A breakfast meeting of the Arbitration Committee will take place to discuss matters of interest and future activities, as well as to provide updates on the activities of the Committee. 

A breakfast meeting of the Family Law Committee to discuss matters of interest and future activities.

BreakfastsWe have been living through a global pandemic and a global economic recession. Where are we now? What have we learned? Where do we think we are headed?

The session will address this hot topic from several perspectives, including: the migration from the traditional to the digital media, challenges from an antitrust perspective, and many others related to the exploitation of sports rights. Also, it will address how sports events´ owners and producers are dealing with “active” fans who want to choose what, when and how to watch and how much the new players - Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google, Tik Tok, Kwai and other digital media – are willing to pay for sports content and how will their payback be.

In this session we will review common areas of focus for people leaving the US, whether they are citizens, green card holders or mere tax residents. We will cover the impact of emigration on their personal assets as well as the effect on their various entities: from LLCs and grantor trusts, to corporations and settlements.  As a counterbalance to the US angle, we will have panelists from key jurisdictions discussing how local laws and tax rules will affect the incoming US person. 

This session will analyse best practices and difference approaches to dealing with a different cultural environment (from Asian to Latin American cultural differences and beyond) when engaging in international commerce.

What role does pro bono play in African countries in providing free legal services to the poor and underserved? Are law firms the dominant providers of pro bono legal services, or are they trailing behind the services provided by state-sponsored and non-governmental mechanisms; and if so, what are the reasons? For the first time in the history of the IBA, the Pro Bono Committee has undertaken a survey of the state of pro bono on the African continent, with a particular emphasis on the African IBA membership. This session will engage the results of the survey, and will be an opportunity to discuss whether there is a role for the IBA to assist with challenges and barriers identified in the survey results.

The way legal services are provided continues to be reshaped by the evolution and innovation in the digital and technological spheres. Lawyers are undergoing a so-called digital transformation and are faced with myriad options when it comes to choosing or developing appropriate technological tools not only for providing legal services to their clients but also for managing their own firms.  
Time and experience continue to show that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to law firms when making their technological choices as they undergo this digital transformation. This session will explore the experience of small/medium sized law firms in this regard to give insight into the challenges and opportunities this process entails.

Sometime the relationship between an in-house legal team and a law firm is a story of long lasting success and sometime it is not. The session will address what can make a relationship win-win and what instead put it at risk. Expertise and costs are not the only two variables. Soft skills and reciprocal understanding are also important. With an eye to the future: how will you be using external lawyers in five years' time?

In the current global deal environment, nationalism and protectionism are flourishing and the parties must anticipate interference from national or supranational authorities, often with political agendas. This panel of leading global deal lawyers will focus on strategies to deal with the uncertainties imposed including unpredictable outcomes, delayed timing and generally increased risks. A particular emphasis on what we have learned the hard way - case studies of recent tricky transactions – will be employed.

Navigating Headwinds -  the airline industry faces numerous cyclical pressures to its business model. These pressures were exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, and may be exacerbated further by geo-political unrest and the consequential impacts on airlines, lessors, international routes and fuel prices. The panel will discuss how certain airlines have transformed and restructured their businesses in various jurisdictions (both in and out of court), as well the tools available for future restructurings.

This is an opportunity for Member Organisation Representatives to be updated on the status of ongoing projects in which the IBA is involved, and specifically those that touch on sensitive areas for bar associations.
It will also allow them to find out what work is being planned, and propose subject matter and programmes for future activities within our very dynamic BIC.