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Congress theme

Chiara Caliandro
Chiara Caliandro
Academic Coordinator
Giovanni Angles
Giovanni Angles
Academic Coordinator
Audrey Jarreton
Audrey Jarreton
Academic Coordinator
Lars Raedschelders
Academic Coordinator

The future of the legal profession: reunite and embrace the change

The effect of COVID-19 on everyday life, the economy and our legal industry is unprecedented. As the world around us has changed irrevocably, lawyers cannot ignore our clients’ ever-shifting needs.

The challenges we face today create great opportunities to make a difference and get ahead of the pack in a transforming business. More than ever, we must strategically align technology, systems and processes in the interests of our stakeholders.

The mission of AIJA’s 60th Annual Congress will therefore be no less than to make all young lawyers ready to emerge as tomorrow’s leaders.

Office life — for both lawyers and their clients — has changed almost overnight. Businesses continue to struggle to strike an ideal balance between worker autonomy and collaboration in our post-pandemic reality, while striving to retain talent and foster diversity. Schooling, training or simply managing new talents, collaborators or a team has now shifted to a hybrid form, adapted to needs of each individuals.

Even before COVID-19, our fast-paced business world forced clients to innovate constantly to meet their customers’ (and shareholders’) needs. The pandemic has accelerated the pace of change, where clients must pivot or perish. So lawyers must help their clients navigate these uncharted paths, while preserving the core values of sustainability, diversity, and ethical progress. 

Digitalisation continues to eradicate barriers by providing new tools to increase efficiencies in dealmaking, conflict prevention, and dispute resolution. But these changes also bring new challenges. These include the importance of data management, ’employee privacy rights and cybersecurity.

The Republic of Singapore serves as the perfect venue for exploring this brave new world of possibilities in our profession. The Economist aptly describes Singapore as “the best advertisement for technocracy: the political and expert components of the governing system there seem to have merged completely”.

Thanks to long-term planning that values meritocracy, private enterprise, and economic utility, Singapore has emerged as a future-oriented economic powerhouse with the third highest per capita income in the world.

Indeed, its reputation as Asia’s preeminent arbitration center, banking hub, export-oriented manufacturer, and cultural touchstone invites AIJA members to gather and ponder what the future holds in this post-COVID reality.

 

60th International Young Lawyers’ Congress – Academic Coordinators

Chiara Caliandro, De Berti Jacchia, Italy

Giovanni Angles, Shook Hardy & Bacon, United States of America

Audrey Jarreton, Stibbe, Luxembourg

Lars Raedschelders, Fieldfisher, Belgium