News focus: A daunting to-do list for the IBA president

Every president of the world’s largest voluntary association of lawyers comes into their two-year term hoping to promote pet agenda items. But Almudena Arpón de Mendívil has a longer list than most. The partner at Madrid firm Gómez-Acebo & Pombo took over the reins of the International Bar Association (IBA) in January – becoming the second woman president in the organisation’s 76-year history – at a time when the legal profession considers itself under attack from the authorities in democracies as well as its traditional enemies.

Meanwhile, the profession, or at least its current way of working, faces what some see as an existential threat from breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI).

Not surprisingly, both topics are high on the IBA’s list of issues facing the legal profession in the next five years. Arpón de Mendívil took the Gazette through them before next week’s IBA Annual Conference in Paris.

The list is headed by AI: ‘This is top of the agenda for leading firms all over the world’, she said. In Paris, the IBA will launch a three-part initiative on AI. Leg one concerns the global rush to regulate the fast-moving technology, in which the US, EU and China are diverging. The IBA has a role in bringing regulators together, Arpón de Mendívil said. Her model is the IBA’s work on bringing together legislators working on antitrust rules. ‘We hope to be doing something similar in the context of AI,’ she said. ‘We would love to make everyone converge, but we know we cannot.’

The second leg of the work will look at the impact of AI on law firms. The third will cover ethical implications and the relationship with clients, such as questions over client confidentiality.

'It’s impossible to know [which countries see ESG as a priority] … We’ll have a delegation of Chinese lawyers in Paris to give insight. That is one of the great advantages of the conference'

Almudena Arpón de Mendívil, president, International Bar Association

Another priority is ESG, which Arpón de Mendívil, insists is driven by demand from clients: ‘They want their whole environment to be ESG-compliant. Clients need advice [as] regulators are issuing regulations, obligations to comply.’

In Europe and North America, certainly, but is ESG such a pressing priority elsewhere in the world? Arpón de Mendívil concedes that in China, for example, ‘it’s impossible to know’. But again the IBA, which has members in 170 jurisdictions, can provide a window. ‘We’ll have a delegation of Chinese lawyers in Paris to give insight. That is one of the great advantages of the conference.’

Another priority, and one close to Arpón de Mendívil’s heart, is the struggle for gender equality at the top of the profession. She is painfully aware that 20 years elapsed between the appointment of the IBA’s first woman president and her own.

She dismissed the idea that time will solve the problem. ‘What happens is the rate of attrition before you get to a leading position.’ The IBA’s long-term study of equality suggests flexibility as the best investment for retaining female talent. ‘It is very important in any case for the younger generation,’ she said. ‘The new generation is looking for a profession that gives purpose to their lives.’

Meanwhile, there is the vexed debate about client and matter acceptance. What can be done? This will be on the agenda in Paris, but Arpón de Mendívil said it is early days. ‘We are asking, when does the public interest override the right of any person to get representation?’

Easy to argue in criminal cases, but what about acting in the interests of corporate clients? ‘It is not as evident as in penal defence, but in the corporate world there is a need of advice. Corporations have rights and obligations,’ said Arpón de Mendívil.

One positive move, Arpón de Mendívil said, would be for lawyers to take a more active role in defending and promoting the rule of law – while, crucially, de-politicising the debate. ‘We must find a way to say “This is not correct from a legal perspective”,’ she said, citing controversies in the UK over human rights and attacks on lawyers.

The IBA’s Impact Project, its first systematic study to measure the contribution of lawyers to society, may help the profession fight back. Interim results should be released in Paris, she said.

How is she coping personally as president? It is demanding, she said. ‘When I go into my firm, I say “I have come here to relax! Give me a contract to look at”.’ And what would she like her presidency to be judged on? ‘I would like people to recognise that I have introduced a different way of doing things, with more transparency, dialogue with different parts of the profession and always trying to build consensus.’

The IBA Annual Conference runs from 29 October until 3 November

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