If there’s one thing that might drag lawyers away from their rooftop party-induced hangover, it’s the presence of a world-famous celebrity.

Word spread on Tuesday morning that organisers of the International Bar Association conference in Miami had secured Harry Potter star Emma Watson to speak at one of its fringe events on gender equality.

The speculation was confirmed in the IBA daily news update, which confirmed that Watson, a UN women goodwill ambassador, would appear at the session. Slightly underwhelmingly, her presence was confirmed in the final sentence of a preview of the event, with Watson given a billing below the lawyers joining her on the panel.

Once it came to the session itself, there was no doubt that Watson was the big draw, with starstruck lawyers packed into a small conference room and even the standing areas at the back.

The event host introduced Watson before moving on to present CMS lawyer and IBA diversity and inclusion council co-chair Christopher Watson – who just happened to be Emma’s dad. ‘I can assure everyone that he’s not been picked for this just because of who his daughter is,’ joked the chair.

Watson spoke eloquently about the battles within her own profession to ensure equal treatment and representation and described the feeling of dread and apprehension about being in the minority in a room.

Most lawyers used their opportunity to ask a question to go into long soliloquies about how much they admired Watson, although all resisted the temptation to reference her role as Hermione Granger.

The chair noted she had never seen such a crowd for an IBA fringe event on gender equality before and admitted that the star turn was the major reason for it. As some delegates left, Watson did not have a choice – instead she was besieged by a queue of fanboy and girl lawyers asking for a selfie.

Those who did make for the exit were handed flyers for a later event, with the organiser suggesting in jest there was an outside chance Watson might be there as well. Faced with a losing battle, he admitted to Obiter: ‘I’ve got CEOs lined up as speakers from major global firms, but I’ll get about six people turning up. I really should have got an actress.’

Topics