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Co-Chair
Sebastian Ramos
Academic and Professional Development Committee
The Academic and Professional Development Committee was founded as a networking entity to facilitate dialogue and exchange of information on research, contacts, sabbatical posts and fellowships.
About the Committee
The Academic and Professional Development Committee acts as a link between law schools, professional development professionals, practising lawyers and the IBA.
Our mission is to contribute to the following objectives:
- improving the quality of lawyers around the world;
- making the practice of law fit for the modern world; and
- making the legal profession an attractive one for the world's most talented students.
Our members speak regularly at law schools, both to academics and students, with a particular emphasis on the preparation of students for international legal practice. We also support IBA programmes to develop local Bars around the world.
At the IBA annual conferences, we bring together academics, professional development experts and practising lawyers from across the IBA community and more widely to address issues affecting the education and training of lawyers in both legal and business skills. We are also involved in original research into related topics.
The committee publishes a regular newsletter to members and posts articles and information on its website.
Forthcoming conferences and webinars View All Conferences
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
30 Oct - 04 Nov 2022
Miami Beach, USA
IBA Annual Conference Paris 2023
29 Oct - 03 Nov 2023
Paris, France
Publications
IBA webinar report: Post-Covid professional development in law firms
A report on a recent webinar jointly presented by the IBA Academic and Professional Development Committee and several others, which took place on 30 September, titled ‘Post-Covid professional development in law firms’.
Released on Dec 13, 2021
Smart contracts – a closer look at the legal framework in England and Wales
The Law Commission in England and Wales is undertaking a scoping study on smart legal contracts, the application of English law to the same and the novel challenges which arise in this context.
Released on Dec 13, 2021
Globalisation and technology - the main drivers in legal education
This article looks at the recently published report titled ‘Blueprint for Global Legal Education’, which was first presented during a showcase session during the November 2020 IBA Virtually Together Conference.
Released on Jun 01, 2021
From the APDC Co-Chairs, August 2020
Co-Chairs note- August 2020
'I know that I know nothing': lessons to lawyers
A summary of the panel session at the IBA Annual Conference 2019 in Seoul, chaired by Bruno Maggi from the Young Lawyers’ committee, and Sebastian Ramos from the Academic and Professional Development Committee. The session was split into three parts: Challenging the cultural barriers and traditional approaches; What are law firms and law schools doing? and How to balance the specific knowledge with the broad perspective needed to solve the current complex legal cases.
Projects and reports
Developing a Blueprint for Global Legal Education
The IBA and Law Schools Global League (LSGL) have launched an ambitious project that aims to identify the key drivers that shape global legal education, the consequent emerging responses and whether these responses can sufficiently address the challenges confronting legal professionals all over the world. Some of the drivers examined include: globalisation, technology, and changes to regulatory frameworks. IE Law School has been designated as the coordinator of the research project.
Supporting IBA initiatives on ethics and professionalism
This committee project will promote web-based networks providing resources relating to:
- teaching legal ethics and promoting professionalism in legal education;
- practical legal training;
- continuing professional development, increasing the awareness of and implementation of IBA initiatives and comparable resources worldwide;
- the IBA anti-corruption and anti-money laundering initiatives as well as comparable initiatives worldwide; and
- the IBA initiatives on principles of conduct for the legal profession, linking them with professional conduct codes in jurisdictions around the world.
Subcommittees and other groups
The Academic and Professional Development Committee also coordinates the activities of the following subcommittees/working groups.
- Academic and Professional Development Committee Advisory Board