key role in making Refshaleøen one of Copenhagen’s most popular destinations.
Based on extensive dialogue with stakeholders, the area has been developed into a sustainable and compact urban area, with respect for the site’s vibrant cultural heritage.

Generative AI has ignited a global debate over intellectual property rights, the flow of information and the future of creativity.  As AI systems train on vast datasets scraped from the internet — including copyrighted news articles, photographs, books, music, and creative works — fundamental questions emerge, and the legal landscape is fracturing.  Questions include: Who owns the output?  What constitutes transformative use across different legal jurisdictions for an issue that transcends borders?  How do we balance innovation with creators’ rights when AI can generate content that competes directly with the original works? How is AI impacting traditional trademark and image rights? And what will be the impact on the flow of independent information to the public?

In the US, courts are testing the boundaries of fair use as AI companies argue their systems 'transform' copyrighted works. In Europe, stricter data protection and copyright regimes are forcing different models. Recent landmark cases are establishing divergent precedents that will shape how AI can legally develop, whether licensing markets can survive and what happens to media sustainability when machines compete with the content they learned from.  
At the same time, the dramatic proliferation of AI – particularly on social media platforms – has the potential for misinformation and deception, as it becomes more and more difficult to discern 'truth' from AI-generated falsities, with platforms functioning as both massive content repositories and distribution channels. Algorithms complicate this further, often determining what gets amplified, what is hidden, and what audiences see.

This session examines the cross-border tensions in AI law, including intellectual property law; the impact of emerging case law on how AI systems can legally develop; what this means for licensing markets, AI innovation, the flow of information and media sustainability; how to balance free speech principles against the dangers of misinformation; and whether international frameworks can reconcile fundamentally different views on balancing creator rights against technological progress.

This panel will address cross-border internal investigations, privilege considerations, whistleblowing management and reputational risk — drawing insights from employment, criminal, data protection and media law.

This session will explore the capacity to consent to sex and the capacity to make a will or trust, looking at the impact of divorce and remarriage on estate plans, discussing predatory behaviours in later-life marriages, and the options available in respect of them.

The CJEU's 2022 London Steam-Ship decision exposed a critical gap in the Brussels I Recast Regulation: whilst judgments confirming arbitral awards can prevent recognition of irreconcilable judgments from other Member States, the absence of a lis pendens rule regarding arbitration proceedings creates significant risks of conflicting decisions and undermines legal certainty. The European Commission's 2025 report on the application of the Brussels I Recast Regulation acknowledges such irreconcilability risks and seeks to eliminate it. Against this backdrop, the Sorbonne Research Project has proposed a concrete solution. This panel will explore the diverging approaches across EU jurisdictions to this coordination challenge, examine the practical implications of the London Steam-Ship ruling and critically assess whether the Sorbonne proposal strikes the right balance between party autonomy, judicial efficiency and the fundamental principle of mutual trust underpinning EU civil procedure.

As global energy generation accelerates, particularly with the rise of renewables, transmission and distribution networks are under unprecedented strain. With rolling blackouts, pipeline risks, and capacity constraints, how are new regulatory requirements for sustaining and securing networks affecting projects? How are we responding to the disruption in contracting and dispute resolution? This panel will explore the full spectrum of disputes arising across the energy infrastructure chain, from capacity allocation and connection delays to liability for outages, interruptions, and regulatory non-compliance.

It will also consider the challenges of integrating new technologies, meeting decarbonisation targets, and balancing the interests of states, regulators, investors, operators, and consumers. By bringing together diverse perspectives, the discussion aims to highlight how legal practitioners can help manage risk proactively, design more resilient contractual frameworks, and resolve disputes efficiently in an evolving energy landscape.

This session will provide a global round-up of the hottest topics in asset management, covering emerging trends, regulatory developments, and market challenges. Participants will gain insights into key issues shaping investment strategies, risk management, and compliance across major jurisdictions.

This session will assess competitiveness, regulation, and the evolving balance between stability and innovation.

Following the launch of the Global Guide for Mental Health and Wellbeing in Legal Workplaces, this panel explores how legal workplaces around the world are putting the Guide into action. The session will focus on practical implementation, work redesign and real-world impact, offering firm leaders a roadmap to foster psychological health and safety and high-performing teams.
 
Attendees will hear from leading voices in law and organisational psychology, discussing how work practices can be redesigned to reduce psychosocial risks, support employee wellbeing and strengthen organisational resilience. The panel will highlight innovative approaches, lessons learned and best-practice examples from early adopters, helping leaders translate the Guide into tangible improvements in their own organisations.
 
This session is designed for firm leaders, in-house counsel, and policy makers who want to drive sustainable change, create mentally healthy workplaces, and demonstrate leadership in embedding evidence-based wellbeing practices across the profession.

In this annual panel, speakers will explore third country removals of refugees and their implications for individual human rights and international law standards. Experts will share their strategies under national and international law and explore trends across the world.

Sports arbitration has long been regarded as a fast, specialised, and effective means of resolving disputes in an increasingly globalised sporting world. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) remains the cornerstone of this system, exercising jurisdiction over a broad spectrum of matters, from disciplinary sanctions and doping cases to commercial and contractual disputes.

Recent jurisprudence, however, has reignited debate about the limits and legitimacy of this model. In particular, the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in Semenya v. Switzerland (Application no. 10934/21, 10 July 2025) and the Court of Justice of the European Union’s ruling in Royal Football Club Seraing and Others v. FIFA (Case C-600/23, 1 August 2025) raise fundamental questions about the balance between arbitral autonomy and mandatory public law principles.

To what extent should arbitration in sport be constrained by considerations of human rights, competition law, and public policy (ordre public)? Are existing mechanisms adequate to safeguard fairness and independence, or is reform required to maintain legitimacy and trust?

This session will examine whether the CAS model remains fit for purpose in light of these developments and will explore their broader implications for arbitration beyond sport, including commercial arbitration and other forms of private dispute resolution.

This session will explore the challenges that rightsholders may face in seeking remediation for business-related human rights harm, including power asymmetries, lack of meaningful participation, exclusion of context-sensitive approaches, limited community trust in companies, and limited enforcement of decisions through judicial, quasi-judicial and non-judicial processes. It will also explore how businesses seeking to comply with or apply international BHR laws and standards can work to mitigate some of these barriers, including how to reasonably defend against actions in line with these standards.

The session will delve into the role of lawyers, both in-house and external, in supporting businesses to take this type of approach, as well as the role of plaintiff lawyers in strategic litigation to help break down barriers and contribute to all parties acting in good faith in these types of proceedings.

The discussion will focus on how artificial intelligence is transforming law firm operations, governance and professional responsibility — including issues of data protection, intellectual property ownership and ethical use of AI tools.

The paradigm for water management has fundamentally shifted. Once considered a limitless utility, reliable water access is now one of the most critical vulnerabilities for both public and private enterprises in the face of persistent drought, climate volatility and population growth.

For sanitation companies and water utilities, the 'dry tap' scenario — the point at which supply can no longer meet demand — has moved from a hypothetical worst case to a foreseeable business reality.

In this new reality, water recycling and reuse are no longer innovative options; they are essential components of climate adaptation and business continuity.

This session confronts the profound legal exposure for directors and officers who fail to act. We will explore how the decision to delay, defer, or reject capital investment in proven water reuse technologies is being reframed as a critical failure of oversight and a direct breach of fiduciary duty.

When a utility fails, or a corporation's operations halt due to a predictable water shortage, stakeholders — from investors to regulators to the public — will not ask if the board knew about water recycling, but why they failed to implement it.

The rapid diffusion of digital health - particularly connected medical devices - is reshaping global supply chains end to end. Manufacturers must navigate fragmented regulatory regimes on cybersecurity, software updates and post-market surveillance, driving region-specific design, documentation and distribution strategies. This session is proudly led by the Digital Healthcare and Regulation Subcommittee of the Healthcare and Life Sciences Law Committee.

Much programming has been done on the rule of law, the separation of powers, pillars of democracy and other issues that have transcended national boundaries. What has been missing from the discussion is an emphasis on the grassroots and the need not just for more civic education, but for a more prominent role by bars beyond the issuance of statements. In short, bar associations need to make concrete the body of scholarship and legal writings. Without public understanding of the integration of basic knowledge of civics and how it relates to the rule of law, the current paralysis will continue. Bars – and all lawyers, for that matter – are uniquely positioned to engage with the public, and not just government. The panel will not only discuss these issues, but present practical guidance. The showcase will be in two parts: Part I will focus on the legal, social, economic and historical importance of the rule of law and its challenges. Part II will be a workshop, where specific questions and scenarios are presented to the audience, who will be invited to participate.