The Conference: Rome 2018 Pre-Conference Preparations and Registration
The IBA, is well known for its efficiency and strict adherence to rules. Unlike most national and regional Bar Associations, preparations for its conferences are always handled by professionals on contract. This is why registration and proceedings at the IBA annual and regional conferences, are always meticulously planned and seamless. This year’s annual conference in Rome, Italy, was adjudged from various jurisdictions, as upping the game.
Security
Once noticeable feature at this year’s conference, was the security arrangements. As one Nigerian conferee opined, ‘there are more security operatives than conferees.’ Around the Roma Convention Centre at La Nuvola, there were scores of security men, uniformed policemen, plain clothes security operatives, and armed guards of every description.
Session on SMEs
SMEs make up 99.9% of all private sector companies across Africa, and indeed, most of the world. They are the engine of the economy, providing the vast majority of jobs, and are key contributors to the GDP of the countries in which they operate.
Private-sector expansion through the scaling up of SMEs, is critical to achieving the job creation and economic growth that Africa needs over the next few decades, but the business climate is incredibly tough, especially for businesses seeking to scale up: operating costs are high due to infrastructure deficiencies, such as a lack of reliable electricity supply, and there is a shortage of skilled management staff. Capital is needed to overcome these challenges and make investments for growth, but SMEs face an acute lack of access to finance, because bank loans are prohibitively expensive, and private investment is often out of reach.
Looking specifically from a legal viewpoint, several African SMEs over the past year, identify three key legal challenges they face, all of which touch on issues of corporate governance:
1. They are undervalued - Too few SMEs are in a position to pass the 'due diligence' test that is required to access capital, due to inadequate legal record-keeping and failure to adopt appropriate legal business structures. These failures reduce the value of the business, as potential investors or lenders will not have the reassurance they need, that their investment in the business will be protected.
2. They are uninformed - SME business owners, often are not aware of basic corporate governance requirements, such as choosing the right legal structure for the business, entering into appropriate agreements with shareholders, directors and key employees. This also extends to other basic legal business protections, such as adequate trading contracts, employment agreements and IP protections. This also reduces the value of the business, and ability to attract investment and achieve growth.
3. They are under-served - Commercial legal services are often perceived by African SME owners as inconvenient to access, poor value for money and slow, with the result that legal assistance is not sought until the 11th hour, if at all.
What is the role of Lawyers, to help overcome these challenges?
There is no doubt that, SMEs need commercial legal services, to help them get 'fit for finance' and prepare themselves for growth. There is a need for Lawyers to educate SME business owners on the importance of these services, which will require a more proactive, rather than reactive approach.
Lawyers should consider creating product and services, which are designed to help businesses diagnose the legal health of their business before any problems occur, show them the gaps that exist, and then provide the products and services they need to plug those gaps.
Finally, Lawyers must find ways to make legal services more easily accessible, transparent, and more affordable for small businesses. Could there be an option of pro bono services for SMEs?
One solution, is for Lawyers to leverage technology to create systems and tools that can provide legal solutions and support across the internet, allowing SMEs to tap into our legal insight and services in a more convenient, transparent and less costly manner”...
IBA Day 4 Was AI Day
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and alternative facts in Family Law SPPI Showcase: The tech revolution – a threat to the core values of civil society and of the legal profession?
The effect of AI on the decline of human importance in creativity and industry as a whole. The future of M & A; how legal tech, AI and big data will change deal-making.
The only African Company Present – Nigeria’s LAWPAVILION
(Thisday Lawyer caught up with Mr. Ope Olugasa – MD Lawpavilion)
As the only African company that made it to this year's IBA conference in Rome, what are your takeaways?
Our major takeaways, are the discussions that centred on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the future of the Legal Industry. This is because, it reinforces our campaign for having an AI driven legal practice in Nigeria and in Africa as a whole. There were a lot of sessions and lots of discussions around AI, suggesting an imminent exponential shift in the way law is practiced, in the nearest future.
What impressed you most at the conference?
This year’s event has been fascinating in every sense, but to answer your question, two of the things I am most impressed about are:
1. The good representations by our Nigerian delegates- the recognition of the Nigerian legal industry and minds by the IBA, and the quality of contributions made by our country men/women.
2. The level of exposure of Lawyers in other jurisdictions to technology, and its adoption. The discussions at the conference, show they are heavily leveraging on technology to sharpen their practice. I look forward, to having us replicate this in Nigeria. There is a big technology gap in Legal Practice in Nigeria, and this needs to be bridged speedily.
3. The timeliness and high-level organisation in every session, including the exhibition and even feeding!
What can Nigerian Lawyers learn from the conference?
There are several things that our Nigerian Lawyers should learn from the conference, but for me, one of the most important lessons is that, the world is changing; the old rules and the traditional means of delivering legal services, are fast eroding. New rules are being set, and the global legal playing field is fast advancing, and competitively so. Nigerian Lawyers will have to learn to catch up fast, and be part of/benefit from this dynamism.
Looking at other companies from other jurisdictions that came to the conference, what would you say gave LawPavilion an edge, in terms of patronage, because many lawyers trooped to your stand?
Being the only African Company that exhibited at the event, I think we enjoyed a lot of goodwill from our esteemed clients, who testified that made them proud to have represented Nigeria, at such a global event. Also, our innovations and focus on AI, which somehow also aligns with the discussions at the conference, made us stand out from other exhibitors. In fact, we were the only Legal Tech company at the event, that was actively demonstrating and talking about AI.
What are your plans for other law conferences like the Commonwealth Lawyers Association Conference?
We just received their invitation during this IBA Conference, and we look forward to partnering with them next year, by God’s grace.
Nigerian Conferee Speakers Femi Falana, SAN on the session with ICC Chief Prosecutor, Dr Fantou Bensouanda
‘I think the special prosecutor has her job cut out for her, and she is equal to the task. I am proud of her, as a former student of the University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University ( OAU) Ile-Ife. She has been able to demonstrate that, the ICC was not set up to embarrass African leaders, or leaders of any region. And, as she pointedly made it clear, that the Court not only intervenes contrary to the general belief of people, where a government is unwilling or unable to prosecute, where the system is sufficiently capable to deal with crimes against humanity or genocidal act, the Court will not intervene. Or where a region has the mechanism for bringing people to justice, the ICC will not intervene. But, what is important, is for African Lawyers to also participate in the court right now, even for cases emanating from Africa, the prosecutors and defence counsel, are from outside the continent. This is not good enough, and I think that it is a challenge for our Lawyers to African Lawyers, to take part in the activities of the court.
People look up to you to open up the ICC, just like you did for the ECOWAS Court, I saw your name as one of the few Lawyers that have been trained to handle cases before the ICC
I am sure that you are aware that, up till two years ago, African leaders wanted to pull out of the court en mass. I belong to a group of African intellectuals and human rights activists and Judges in Africa, who came together to establish the African group on Justice and accountability (ACJA), which has been able to campaign and ensure that the plan did not succeed happily. But what I am trying to do now, is how to encourage Nigerian Lawyers to take up cases in the court. Right now, our presence is missing there, if you consider the fact that four out of every group of five Lawyers in Africa are Nigerians, you can see that in this conference, that eight out of 10 Lawyers are Nigerians. So, we cannot afford to be absent from the ICC, just like we must also go to the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights in Arusha, Tanzania. But, that has not been made possible, because of the failure of Nigeria to make a declaration to allow NGOs and individual victims of human rights violations, to access the court. In that case, I have already gone to court in Nigeria, to compel the Nigerian government to make a declaration, because right now, only a handful of African countries have made the declaration, and this could be embarrassing. West African States like Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, have made the declaration, which is not good enough. Nigeria has to take the leadership in the continent, and that is why we are trying to. I can assure you, I am in touch with our colleagues in The Hague, to see how we can address that.
What mechanism can people put in place to bring the Nigerian situation before the ICC?
You know that she spoke about the investigation going on, with respect to Nigeria. This has to do with the Boko Haram menace, with respect to her, the ICC will not intervene when there are measures in place in any country to deal with crimes against humanity, with effect to the killings. I would rather blame the Nigerian Bar Association ( NBA), and if the special prosecutor were to come to Nigeria, she is going to find out what is the constitutional mechanism in place to deal with killings, and that is why I wrote to the NBA last year, why don’t you challenge the Attorneys –General in the States, for their failure to bring perpetrators of killings to book, because culpable homicide or murder is State offence, so you cannot even expect the Attorney-General of the Federation to go to Plateau, Zamfara, Taraba, Benue or
Adamawa to bring anybody to book. It is the duty of the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. That is what is happening in Lagos State, the alleged notorious kidnapper, is being prosecuted by the Lagos State Government. When Chief Olu Falae was kidnapped in Ondo State, the suspects were arrested, and they were successfully prosecuted by the Ministry of Justice, so it has to be a situation where the government deliberately refuses to prosecute, or bring perpetrators to book; that is when the ICC has to intervene.
And even in the case of Nigeria, apart from Nigerian Courts, you have the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Rules that allows individuals and Lawyers, human right bodies, NGOs, to access any of the courts in Nigeria, to ask for justice.
Additionally, you have the ECOWAS Court. When I leave here, I am going to Accra, Ghana. I have an appointment with the President of Ghana, to discuss a judgement that has not been complied with by Ghana. A Nigerian student was killed in Ghana in 2013, the parents cried to me. I went to the ECOWAS Court, and I got judgement that the parents be paid $250,000 for the illegal killing of the boy. Not that he was killed by the Ghanaian Government, but for the negligence of the Ghanaian Government in carrying out investigation, and in bringing the perpetrators to book, such damages were awarded. The judgement was awarded against the past government, but now that Nana Akufo Addo, a Lawyer and a former Attorney-General in that country, is the President, I have reasoned with him. I am going to see him after this conference, with a view to compelling Ghana to comply with the judgement of the court. So, we have mechanisms in place to bring perpetrators to book, and our Lawyers have to live up to the expectation
Mr Lawal Pedro, SAN ‘The takeaways for me are: 1. How to organise comfortable conference
for Lawyers
2. New trend in enforcement or compliance with tax law at minimal cost to tax administrators, and which command willing compliance by tax payers
3. Development of law in other jurisdictions, for effective and efficient administration of justice
4 That obedience to the Rule of law, is paramount for development of any nation or state.’ Mr. Gbayode Shomuyiwa My take away can be summarised as follows: ‘first of all, the choice of presenters was faultless, as the presentations were well researched and centred on new frontiers of law, in a digital age. The timely challenge highlighted by the IBA President in his welcome address about the increasing assault and erosion of core values of liberal democracy across the world, particularly by populist governments, is worrisome. I will cherish the memory of my visit to the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel, and of course, seeing old friends and meeting new ones. The efforts of the IBA in putting the conference together, is highly commendable. I enjoyed the weather!’
Ken Ahia ‘There is great emphasis on the Rule of Law and ethics. As Lawyers, if we imbibe the Rule of Law and imbibe great professional ethics, the society will be the better for it.’
Ms. Oyeyemi Aderibigbe ‘The conference was excellently executed. You can imagine the logistics that would have gone into planning a
conference on that scale, about 6000 conferees were in attendance. I was very impressed with the organisation and the content.
More importantly, at the working sessions, we were exposed to a broad spectrum of topical legal and commercial issues, and the speakers exhibited the requisite expertise. There were also showcase sessions which addressed very salient novel subjects, and we were spoilt for choice. Additionally, novel areas of practice and onward-looking issues including the regulation of Artificial Intelligence, Cloud 2.0, the Internet of Things, were extensively discussed in the context of the overall theme of the conference, the Rule of Law.
The Nigerian delegation was very strong, and it was also good to see that the perspective from Africa and where relevant, Nigeria, was included in the deliberations. As such, it was of great value to the conferees like myself and other Nigerians, who attended.
The world as we know it, is fast changing, and the gaps among jurisdictions are shrinking. As such, it is good for Lawyers, especially in Africa, to be a step ahead of their current legislative framework, by understanding the issues that arise in other jurisdictions where the legal system is more advanced. The IBA proffers excellent opportunity to develop this capacity, and where possible, learn commercial strategies that can be adapted for the African market, pending the time when laws which address current realities, are enacted.
I recommend membership of the IBA, for any Nigerian Lawyer seeking to broaden the scope of his experience or career. I believe that, active participation, not just at the conference, but by membership and contribution to committee activities, will also be of benefit to us as the IBA, could also be a platform to drive and accelerate the change which we desire.
The social events were also well coordinated, and enabled great networking opportunities, as Lawyers connected across continents. The finesse that comes with the city of Rome, is in itself education.
The next conference is in Seoul, Korea and I expect that it will also be excellent. I know a lot of Lawyers would love to attend, especially young Lawyers, and it does come at a cost, but with early planning, one is able to take advantage of early bird discounts on applicable costs. I must mention that, there were a considerable number of young Nigerian Lawyers, who were sponsored by their firms in attendance, and this was impressive.’
DAY TWO A Conversation with...The Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke CH QC MP (The UK Parliament's longest standing member), Ken-Clarke has been a key player in UK politics for the past 40 years). He is one of the longest serving MPs in England. In Parliament for over four decades, he served the Heath, Thatcher, Major and Cameron administrations. Some key points he mentioned are:
‘That there is historic change in the way Western democracy functions, and the established world order.’ What we see, he says, is ‘the emergence of enough people in influential positions, in key major States, to decide what the new order is to look like’.
‘None of the Brexiteers ever followed Irish politics, or considered the broader issue, and many wish it would just go away. But this is the big, short-term issue that needs to be addressed, before anything else can move forward’.
‘On Brexit, Northern Ireland and the contentious border issue: The idea that you can just break the Good Friday Agreement because it's inconvenient, is just reckless’.
IBAHRI Showcase: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 70 - the responsibility of the Legal Profession presented by the IBA's Human Rights Institute. The Session was chaired by Ambassador (rtd) Hans Corell, Former Legal Counsel of the United Nations, Stockholm, Sweden; Co-Chair, IBA's Human Rights Institute.
Session Highlights Professor Liliana Obregon, spoke on the Latin American contribution to the development and evolution of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights session. An eminent panel discussed the 70-year-old Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The human rights still are not universal.
IBA Bar breakfast hosted by the Consiglio Ordine Avvocati di Roma
LPD Showcase: Initial coin offerings (ICOs) – technology meets finance Presented by the Legal Practice Division, the Financial Services Section, the Technology Law Committee, the Banking Law Committee, the Capital Markets Forum, the Closely Held and Growing Business Enterprises Committee, the Investment Funds Committee and the Securities Law Committee.
DAY THREE The previous day witnessed ‘Conversation with... Dr Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), was eye-opening. She minced no words
addressing the issue of the ICC's jurisdiction, and the Court seeking authority to carry out investigations in Afghanistan. She said: ‘This is a court, not about targeting individuals. It's a court, about bringing justice. The victims are why we're doing what we're doing.’
‘I'm glad you call it a perception, as the ICC is not focused on Africa. There's been a lot of propaganda, trying to cement the perception that the ICC is only focused on Africa. Our investigations show this is not true.’
Also, our own, Mallam Yusuf Ali, SAN was one of the speakers at the session presented by the Negligence and Damages Committee of the IBA.This year, the Committee focused on the important role of the Government to its citizens, after any natural disasters in the country.
The panelists discussed that the government should possibly mitigate, instead of providing for reliefs in the budget. The need to ensure that citizens pay a premium on insurable assets, for natural disasters. However, in Nigeria, Mallam Yusuf Ali, SAN stated that, there is need for the Nigerian legal industry to explore the possibility of class action suits for such cases, by holding the government responsible for deforestation and distribution of natural resources.
He also stated that, it is necessary for government to intervene, by instructing insurance companies in Nigeria to consider natural disasters as part of its premium services to the citizens.
In conclusion, it was established that, it is not enough to compensate the victims materially, but moral damages should also be considered in the budget, for jurisdictions with such natural crisis.
Other Sessions The future of law firms and the legal world IBA Showcase: cybersecurity –the Cybercrime
Subcommittee and the Technology Law Committee BIC Showcase: Can Law Firms survive without Bar Associations? Presented by the Bar Issues Commission and Law Firm Management Committee.
Conversation with Mary Robinson, (former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights) on Advocating for climate justice, was thought provoking! She submitted that “When crisis hits, women are disproportionately affected, and have started to fight back". Saying how thrilled she was, that the Court of Appeal upheld the Urgenda case, and highlighted other cases in the US, Switzerland, Ireland. She said, “these cases can help cut through some of the failure to take the climate change threat seriously enough...... The Earth will recover, but the real problem is that, we have to learn to live with a situation that we have caused, through carbon emissions. The thing that makes it so urgent, is we have a window of time. But that window will not be there after 2030".
Mary Robinson says the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement does matter, and says it has given other world leaders a licence to not try as hard, referencing the frontrunner in the Brazilian election, Jair Bolsonaro, who has also threatened to pull out of the deal.
Robinson says Universities need to be leaders in divesting from fossil fuels, and reinvesting in clean energy. She says it’s unfortunate her alma mater, Harvard, hasn’t divested yet, but Trinity College, Dublin has shown strong commitments in this area.
Corporate Governance for Africa Business: The Role of Lawyers in a Continent of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
Another Nigerian Lawyer, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade, SAN of S.P.A Ajibade & Co., was the Session Chair. It was enlightening; with great contributions from another of our own, Rashida Abdulai, CEO, Strand Sahara.
DAY FIVE – Closing Day of the Conference
It was the largest most prestigious event, that brought together over seven thousand Lawyers from around the globe. The Italian capital was this year’s host city... IBA2018 ended on Friday, October 12.
According to a conferee it was ‘Amazing, Fantastic, Terrific, Thought-provoking, Instructive, Dynamic, Enlightening .... Daring!’
The discussion sessions touched on every sector of human endeavour; key note speakers, moderators, and participants bared it all, on topics ranging from human rights, to finance/corporate governance, food security, international sales/investment, banking, health care and life sciences, maritime and transport law, real estate, academic and professional development, anticorruption, intellectual property and entertainment law, art, cultural institutions, heritage law and so on.
Also, at the forefront of the discussions were critical socio-legal issues of our time- climate change, migration AI and tech.
For us Nigerian Lawyers, one major highpoint was the discussions on Artificial Intelligence (AI), tech and law,
which reinforces our campaign for having an AI driven legal practice in Nigeria, and in Africa, as a whole.
SPPI Showcase: The tech revolution – a threat to the core values of civil society and of the legal profession?
AI DAY Robots, rights and responsible business: Is Artificial Intelligence a force for good or an expedient evil?
AI DAY Lawyers versus machines: How to understand Artificial Intelligence and the future of investigations
Some of Take Outs: Law Firm Management - (The law office of the future). Discovering the key emerging Legal Tech tools, and how they will disrupt the law firm business model. Great advice from Stefano Fratta, In-house Telefonica Digital – “what we need from law firms, is not help in understanding what the law is, but in helping assess company's risk and support their decision-making, as far as deployment of new technologies are concerned".
Discussions in the context of answering the broader question - Are the traditional means of delivery of legal services sufficient, and, if not, how far will we go before the old rules need to be changed?
The traditional sources of law, cannot keep pace with technology reconfiguring the world. Should we cede control, by allowing technology a role in generating law? Lawyers feel a responsibility to maintain the fundamental values of civil society, dignity and justice – now under emerging threats from technology – which left to itself, could create a dehumanised reality. However, the values enshrined in the rule of law, can be pursued in the context of the globalised cyber economy
Complex Real Estate transactions - Artificial Intelligence versus Real Intelligence – the Lawyer’s changing role in due diligence.
How will the digital world change the role of lawyers? What does the future of transacting real estate look like? Can blockchain and distributed ledger technology revolutionise how we approach complex deals?
How will the digital world change the role of lawyers in M&A transactions, especially in legal due diligence?
Know your tech - AI The growth and roles of AI software in the practice of law, are opening Lawyers up to a giddy new world of possibility and uncertainty. In this murky future, there are some things legal professionals can count on. One of this is that, AI will play a role- it will be an integrated part of legal practices in the future.
While outside the legal world, AI technology has convincingly topped human mind in chess and draft, in the legal world, firms have deployed AI tech on due diligence, achieving some notable success in case prediction; it runs the analysis in your case and predicts the outcome. Lawyers must understand, the technology related to their legal practice. ‘The legal community needs to keep abreast of developments, lest it be caught unawares’ - Steven Richman from Clarke Hill.
The efficiencies that AI driven legal tech can bring at the due diligence stage of a deal, can impact the skills Lawyers need to have, and the way their time is spent in practice. These efficiencies will also impact transaction timings and cost for the law firm, and clients, as well as potentially, the types of legal entities that might be able to participate in deals, and the way external counsel and in- house teams work with each other.
As against scanning through several pages of documents and manually record progress, AI can give legal teams instant insight into the whole matter, while prioritising information in an intuitive way. This frees up Lawyers, to focus on more intellectually demanding work
The best preparation, is cool-headed up. Pessimism is dangerous, particularly for the legal profession which is often characterised as seeing less tech-oriented, than other types of consultants.
The example of Excel, invented 30 years ago, is used as an analogy. Every accountancy firm uses Excel, but a client would not think of using Excel as its Accountant. It also argues that, the legal profession should not worry about AI, any more than it did about the advent of the iPhone. Having said that, AI driven legal tech, promises more disruption.
Another Major highpoint, was the wonderful representations by brilliant Nigerians at the conference: From Monday, the session on Gender parity and a diverse workforce: (the positive impact for a business from having recognised and motivated, diverse professionals – traits that lead to success) Co-moderated by Olufunmi Oluyede of TRLPLAW, Lagos, Nigeria; LPD Council Member.
Discussants opined that, corporates have a stronger culture than law firms, as image is very important to them, so, they put more effort in hiring a diverse work force. But “we still aren't there yet in the legal industry as a whole”.
The panel explored the benefits of working with diverse professionals, and having men as gender allies.
They said, recruiting from a varied pool of candidates, means a more qualified work force. Diversity by design, is the only way forward, to ensure female and minority Lawyers get the focus and attention they deserve.
Adeola Oyinlade Closing, Friday, every Nigerian Lawyer, felt even more proud of our Nigerian delegates, as another of our own, Adeola Oyinlade won the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Award 2018!!
He emerged winner, ahead of other finalists from many countries across the world.
At the presentation of the award, at Roma Convention Center La Nuvola, the conference venue, the IBA stated that the prestigious Award, is for outstanding contribution by a Legal Practitioner to Human Rights, in which Mr. Oyinlade came top among Lawyers across the world.
Mr. Oyinlade is the first Nigerian Lawyer, to have won the IBA award for outstanding contribution by a legal practitioner to human rights, and the second from the continent of Africa, after George Bizos from South Africa, who was recommended by many personalities including Nelson Mandela.
Earlier this year, at the U.S Consulate in Lagos, the U.S Consul General John Bray commended and “acknowledged Mr. Adeola Oyinlade, and the work he has
done to strengthen respect and support for the protection of human rights in Nigeria’.
While asserting that the US Government has turned to Mr. Oyinlade for his insights on the status of human rights in Nigeria, the Consul-General sees his work in Nigeria as very key, as according to him, Nigeria is ‘one of the most important countries on the continent, given its large population, thriving commercial enterprises, and strategic geopolitical location. Nigeria is critical to Africa’s prosperity and stability’.
At the continental level, through advocacy, the Nigerian human rights and international law expert, has also proffered solutions to human rights issues in Africa, including the South Sudan Political Crisis, the Central African Republic Crisis, the Congo Democratic Republic Armed conflict, and the Libyan Peace Talks, among others, with relative impact.
Mr. Oyinlade while giving his remarks, called on Lawyers to take the leading role in expanding the frontiers of human rights. He said “The world is looking up to us (Lawyers), to consistently use our legal expertise as a tool of social engineering and problem-solving. I believe and hope that we shall continue to apply our knowledge of law as a glue that holds the society together”
As this year's conference ended, feelers were that there is an urgent need for the legal industry to adopt relevant innovations for continued relevance and efficiency.