SustainabilityFocusAs energy storage technologies grow at a very fast pace, new legal, institutional and enforcement challenges are faced. Participants in the energy storage space involve developers, generators, network operators and consumers (ranging from large energy users through to domestic consumers) among others. This session will explore some of the main legal challenges in energy storage including: (a) incentive programmes, (b) development of an energy storage regulatory regime, (c) grid connection, (d) procurement and construction (“EPC”) contracts, operations and maintenance (“O&M”) agreements and asset management agreements, (e) land rights and (f) electricity supply and offtake arrangements.

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.

SustainabilityFocusPressure continues to mount on companies around the world to make Environmental, Social and Governance disclosure. Major institutional investors are taking a principled stand against companies that provide insufficient ESG disclosures and regulators across the globe are increasingly making adequate annual ESG disclosures mandatory. This session will explore emerging trends in ESG disclosure as well as the related risks and opportunities.

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.

The session will explore how the rules and practice of international trade are evolving, as reflected in the expanded use of trade defence tools such as trade remedies, safeguards, unilateral tariffs and countermeasures, the return of managed trade arrangements and the reordering of global trading blocs. The session will be practical and forward-looking; it will focus on what lawyers need to know to help clients structure their supply chains and the extent to which domestic courts and international institutions like the WTO can offer meaningful recourse to protect parties’ interests in rules-based trade.

RuleOfLawThe Rule of Law Forum has been given the responsibility to provoke, urge and assist the membership of the IBA in supporting and promoting the rule of law. As part of that, the final day of the IBA Annual Conference has always been dedicated to rule of law issues, with high-profile speakers from around the world participating. Following successful rule of law symposia in Chicago, Singapore, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Vancouver, Dubai, Dublin, Boston, Tokyo, Vienna, Washington, DC, Sydney, Rome, Seoul and the final day of the conference in Miami will once again be devoted to the rule of law.

The classic session devoted to recent evolutions in investment arbitration. This year the Committee will analyse the recent paradigmatic in investment arbitration.

RuleOfLawThis panel will focus on the role of international law in modern conflict generally and the Ukraine crisis specifically. Panellists will discuss war crimes enforcement/accountability, de-escalation/conflict resolution, the role of sanctions and the role of private business. As it concerns the Ukraine crisis, panellists will consider whether or not the rule of law exists in conflicts involving superpowers and what can be done, through the enforcement of international norms and instruments, to restore the international rule of law in Ukraine.

The debate over whether technological innovations will impact M&A transactions is over. 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.

Legal workspaces are evolving, combining physical office spaces, ‘work anywhere’ and better technology to knit the two together.

Most kinds of knowledge businesses (not only law firms) are fundamentally rethinking how work is done. New working practices capitalise on the benefits of remote working while resolving the challenges involved. Models gaining traction involve a mix of repurposed office spaces, better approaches to remote work and better technology-enabled processes to help the firm’s people collaborate effectively and optimise performance. This session will examine ‘best practice’ as it is emerging today, and speculate about how trends will unfold over the next three to five years.
 

In a world in which the exchange of services and of intangible goods is of ever greater relevance, certainty about applying acceptable transfer prices for all countries involved has become increasingly important. If transfer prices are not accepted by any one country, fast and efficient ways to resolve disputes either among the authorities themselves or with the help of a third party or a court are key for legal certainty and, as a result, for keeping the economy running smoothly. This panel will discuss the implications of recent court decisions and explore all three stages outlined in the title: (a) finding the right transfer price, (b) steering through procedures between countries, and (c) resolving disputes through arbitration.

RuleOfLawIn 2015, the world observed the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, a key milestone in the development of the rule of law that acknowledged, among other things, the subordination of the executive to law. While great strides have been made across the globe to deepen and solidify the rule of law in 800 years, new challenges have emerged since 2015 to threaten progress made in countries where the rule of law previously seemed stable and uncontroversial.

Our diverse and prominent panel of speakers, including speakers who have served at the highest levels in government, will explore the role of the executive in ensuring domestic rule of law, and how executive overreach can and has result in rule of law failures. Our speakers will also consider how leaders' commitment to the rule of law results in success versus failure.

RuleOfLawPlease join us as we confer the IBA Rule of Law Forum and LexisNexis Lifetime Achievement Award to one of the most important legal figures of our century, Benjamin Ferencz.

At the age of 103, Mr. Ferencz, who is now the last living prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials, remains one of the most influential voices in the field of global justice and the rule of law. In light of the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, many have asked whether the world is living through a second Nuremberg moment.

This session provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to ask one of last living witnesses of that crucial time in history his views about the implications of the current moment for the international legal order, and where we should go from here.

Please note that the awardee will join via zoom.

RuleOfLawThis session is part of the IBA Foundation's Rule of Law Town Hall series

Our distinguished guests will discuss the phenomena of misinformation, disinformation, and their widespread acceptance; the risks that they can pose to democratic societies and the rule of law; and how inaccurate information can most effectively be countered and its destructive potential avoided.

While propaganda is not new, our generation has seen what can happen to the rule of law when misinformation and disinformation are combined with the power of social media. We have seen a grand false narrative in Russia, the hacking and weaponization of information for political purposes, and the widespread dissemination of false information in the United States that has further polarized that country. Not only can disinformation threaten the rule of law, but, as the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has shown us, it can threaten and de-stabilize democratic societies.

This session will discuss how the United States, and other countries, might deal with this new phenomenon. Various approaches have been discussed, among them:

• credible investigations that document facts and expose disinformation;
• prosecutions of those who, based on misinformation, violate the law;
• regulation of dissemination of disinformation on social media;
• a re-examination of traditional free speech standards and protections;
• updated journalistic standards and techniques for reaching the public;
• election of candidates who are problem-solvers rather than ideologues;
• and improved civic education and a better-informed citizenry.

In this town hall style session knowledgeable speakers with relevant first-hand experience from the United States and around the world will explore these topics in a non-partisan debate that encourages audience participation.

Neil Brown, president of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize Committee, host of Politifact’s United Facts of America: a festival of fact-checking; formerly editor and vice-president of the Tampa Bay Times and of the Congressional Quarterly.

Lyrissa Lidsky, Erlich Chair in Constitutional Law, University of Florida Levin College of Law; a co-author of texts on Media Law and the First Amendment, commentator on threats of social media; former dean of the University of Missouri School of Law.

Alan Raul, head of Sidley & Austin’s Cybersecurity practice; vice-chair of White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board; Harvard Law lecturer on “Digital Governance: Privacy and Technology Tradeoffs”; former Associate Counsel to President Ronald Reagan.

Lubna Shuja, president of the Law Society of England and Wales (the first Asian and first Muslim to hold that position); given her current leadership position and cross-cultural background, Ms. Shuja will bring an international perspective to these important issues.

Moderator, Homer Moyer, Senior Counsel, Miller & Chevalier; former chair, IBA Rule of Law Forum; former General Counsel, U.S. Department of Commerce; founder, CEELI Institute, a post-graduate rule of law training center in Prague.

Moderator, Stephen Denyer, Director of Strategic Relationships at The Law Society of England and Wales, Co-Chair of the Rule of Law Forum, member of the IBA Nominations Committee and of the Advisory Board of the IBA Women Lawyers Committee.