This week, the IBA annual conference takes place. Paris is the destination this year, and before they left for the French capital, Byfield attendees Gus, Michael and Meg shared a few of their thoughts ahead of one of the world’s biggest legal conferences.
Michael, a veteran of the conference, is excited to get into the swing of an event he knows well from his time working at law firms like Baker McKenzie:
- “I attended the IBA several times early in my career when I was a journalist. I worked on IBA Daily News when the event was in cities including San Francisco and Auckland. After a 15-year break it was great to go back last year to the IBA in Miami and see how it had changed so much and so little at the same time.”
Meg, attending for the first time in her career (in her home city of Paris), had this to say about what she was most looking forward to:
- “The IBA is taking place in my native city, and I get to attend for the first time this year – this is extra special for me! I look forward to meeting lawyers and BD people from all over the world, meeting our clients with offices in Paris and our Mirovia partners. And also: the Law Rocks event!”
Gus is particularly excited to make the most of the great networking opportunities the conference provides:
- “I’m excited to make the most of the fantastic range of conference debates, particularly those in relation to international dispute resolution.”
Gus, Michael and Meg will be all over this week’s conference, attending events, making new connections, and generally taking part in everything it has to offer:
- Meg will be writing for the IBA’s Daily News throughout the event, looking in particular at female leadership in the legal sector:
- “I’m excited to hear from Farmida Bi at Norton Rose Fulbright, Aedamar Comiskey at Linklaters, and Marie-Aimee de Dampierre at Hogan Lovells among others on their experiences.”
- Michael will be getting stuck into the week’s activities:
- “It remains the biggest and best forum for firms large and small to build and nurture trusted referral relationships for cross-border work. Some of the sessions I’m looking forward to cover issues including cybercrime, AI in dispute resolution, the discussion with Ukraine’s prosecutor general, distressed M&A trends, class actions developments and the role of the legal profession in protecting democracy at times of crisis
- Gus is especially excited about catching up with our colleagues at Mirovia:
- I can’t wait to properly catch with our Mirovia partners, and discuss key developments across our key legal marketplaces – and enjoying our Cocktail party together with clients and colleagues in a fabulous venue on the Monday night!”
Above all, the team is excited to spend time in Paris, a city to which they all have a real connection. For Meg, Paris is her home city, and now that she lives in the UK, she jumps at any chance to get back to the French capital. For Michael, Paris was also home once when he was studying for his post-graduate degree. If you can believe it, Michael’s studio apartment in Montmartre cost him less than £100 a week…! And Gus is just excited to be in Paris to soak up the atmosphere of the Rugby World Cup Final, which took place at the Stade de France on Sunday night.
Make sure to keep your eyes glued to the Byfield social channels this week to see everything the team are getting up to in Paris!
