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Issue #42 November 2017

 

 

 

Issue #42 November 2017

The IPBA Secretariat
Roppongi Hills North Tower 7F
6-2-31 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032
Tel +81 3-5786-6796 FAX +82-3-5786-6778
E-mail: ipba@ipba.org

Topics: IPBA Membership News • IPBA Committee News • IPBA Leadership Activities 
28th IPBA Annual Meeting and Conference in Manila 2018  
IPBA Local and Regional Events Report

We apologize for the delay in sending out the November issue.
There were so many IPBA activities in November, and we wanted to report to you as much as possible!

Dear [[first_name]] [[last_name]] Esq.,

The Cheese Grater. The Gerkin. The Walkie-Talkie.

Items you can find at a department store? New dance moves? Your kid's new favorite band?
 
You might recognize them as nicknames for famous buildings in London---which is where the IPBA Mid-Year Council Meeting and Regional Conference were held, November 10-13. The vast majority of IPBA's 74 Council members attended the meetings and social events from Friday through Sunday, and many stayed to support the Regional Conference held the following Monday. Each of the Officers gave a report on activities since Auckland on their area of responsibility: IPBA President activities; the upcoming Annual Meeting and Conferences in Manila and Singapore; IPBA's finances; membership; publications; programs; the IPBA web site. Photos and a synopsis will be published in the upcoming IPBA Journal, December 2017 issue.
 
Outside of the regular meetings, IPBA Officers and Council members met with the leaders of other associations. In recent years, the IPBA is increasingly approached by international and local legal associations to establish official terms of collaboration. The IPBA is very selective with the signing of all agreements, first making sure that any entity with which we collaborate has a philosophy and goals similar to our own.
  • IPBA President Denis McNamara signed an agreement with the College of Law of Australia and New Zealand (COL), whereby COL will co-brand with the IPBA an online LLM applied law program. COL will also pay for IPBA membership for students in the program. (Top photo at right: IPBA leaders and the CEO of COL, Neville Carter.)
     
  • Denis also signed the third extension to our MOU with AIJA, continuing our strong relationship since the first MOU was signed in 2010. (Bottom photo at right: AIJA President Wiebe de Vries with IPBA President Denis McNamara.)
     
  • Several IPBA Officers met with leaders of the General Council of the Bar for England and Wales, and the Law Society of England and Wales, to discuss possible collaboration.

 
 

 Special thanks go to Jonathan Warne, JCM for the UK, his trusty right-hand man Byron Phillips, along with the rest of the team at his firm of CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, London. They graciously hosted the dozens of Council members who took over their offices for four days, and Jonathan put together a very successful Regional Conference that drew 150 delegates. Jonathan even managed to arrange for relatively fine weather, with just a little rain to remind us that we were in London. We will post photos to the IPBA web site soon!

IPBA Membership News

  • Thank you to those members who have already paid dues for 2018! The Secretariat will soon send out e-mail reminders to those who have not yet paid. Remember: your IPBA membership dues for 2018 must be paid in order to take advantage of the cheaper registration rate for members at the Annual Conference in Manila.
  • The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on March 16, 2018, 16:00-17:30 at the Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila, Philippines. As per our constitutional process of leadership nominations, a list of names of the nominees for Council positions that were approved by the Council in London will be sent to all members in mid-December.
  • The "Young Lawyers" Committee that was proposed by Membership Committee Chair Anne Durez has been approved by the Council, under the new name of the "Next Generation Committee"! Read more about it in the IPBA Committee News below.

IPBA Committee News

As of this month we have a new committee! Please welcome the Ad Hoc Next Generation Committee! The IPBA Council approved its establishment at the London Mid-Year Council Meeting. Originally named the "Young Lawyers Committee", the Council members had a hearty discussion about what is considered "young". Ultimately, it was agreed that members who are 40 years of age and under may join the committee, representing the next generation of lawyers. The Committee has already been added to the list of choices in the membership renewal form, and the new member registration form. At the start, it will be chaired by Anne Durez, Membership Committee Chair, with several keen IPBA members already lined up to support her. The main purpose of the new committee is to promote exchange among members through various means including social media; examine issues and organize events dedicated to this demographic; identify opportunities for these members to write articles for the Journal and speak at conferences; and provide opportunities for young lawyers to meet others from various business legal organizations.

At the London meeting, committee leaders began the process of finalizing panel ideas for the Manila conference, under the guidance of IPBA Program Coordinator Jose Cochingyan. Please be sure to contact your committee leaders to discuss the panels they proposed and ways you can get involved.

This month we also have a follow-on update from the United States on the increasing trend of Customs authorities there scrutinizing conditions in Asian supply chains as a requirement to import:

International Trade – Jesse Goldman (Canada), Corey Norton (United States) – Co-Chairs

From Ngosong Fonkem – United States

U.S. Customs issued a communique informing the public of its intention to block imports from China where North Korean labor is used in the supply chain as any product made by a North Korea national wherever located is deemed as forced labor.  Authority to block forced labor imports was enhanced under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, which repealed the “consumptive demand” clause in Section 07 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1307).  The clause had allowed importation of certain forced labor-produced goods if goods were not produced “in such quantities in the United States as to meet the consumptive demands of the United States.” The repeal of the consumptive demand exception enhances CBP’s ability to prevent products made with forced labor from being imported into the United States.  Another law passed this summer specifically deems all North Korean labor to be forced labor.

IPBA Leadership Activities

 

IPBA President-Elect Perry Pe has begun traveling to promote the Annual Meeting and Conference in Manila. One of his first stops was Japan, where he visited Osaka on November 29th and Tokyo on the 30th. More than 30 members and non-members joined on each evening to hear a presentation by Perry on M&A and infrastructure projects, and enjoy dinner and refreshments in an informal setting.

IPBA Past President Shiro Kuniya and Past Secretary-General Miyuki Ishiguro joined Perry at the get-together after his presentation in Tokyo. IPBA's first President, Kunio Hamada, was also present. Shiro managed to attend both events, zipping from Osaka to Tokyo as he does several times each month.

Perry will make stops in Seoul, Beijing, and Shanghai in the coming weeks.

 

Other activities: Membership Committee Chair Anne Durez represented the IPBA at the Opening of the Legal Year in Paris. The IPBA President has already received invitations to attend events of other associations in 2018; it's sure to be a busy year for both President Denis McNamara and President-Elect Perry Pe, who becomes President from immediately following the AGM in Manila.

28th IPBA Annual Meeting and Conference in 
Manila, Philippines
March 14-16, 2018

Fostering Seamless Cooperation in ASEAN and Beyond

Only 102 days until the Conference!

  • You can still catch the current Early Bird registration fee until January 31, 2018.
  • The programs for the conference are taking shape! Many of the IPBA's 23 established committees have submitted solid plans to the Program Coordinator, Jose Cochingyan. Even the newly formed "Next Generation Committee" is planning a session.
  • Hotel choices include Shangri-La at The Fort; Grand Hyatt Manila; Ascott Bonifacio Global City Manila; Seda; and F1 Hotel Manila. You must be registered for the Conference in order to get the preferred rates for delegates!

The IPBA Secretariat will be closed for the holidays from Thursday, December 28th through Wednesday, January 3rd. We will be back on Thursday, January 4th. We wish everyone a happy holiday season!

IPBA Local and Regional Events 2017

Several events were held in the past few months. More details will be published in the upcoming December 2017 issue of the IPBA Journal.

Geneva, Switzerland (September 13, 2017)
Asian-European M&A and Dispute Resolution Day - Corporate Acquisitions and Resulting Disputes

This event was held in conjunction with the Swiss Arbitration Association, with support from SchellenbergWittmer, Walder Wyss, and MME Legal, and attracted 50 speakers and delegates.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (November 4, 2017)
Promoting Investment among APEC Economies

The first ever regional conference in Vietnam took place to coincide with the APEC meetings there. This event was supported by the Vietnam Business Lawyer Club of the Vietnam Bar Federation, and the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre.

London, UK (November 13, 2017)
Forces of Change: Modernisation and a Shifting International Landscape (English and Asian Perspectives on How Legal Systems Adapt)

The Regional Conference was attended by around 150 delegates, one of the largest IPBA events ever! Topics went from modern technology and its impact on how lawyers do business as well as how it impacts what kind of business they do; to the opportunities presented by China's Belt and Road Initiative.

In addition, the 3rd East Asia Regional Forum was held in Seoul on November 17th, and the third Asia-PAC Arbitration Day was held in Kuala Lumpur on September 25th.

Check the December 2017 issue of the IPBA Journal for more details!
Photos and more informationwill be uploaded to the IPBA web site soon, too!

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