PROFILE: FERNANDO POMBO 6

SESSION PREVIEW:THE ICC 11

LOCAL ATTRACTION: FOOTBALL 5

D uring an emotional cere-mony on Wednesdayafternoon, Femi Falana

was presented with the BernardSimons Memorial Award for theAdvancement of Human Rights.

Congratulating Falana, IBApresident Fernando Pombo said theaward was “an acknowledgementof Falana’s commitment to promot-ing human rights and democracyacross Nigeria and West Africa”.

Falana, who was imprisoned byNigeria’s military dictatorship in thenineties, has campaigned for therights of oppressed people through-out his career, and represented morecases in front of the Nigerian humanrights commission than anyone else.

“I took a risk getting involvedin human rights in my country,”said Falana. “It was a suicidal mis-sion as many people got killed ordetained. The military dictatorship tried toharrass and intimidate me into silence butthat made me more determined to continuemy human rights work.”

Professional respect for Falana from dele-gates was clear. A packed auditorium inter-rupted Pombo’s and Falana’s speeches withraptuous applause, while a media scrumdescended to capture the moment on film.

Panellists at the following showcase sessionon Rendition, Disappearances and IndefiniteDetention: Debates Around Torture were alsokeen to pay tribute to Falana. As ZacharyKatznelson of Reprieve said: “I’m remindedby Falana how easy we have it in the US, Ihave never been dragged in for interrogation.”

Rendition, as Katznelson described it is“when masked men come and grab you offthe street, strip your clothes off, force a sup-pository inside you, diaper you, and put youinto a suit. They shackle, cuff and blindfoldyou, add industrial strength earmuffs and ahood so that it’s nearly impossible tobreathe. And they throw you onto a corpo-rate jet, that may have been whiskingaround rock stars the previous week.”

Rendition effectively removes peoplefrom the sight of the law. There is no screen-ing mechanism to ensure a guilty person is

detained as the courts are removed, and nooversight of what happens to the person thathas been taken.

Necessity is often used by governments asa justification for rendition and certain inter-rogation methods. Yuval Ginbar of AmnestyInternational, however, argued that Article 27of Geneva Convention IV provides for all tobe treated humanely, not only under conven-ient circumstances. When countries acceptthat torture is justifiable under certain circum-stances, this encourages its use as the norm.

In Israel, for example, despite dozens ofcases of torture catalogued by the state everyyear, all have been accepted as so-calledticking-bomb cases and therefore, underIsraeli law, justified by necessity.

Torture, as discussed by the speakers,encompasses a wide range of treatment fromsleep deprivation and sensory overload tostress positions, sexual humiliation, rape,electric shocks and water boarding.

The latter involves “being tied to a boardwith your feet higher than you head,” saidKatznelson. “A cloth is placed over yourhead and water is poured down over yourface. Because of the cloth and your feetposition, you cannot clear your mouth andnose of water so the water gradually fills up

your lungs. They call this simulated drown-ing. It’s not simulated, it is drowning, andyou think you are going to die.”

But governments are not sidelining lawsand disregarding them to justify such meth-ods, they are instead reinterpreting them.

“The universal norm against torture hasbeen eroded,” said Leonard Rubenstein of thePhysicians for Human Rights. “In a paradoxi-cal way, this has not been a result of ignoringlaws but of using them to facilitate torture.”

The US government, for example, has saidthat an action is not torture unless it inducesserious physical injury, such as organ failure oreven death, or uses drugs to bring on demen-

tia or push detainees to the brink ofsuicide. Even then, such a result hasto be intentional to qualify as torture.

This reinterpretation of laws onhuman rights led other speakers toquestion the ability of the law toinstigate reform: “What we seetoday has subverted the idea of thepower of law to produce change insociety,” said Clara Sandoval, a lec-turer at the University of Essex.“We should question whether wecan continue to believe that lawcan effect reform in our countries.”

Sandoval drew attention toattempts by the victims of renditionand their next of kin to gain repa-ration after their names had beencleared. In the US, the courts ruledthat they could not judge the casesas the judiciary had no access toevidence. Retention atGuantanemo Bay was an interna-

tional security and political matter.One of the most pertinent points was

made by Katznelson, the session’s firstspeaker. Using the example of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, who provided informationafter water boarding, Katznelson argued thattorture does not provide useful intelligence.

“It is virtually guaranteed that if you sub-ject someone to near death they are going tosay whatever they think you want to hear. Al-Libi told interrogators that Al Qaeda and Iraqwere together, and that Al Qaeda was seekinga weapon of mass destruction from Iraq. Thisintelligence was one of the primary reasons wewent to war in Iraq and it was wrong.”

IFLRinternational financial law review

B u e n o s A i r e s C o n f e r e n c e 2 0 0 8 T h u r s d a y , O c t o b e r 1 6

S p o n s o r e d b yP u b l i s h e d b y

New anti-money laundering guidance issuedNew international guidance, intended to help legal professionals identify and mitigate money launderingrisks, are scheduled to be agreed on Friday in Rio de Janeiro, at an international summit of the FinancialAction Task Force (FATF), the inter-governmental body charged with combating money-laundering andterrorist financing. The guidance was developed through an active dialogue with the International BarAssociation (IBA)’s Anti-Money Laundering Legislation Implementation Group, chaired by Stephen Revellof Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, in consultation with other lawyers, including members of the AmericanBar Association and the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe.

The new FATF guidance takes a risk-based approach to assessing the likelihood of money launderingtaking place in any case or with any client, and sets out recommended approaches to the implementationof effective monitoring processes and training programmes, which every law firm should now assess. Theguidance will appear on the IBA website shortly.

A suicidal mission rewarded

EDITORIALEditor: Simon CromptonE-mail: scrompton@iflr.comReporters: Rachel Evans, Elizabeth Fournier, Nicholas Pettifer, Kyle Siskey

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IBA Daily News is produced by International Financial Law Review, andpublished by Euromoney Institutional Investor Publications PLC,London. The copyright of all editorial matter appearing in this news-paper is reserved by the publisher. No matter contained herein may bereproduced, duplicated or copied by any means without the priorconsent of the holder of the copyright, requests for which should beaddressed to the publisher. No legal responsibility can be accepted byEuromoney Institutional Investor, IFLR or individual authors for thearticles which appear in this publication. Articles that appear in IBA

Daily News are not intended as legal advice and should not not berelied upon as a substitute for legal or other professional advice.

Directors: PM Fallon, chairman and editor-in-chief; The ViscountRothermere, joint president; Sir Patrick Sergeant, joint president; PR Ensor, managing director; D Alfano; JC Botts; SM Brady; CR Brown; MJ Carroll; DC Cohen; CHC Fordham; J Gonzalez; CR Jones; RT Lamont; G Mueller; NF Osborn; CJFS Sinclair; JP Williams

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www.legalmediagroup.comIBA Daily News - Thursday, October 16 20082

Y esterday’s session comparing tradition-al and modern ways of practising the

law featured an impressive array of speakersand geographies. Eight lawyers fromGermany, India, Australia, Brazil, Nigeria,Austria, the UK and the US were mar-shalled by Mexico’s Alejandro Ogarrio ofOgarrio Daguerre. So you would havethought that it would be a struggle to fit allof their opinions into the 90 minutes allo-cated to this session.

Not a bit of it. The roundtable formatthat Ogarrio had set up and controlled meantthat each question received concise answersfrom the full range of firms. And five min-utes of talking is enough for anyone, asHoracio Bernardes Neto, council member ofthe Public and Professional Interest Division,explained: “Yesterday in a session someoneasked how on earth they could fit all theirlearning, experience and ideas on a particulartopic into the five minutes allocated to him.The response was, ‘speak slowly’.”

If you’re to try and discuss the advantagesof modern and traditional ways of practisinglaw, it helps to start by defining traditional andmodern. This was Ogarrio’s starting question,and Neto said it is a matter of specialisation.

“My father was a traditional lawyer. Inever had a chance to practise with him, butwe had different views on the profession andits practise. He was a traditional lawyerbecause he wanted to provide advice to hisclients on the widest range of possible areas,

from real estate disputes, to divorces,to corporate and commerial questions.

“The modern lawyer wants tospecialise, and realises its advantages.He wants to get together with otherlawyers to combine their speciali-ties.” Neto added that if you wantedto be full-service modern firm today,the number of specialities requiredmeans that you have to be big.

Michael Kutschera of BingerGrösswang in Austria had a differenttake: “Size is a factor, but the mostimportant aspect of a modern firm isthat it has a clear perception of whereit wants to go. It knows the clients itwants to target, and is working onhow to serve them. Some of thoseclients will want generalist lawyers,some will want specialists.”

Many on the panel agreed that sizewas not important, and the originalquestion of what defines a modernfirm spread into one about control. OluseunAbimbola of Prime Solicitors in Nigeria saidthat it is possible to be big and traditional.The difference between a large traditionaland a large modern firm is the management.A modern firm will have more overarchingexecutive control, marketing and other func-tions. “And small can be beautiful,” he said,“as long as it doesn’t get smaller.”

John Corcoran of Russell Kennedy inAustralia made the incisive point that many

international firms spawn boutique spin-offs,when a particular lawyer leaves to set up hisown specialised practice. “They will stillpractise a very modern version of the law, asthey did in their old firm,” he said. “It justhappens that the big, commerial law firmsare modern. Though many of those firmsare emphasising the traditional values of theprofession, through involvement with barassociations and pro bono work.”

Neto agreed: “It’s very modern to be

traditional these days. Clients look for per-sonal service whether they are using a bigfirm or a small firm. The more personal itgets, the better he feels.”

The personal touch is key. Ravi Nath ofRajinder Narain & Co in India said that as afirm gets larger, the client will remain happyonly if he still has the same personal servicehe had before.

And Stephen Denyer of Allen & Overy,representing the biggest firm at the table,agreed. “When I joined the firm I thoughtit was pretty big at 200 lawyers. Now wehave almost 3000 and hire 250 new lawyersevery year. So people assume we must havespent the past 10 years trying to grow andgain power. The opposite is true; we spentall that time trying to control our growth sothat it never got out of hand and clientservice never suffered.”

Panellists also agreed that there will alwaysbe a place for smaller firms. Sergio Galvis ofSullivan & Cromwell emphasised how closelyhis firm likes to work with local firms, whileKutschera pointed out that smaller businessesand clients need smaller firms, as “fees tend tobe higher once you turn on the machine ofan international law firm.” Abimbola includedsmall business advice in a list of areas that willalways suit smaller firms, including family law,divorce law and private client work.

“And there is a level of personal servicethat international firms just can’t provide,” hesaid. “Big firms throw parties or receptions.Small firms know when their clients’ birth-days or family marriages are, and they makesure they are there to wish them well.”

It’s very modern to be traditional LAW FIRM MANAGEMENT

“My father was a traditional lawyer and we had different viewson the profession”Horacio Bernardes Neto

A ll lawyers are at risk of discrimination,be they old, young, male, female, dis-

abled, able-bodied, black or white. That wasthe message from panellists addressing adiverse audience at yesterday’s sessionDiscrimination, with Particular Reference toGender and Age.

The days of the veteran ruling his lawfirm with an iron fist, firing staff on awhim before dying in office have gone,replaced with laws in many countries thatenforce an age of retirement. But asrecent anti-ageism legislation in countriessuch as the UK shows, the laws arechanging to reflect a more balancedapproach.

Michael Prior of Shawn Coulsonexplained: “Having passed my 70th birth-day, I don’t ski or run as fast as I did. Butour intellect does not wear out, nor do wereason more slowly than we used to.”

In 2006, the UK enacted legislation thatmade it illegal to discriminate against a per-son on the grounds of age. The law’sboundaries are still being tested, with thepending Heydey case expected to providesome clarity on default retirement ages.

Although the session’s panellists focusedon the issues facing senior lawyers,Carmen Pombo, chair of the IBA’s YoungLawyers’ Comittee, made it clear thatageism is not limited to those above a cer-tain age.

However, while ageism is a relativelynew concept (though an old phenomenon)

Patricia López Aufranc of Marval O’Farrell& Mairal drew attention to the continuingproblems that women face in the legal pro-fession. Jokingly, she said: “I am thrilled thatsenior lawyers are going to be discriminatedagainst because now you know what itmeans to be a woman!”

López argued that gender discriminationwould not disappear overnight, but that

women could limit its impact by network-ing with other professionals and highlightingthe unique perspective that they as individu-als could provide to a firm or association.

Olabisi Kukoyi, a Nigerian lawyer cur-rently employed by Aberdeen City Council,Scotland, echoed this point about network-ing and encouraged African women to bemore ambitious in their legal careers.

This point was taken up by members ofthe audience in questions following thepanel. “The only female president of theNigerian bar association became presidentby default when her superior was moved toanother job. When she sought electionherself, the security service stepped in tomake sure she did not win. And on a per-sonal note, I have been a magistrate for 22

years and when I wanted to become ajudge, I was told, ‘we don’t want womenhere’,” said Okwuchi Okoroji, a magistratein Imo State.

Cultural prejudice against women isclearly an issue in some countries, but otheraudience members were keen to playdownits importance.

As the president of the Norwegian Bar

Association, Berit Reiss-Andersen, said:“Despite a culture of equality in Norway,women only make up 23% of the bar.There is something about our professionthat is elitist and we have to take this seri-ously rather than say that it is the fault ofsociety at large.”

Law firm culture was also criticised byWilliam Grignon of Kirkland & Ellis in hispresentation on the discrimination faced bydisabled lawyers. “We are often ignored bylaw firms that pose a difficult culture for thedisabled. We need to create a culture thathelps not just with physical disability butwith invisible disabilities, such as mentalhealth problems, and we need to deal withinvisible discrimination as well as obviousdiscrimination.”

The old do not think slowerDISCRIMINATION LAW

“When I wanted to become a judge, I was told, ‘we don’t want women here’”Okwuchi Okoroji

www.legalmediagroup.comIBA Daily News - Thursday, October 16 2008 3

QUESTION:What do you planto do in BuenosAires?

Maxi Okechukwu Chris UnegbuMadonna Law OfficeLagos, Nigeria

The city is really beautiful and I’veenjoyed just walking around a bit. I’vebeen on two tours so far and they were

both very fun. I went to a museum on Saturday and atango dance on Tuesday. The tango dance was so muchfun because it reminded me of the dances in Africa. Itreally was a great show.

Akin AdepojuSpring BankLagos, Nigeria

I intend to stay and vacation the wholeweekend. There are a few dinner parties Ineed to go to and those should be good.

I really want to see more of the tango. I plan to take thatdance step back to Nigeria with me. After all it is a uni-versal style.

Chan Hong YunTay & PartnersKuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I plan to go to the southern region ofArgentina because I have never been,and a good friend of mine told me it was

beautiful. I’d like to see a part that is unique to southAmerica. I can go to shops in any city I visit, but the coun-tryside is unique to here.

Juan Luis Hernandez GazzoHernandez & CiaLima, Peru

I have been to the city a lot so I’ve donemost of the tourist things. The theatreand restaurants here are superb. I will

probably go to La Cabaña because it is a great place forsteak and Piegari for pasta.

Roland AdrellGarde Wesslan AdvokatbyraGoteborg, Sweden

I really wanted to go to the Villa Mariasocial event, but I’m afraid I might nothave time because it is all day, and I’m

leaving on Saturday. Instead my plan is to see the cityand take in the night life, especially the tango dancing.

Leonel Pereznieto CastroJauregui Navarrete & NaderMexico

There is a very intersting parallel betweenthe conference and our events. I went tothe International Criminal Court for a

breakfast and we are going to the University of BuenosAires to visit and talk with some professors there. I’vebeen here before so the tourist things don’t interest me,but I would recommend el Tigre and el Retiro if I weretravelling around the city more.

Carol NdagubaChief Executive at the NationalAgency for the Prohibition of Traffic inPersons and other Related MattersWuse Abuja, Nigeria

I need to get a good look at things firstand the embassy has promised to take me on a tour. Ihear the restaraunts are very good here so I want to goto some of them. I’d really like to have a holiday and seesome of the parks if I can, but I’m jet-lagged, so it isgoing to be hard.

M Yolanda Pereira ZBerkemeyerAsunción, Paraguay

I really need a city tour of Buenos Aires.I’ve seen a few little places, but I’d like towitness the full city so I can pick the

places I’d like to visit. I’d also like to see some of themusic at night. I’ve seen some Argentinian dance eventsand I’d really like to go back to those and see some moreconcerts.

VOXPOP: SIGHTSEEING

www.legalmediagroup.comIBA Daily News - Thursday, October 16 20084

W ith their opt-out systems of redress,Canada and the US have become

havens for worldwide class action cases. Butwith no guarantee that resulting judgementswill be observed outside of these countries,courts are becoming more reluctant to takeon actions that could incur follow-on litiga-tion in other jurisdictions.

Speaking at yesterday’s session onCollective Redress and Class ActionJudgements, George Bermann, of ColumbiaUniversity’s School of Law, agreed that thehot issue for US class actions was no longerwhat they look like, but “whether foreignnationals should belong in them”. With thegrowing trend for class actions to bebrought against non-US companies in US

courts, the presence of non-US nationals inthe class is making judgements complicatedand selective, and preventing some classesfrom being recognised at all.

The key concern for a US court whentaking a class action suit is to establishwhether, as stated by Rule 23(b), the judge-ment will prove to be the overall superiormeans of action. The risk of non-recognitionin other states means that this superiority is

difficult to determine, as it is hard to tellwhether any judgement will be preclusive.

Session chair John P Brown, of McCarthyTetrault, said that there was an “uncertaintyand unfairness” to the current process, whereevery case is assessed on an individual coun-try-by-country basis. This can mean that, forexample, French citizens could be excludedfrom a class where German citizens arerecognised, if it was decided that there was agreater likelihood of subsequent action in theformer jurisdiction than the latter.

European courts provide particular hurdlesto US class actions as they object to the opt-out systems, which consider all potentialclaimants to be part of the class unless theyexpress otherwise. Deborah Price, of UK con-

sumer group Which?, expressed a desirefor this to change, and said that the sys-tem was “messy, time-consuming, anddoesn’t work”. As a lobbyist for con-sumer rights, she was frustrated that UKcollective redress actions are infrequent.This, she said, was due to the fact thateven if a pool of millions of potential

claimants existed, the opt-in system in Europewould make it very difficult to assemble alarge enough number to form the class.

She also said that there was “no doubt inmy mind” that UK citizens had benefitedfrom US class action laws, but when ques-tioned by Bermann on whether she thoughtUS judgements would ever be observed inthe UK she replied: “No, I don’t think theyever will.”

Are you in or out?CONSUMER LITIGATION

L ife is good for George. He’s a partner ata US law firm, lives in a townhouse on

the upper-east side of Manhattan, owns avineyard in South Africa and is the solebeneficiary of a trust that holds substantialfunds and an art collection. He has also justmet the woman of his dreams, SouthAfrican L’Oréal model Caroline, and theyare to be married.

This was the case study used tohold together a session yesterdayafternoon on big money divorces.The thrust of the discussionanalysed what would happen if thecouple moved to different jurisdic-tions and how George could protecthis assets.

Unsurprisingly enough, the major con-clusion was that George should try to avoidLondon. “One wouldn’t know whether tostart with the bad news or the really badnews if George had to separate fromCaroline in the divorce capital of theworld,” said Russell Bywater of DawsonCornwell in London. “In recent yearswe’ve moved into Hello!-styled jurispru-dence and the focus has shifted from needto entitlement.”

And even the best pre-nuptial agree-ment could struggle in the courts ofEngland and Wales. “For pre-nups to evenget to first base, there has to be full finan-cial disclosure, a document signed by bothparties with record of legal advice and it isadvisable to sign it at least 21 days before

the wedding. More importantly, it has tobe fair in the eyes of the court, and fair atthe time of the divorce too,” Bywatercontinued.

That said, Bywater admitted thatalthough pre-nups do not have to berecognised in court, they can be usefulguidelines and there is growing case law

to prove this. Therefore, if he had to bat-tle in London, George would have tohope that his pre-nup was to full UKstandards.

Alternatively, the court may be swayedby a clause that indicates that even if thecouple is living in the UK, it would likeany future divorce to be conducted in afriendlier, pre-determined jurisdiction.Another clause stating that both parties areaware that the pre-nup is not necessarilyvalid in the UK but that they hope itwould be taken into account would beadvisable too.

After all, as fellow panel member DanielThulare of Family Law Courts inJohannesburg said: “Love is blind, butdivorce opens your eyes.”

Just avoid LondonFAMILY LAW

“Love is blind, butdivorce opens your eyes”Daniel Thulare

“I don’t think US judgements will ever beobserved in the UK”Deborah Price

S o, are you a millionaire or a person of Genoa? Achicken or a pig? These are important questionsbecause next weekend Club Athlético River Plate is

playing Club Athlético Boca Juniors in the superclásico. It is oneof the most eagerly anticipated football fixtures of the season.The battle lines are already being drawn and you should picksides. It is the most passionate derby in Argentina, if not theworld. To put it in context, British newspaper The Observer

declared watching a superclásico in Buenos Aires number one onits list of 50 sporting things you must do before you die.

Next Sunday, IBA delegates have a great opportunity to seethe two teams walk out at River Plate’s 65,645-seat stadium,El Monumental de Nuñez. The atmosphere will have addedelectricity considering the home side will be desperate for awin. River Plate has won only one of its nine games this sea-son and its fans cannot consider slipping even further behindBoca, which sits comfortably in sixth place in the league.

Mutual hatredBoth clubs formed early last century and although a rivalrywas always present, it wasn’t until some 20 years later that amutual hatred was truly forged. Until this point, both clubsplayed in La Boca, a poor area of Buenos Aires. River Plateinitially moved to Palermo before moving to the more afflu-ent neighbourhood of Nuñez in 1923. This angered theBoca fans who started to see River Plate as snobbish.

At the start of the thirties, River Plate bought BernabéFerreyra from Tigre for a vast sum that was paid mostly ingold. And so the ‘millionaires’ tag was born. Boca uses theterm in a derogatory context, but the River Plate fans say itwith pride.

The class division remains to this day. The red and whiteof River Plate remains the club of the upper classes and BocaJuniors is the blue collar team of the city (quite literally, theyplay in blue and gold). Boca’s fans call themselves Los Xeneises

(people of Genoa) as a nod to the fact that a lot of themoriginally came from the city’s Italian immigrant community.

The rivals have some colourful nicknames for each other,the most popular (and safest for print) being los gallinas (thechickens) for River Plate and los puercos (the pigs) for Boca.This is because the former are seen as cowards by the oppo-sition. More specifically, it can be traced back to the 1966Copa Libertadores final against Uruguayan side Peñarol whereRiver Plate led 2-0, but eventually lost 4-2. Boca’s porcinetag is another barbed reference to the location of its 57,395seater stadium Estadio Alberto J Armando.

IBA matchBoca’s stadium is affectionately known as La Bombonera

(chocolate box). This is because a third tier was added in 1953and the stadium’s shape became almost perfectly rectangular.Although there isn’t a professional match at La Bombonera thisweek, IBA members are more than welcome to visit the sta-dium today to see Latin America take on the rest of theworld. IBA delegates will battle it out in the annual derbywith kick off at 1700. The rivalry between the two sides willundoubtedly be as high as the River Plate/Boca game, butlet’s hope the name calling doesn’t get out of hand.

For more details on the IBA game, please contact Keith Oliver

(keoliver@petersandpeters.com or +44 7785 232 122) or

Pablo Vergara del Carril (p.vergara@zbv.com.ar)

www.legalmediagroup.comIBA Daily News - Thursday, October 16 2008 5

Derby day in Buenos AiresLOCAL ATTRACTION: FOOTBALL

Nicholas Pettifer looks forward to this weekend’s superclásico CLUB BocaJuniors

RiverPlate

COLOURS Blue and gold White and red

NICKNAMES Los Xeneises (people of Genoa),La Doce (player 12,as in, the twelfthplayer)

Los Millonarios (themillionaires), LaBanda (the stripe –due to the distinctivered band on the kits)

OPPONENTSCALL THEM

Los puercos (thepigs), los bosteros(the manure han-dlers)

Los gallinas (thechickens)

STADIUM Estadio Alberto JArmando or LaBombonera).Capacity: 57, 395

El Monumental deNuñez. Capacity: 65, 645

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPWINS

22 33

FAMOUS PLAYERS

Hugo Ibarra, EnzoFerrero, DiegoMaradona, GabrielBatistuta, JuanRomán Riquelme,Carlos Tevez

Alfredo Di Stéfano,Norberto Alonso,Enzo Francescoli,Gabriel Batistuta,Hernán Crespo,Javier Mascherano

Why the location of Buenos Aires?The IBA has an extremely elaborate system of deciding sites.It involves rotating continents, rotating more and less unusu-al sites, and the capacity of a city to hold an event of thissize – and more importantly, a location within that city.

We decide that the IBA annual conference is going to bein a particular city seven or eight years in advance. Whenwe decide on a particular city, it is getting the equivalent ofthe lottery for them; it is great to receive the excellence ofthe legal profession. In Singapore last year, with more than4000 delegates, we were told that they were extremelypleased with this group of leading lawyers and that it did adecent amount to benefit the local economy as well. BuenosAires was chosen because we care about the geographicaldistribution of sites. It is a balance of locations, from Spanishto mainly English-speaking, to those jurisdictions whereother languages are spoken.

What do you think makes the city of BuenosAires special? Buenos Aires is considered to be one of the most importantcultural centres in the Americas today. There is such a variety

of culture on offer: the music, the literature, the theatre.Buenos Aires has around 200 theatres; I can’t think of any othercity in the world with that number of theatres in full operation.

What are you most looking forward to at theconference?We will cover all recent developments in the law, across thepractice areas covered by all our different groups and com-mittees. Plus delegates have the unique opportunity to net-work at the highest level with colleagues from across theglobe.

We have an outstanding Rule of Law symposium on thelast Friday as well, the 17th. This will enable us to discussissues such as access to justice, anti-corruption, reinforce-ment of institutions, independence of the profession andhuman rights, all of which are very relevant matters in LatinAmerica. As in Singapore last year, it should be a very openand frank discussion.

Additionally, it will be important to recognise the qualityof the education and practice of the lawyers in the regionbecause the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking contingent ofthe IBA now makes up several thousand members. Moreover,

this is something I am personally keen to focus on as I amproud to be of that origin and to be President of IBA.

Which sessions do you think will be particular-ly good?Many of the committees will have specialised subject lawsessions and all of them promise to be interesting. However,a topic that is really strong in Latin America, particularly inArgentina with so many universities and such an intenselegal profession, is the impact of young lawyers and theirfuture role in the legal community.

Each day, delegates will be met with such a broad offer ofsessions that a careful look at the schedule every morningwill be the best way to decide on which to attend. In addi-tion to the educational impact of a five-day crash course onall that matters for the modern lawyer, there is the unlimitedattraction of Buenos Aires, which will also be experiencedthrough the many social events.

You have been involved with the IBA in a num-ber of roles over the years, vice-president, sec-retary-general, treasurer. Do you feel stronglyabout the IBA?I feel very strongly about the IBA because, with more than33,000 individual members, we are by far the largest inter-national organisation of lawyers in the world. But why is itthat we are the biggest, why is it that we keep growing andgrowing? We are big because people benefit; they get a lotfrom being a member and being at our conferences.

We had record attendance in Singapore last year; this year

We must educateThe first Spanish head of the IBA talks about his expectations about this year’s conference and the importance of thehumanitarian leanings of the organisation. By Jaspreet Sira

PROFILE: FERNANDO POMBO

“My number one priority is continuing with the educationalengine that is the IBA” Fernando Pombo, President, IBA, Partner, Gomez-Acebo & Pombo

www.legalmediagroup.comIBA Daily News - Thursday, October 16 20086

in Buenos Aires looks like being a record conference again.We have all the world’s leading lawyers at the IBA, butmore importantly we have more than 200 human rights pro-grammes worldwide. We help those in need, throughunlimited humanitarian actions.

In what way would you say that the IBA is theglobal voice of the legal profession?The IBA is the global voice of the legal profession becausewe care for issues that matter; subjects such as the rule oflaw, freedom of expression, human rights, separation ofpowers and different models for developing economies.

We have the structure as well, and the best possible col-leagues one could have in an international organisation.Hence I am very dedicated to this unique organisation. Wehave a good structure and offices in key international loca-tions: London, Sao Paulo, The Hague, Dubai for the Arabworld, Johannesburg and we will have an office in Asia soon.

What would you like to achieve in your tenureas president of the IBA?My number one priority is continuing with the educationalengine that is the IBA. Second is to improve the image of

the profession through humani-tarian and educational activities.Hopefully these will allowcountries to improve theirunderstanding of the role thatlawyers play in the establishmentof democracies and aiding fun-damental rights, so they respectthe legal profession more.

Also, integrating the barassociations is important, withthe individual lawyers and lawfirms working alongside in-house counsel and companycounsel all over the world.

Getting closer benefits all three types of institution throughtheir different practices and responsibilities.

What have you enjoyed most about your rolewith the IBA?Being amongst this phenomenal congregation of elite lawyersis a huge pleasure. Also, being involved with the humanitari-an side of the IBA has been an unforgettable experience.

Last August working with Afghan lawyers to helpbuild the organisation of lawyers there, helping the judi-cial system and ultimately the lives of people inAfghanistan was wonderful. Also, working in Columbiato consolidate the strong democracy, legal profession andjudiciary; and being in Africa, aiding individuals, includ-ing lawyers and judges, who are facing situations ofextreme risk. Participating in all this pro bono work hasbeen a big satisfaction for me.

You mentioned Afghanistan, making a differ-ence there. Can you tell us more about thework involved? Yes, Afghanistan is a very difficult case because we, aslawyers and global citizens, must help institutions to be built

in a society after war. We have had experiences of that kindwith Iraq and other parts of the world. After war it is vitalthat the country goes back to institutions and systems, tojustice and independence of the different powers. We areable to achieve this mainly through having an unlimitednumber of volunteers, often very prestigious, skilledlawyers. They are ready to put their practices aside forweeks, sometimes months, and go to the most remote anddifficult locations, to work for the benefit of their col-leagues there.

How do you balance all this with your role atGomez-Acebo & Pombo? Well it is a miracle at times, not only in terms of time, butalso the physical capacity to deal with so much. I decidedearly on to be very committed to the IBA but also neverabandon working with my firm. Fortunately there areyounger partners at the firm who can deal with many day-to-day issues, but this decision has been at the cost of myprivate and family life. About 60% of my weekends are ded-icated to the IBA. The holidays that I used to have, about18 or 19 working days each year, have been non-existentsince beginning my role. When you combine no holidays,almost no weekends and a lot of support from my familyand from my partners at Gomez-Acebo and Pombo, thenthe numbers work. I work fast and I work intensively.

I have been extremely busy, but the alternative wouldmean not being involved in or committed to so many IBAinitiatives. And I simply didn’t want that to be the case.

Any final thoughts on the conference?The IBA is the leading organisation of lawyers and bar asso-ciations in the world, and it is meeting for the second timein its history, after 20 years, in south America. We thoughtin 1988 that with more than 1000 delegates it would reallybe impossible to repeat, but now our numbers in BuenosAires are more than three times that figure. I am sure thiswill prove an unforgettable week.

“Helping the judicial system and ultimately the lives of people inAfghanistan was wonderful”

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T hree IBA members, jealous of one oftheir colleague’s contacts and reputa-

tion, decide to kidnap him and steal hisBlackberry with the aim of distributinginformation slandering his good name. Theconspirators and their target are of four dif-ferent nationalities, reside in three separatecountries, and the plot is carried out in afifth jurisdiction: at the IBA conference inBuenos Aires.

This was just one of the fictitious casestudies put to yesterday’s audience at thepresentation of the report by the IBA LegalPractice Division (LPD) Task Force onExtraterritorial Jurisdiction. LPD ChairDavid W Rivkin introduced the session andcalled the over 300-page report “interesting,scholarly and forward-looking,” tellingassembled lawyers that their challenge wasnow to make good use of it.

Members of the task force sub-commit-tees presented their findings and recommen-dations under six areas of practice: anti-trust,tort, criminal law, bribery and corruption,securities and insolvency. Each committee

admitted it had encountered similar chal-lenges when addressing extraterritorial juris-diction in these areas. The main problem wastrying to keep all parties involved happy withthe results, from NGOs to state government.

Lucy Martinez, of Freshfields BruckhausDeringer in the US, said she hoped that thevarious committees had managed to publish aset of “broad recommendations that still havereal meaning”. Martinez was rapporteur forthe criminal law committee, and led theanalysis of the case described above. She saidthat in many cases, opinion on how statesshould exercise their jurisdictional rights isbased on “one’s views on state sovereignty;”a perspective that can vary widely dependingon a country’s international profile.

Martinez was joined by Roy Schondorfof Debevoise & Plimpton, and Lucinda Lowof Steptoe and Jones, both in the US, to dis-cuss tort actions and bribery and corruptionrespectively. A key consideration throughouttheir presentation was the different jurisidic-tory regulations in civil and common lawcountries, with particular regard to whether

legal jurisdiction was founded on residencyor nationality. The speakers identified fivestates where the Blackberrry case could becontested, with a sixth option available toany other state that chose to invoke the uni-versal principle: particularly relevant in a casewhere torture is involved.

Despite the multiple angles of discussion,Low claimed that the fictional case was“actually relatively simple in today’s playingfield,” and said that extraterritorial jurisdic-tion was a big consideration for lawyersdealing with cases involving multinationalactivity and businesses.

The second half of the session focused onbusiness law. Securities committee memberEric Pan, from the Benjamin N Cardozo

School of Law in New York, urged dele-gates to become “skilled and conversant infinding these means of harmonisation andconvergance, because in the end the burdenwill fall upon us to work out the nuts andbolts of deals”.

In the capital markets industry, he said,the IPA report had the opportunity to“make a real, world impact,” coming as itdoes at a time when the global fincancialcrisis is forcing regulatory authorities aroundthe world to engage with these same issues.

This view was echoed by AlexanderKlauser, of Brauneis Klauser Prändl inAustria, who addressed insolvency consider-ations, and congratulated the LPD on its“prophetic foresight” in including this prac-tice area in the task force’s remit. He reiter-ated the problem of operating through enti-ties which are multinational, but must func-tion in a world of sovereign states.

Session chair Claus von Wobeser, of vonWobeser y Sierra in Mexico (and the hypo-thetical victim of the kidnap plot), said hehoped that each committee would continueto work on its respective projects, and calledthe task forces’ work so far “only the start ofan enterprise”.

IBA kidnap plotLEGAL PRACTICE DIVISION

I n Brazil, access to justice is a constitu-tional right, but unfortunately, there are

too many cases for legal services to be pro-vided free of charge. So surely the systemshould be happy that many law firms wantto help by conducting pro bono work?

“They hate us,” said Marcos RobertoFuchs of the Pro BonoInstitute in São Paulo,at a lively session aboutthe Pro BonoDeclaration for theAmericas yesterdaymorning. “We are aclearing house for freelegal services, but thebar association and thedefence department hateus because they thinkwe are trying to priva-tise access to justice and take work awayfrom poor lawyers.”

Antonio Corrêa Meyer of MachadoMeyer Sendacz e Opice Advogados, alsofrom São Paulo, agreed: “There are 650,000lawyers in Brazil and many of them are sin-gle practitioners that rely on work grantedto the poor by the state. They worry thatpro bono activities will take work awayfrom them, so there is a conflict.”

In São Paulo alone, it is estimated thatthere are 47,000 poor lawyers. Many of themexclusively do state-appointed work, forwhich they receive $300 per case. If pro-bono work was taking employment awayfrom such lawyers, then Fuchs would notmind. But as it is not, he remains exasperated.

“The problem is one of culture,” he said.“There is so much work to do – how canwe be taking work away from lawyers whenthere aren’t enough of them to do it all?Every little helps, surely.”

This statement was well received by theroom, which was genuinely surprised by the

situation in Brazil. By this stage, panelmembers were sitting among the audienceand the session became a free discussionwhere chair Patricia Blair of MediationConsultants, Connecticut allowed participa-tion from anyone with an opinion.

Guillermo Morales Errázuriz of Morales &Besa Adogados referredto a similar problem inChile, which was suc-cessfully resolved. Hesuggested that the ten-sion in Brazil could bealleviated if there was asystem of allocatingwork so that no one feltemployment was beingtaken from them. Forexample, larger firmscould conduct the more

complex cases in which their capacity andexpertise would be of best benefit rather thantaking on small cases for individuals.

While this may be a workable solutionfor one issue, it would not resolve the widerproblem in Brazil. São Paulo is the onlystate that allows pro bono work at all, so forthe Pro Bono Declaration for the Americasto be a success across Brazil, a significantamount of lobbying is required.

In Argentina, and many other LatinAmerican jurisdictions, the issue is one ofeducation. “In general, the declaration hasbeen very welcome,” said Gustavo JavierTorassa of Bulló Tassi Estebenet Lipera &Torassa. “But the challenge is to get morefirms to sign up. We also need to dissemi-nate the declaration throughout the country,not just in Buenos Aires.”

He went on to describe the benefit ofhaving an access to justice committee withinthe City of Buenos Aires Bar Association:“We can meet and discuss pro-bono workand try to discover a best practice. We need

to discuss some guidelines on working inpro-bono activities that should help spreadthe word.”

New York has an altogether differentproblem with regard to getting people tosign the declaration. Antonia E Stolper ofShearman & Sterling stood up to explainthat the city bar has been cautious to pushthe declaration onto its members. This isbecause the 20 hours of work that the dec-laration asks for is substantially lower, forexample, than the 50 hours that theAmerican Bar Association requests. The citybar therefore does not want to confuseissues, although firms active in LatinAmerica have signed the declaration out ofsolidarity.

The reason pro-bono targets are substan-tially higher in the US must be better edu-cation of the benefits of working for free.Robin Wright Westbrook from theAmerican University Washington College ofLaw gave some examples of the work hercollege does to encourage its students to

partake in pro-bono activity.For example, the college actively urges

its students to undertake 75 hours of pro-bono work before graduating. While this isnot mandatory, the impression given was

that not completing 75 hours is severelyfrowned upon. The college also encouragesthe use of Student Practice Rules. This iswhen a student represents a real client in acourt of law with judicial approval and fac-ulty supervision. Such projects help generateinterest in pro-bono work early in USlawyers’ careers and the audience agreedthat similar schemes would be a great long-term plan for changing the culture in LatinAmerica.

Despite the conflict issues in Brazil andthe need for a change of culture in manyparts of the Americas, the declaration isattracting an impressive number of mem-bers. As of October 10, 179 Latin Americanlaw firms, 24 US law firms, 15 law schools,12 bar associations, 12 non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs), two corporate legaldepartments and two members of the judici-ary had signed.

This achievement is evidently appreciat-ed by the IBA, as president FernandoPombo made an appearance at the start of

the session to express his gratitude and theopinion that: “Pro-bono work is not aquestion of generosity, it is one of justice.”The declaration has made a good start, butthe hard work is yet to come.

Let us work for freePRO BONO AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE

“In the end the burden will fall uponus to work out thenuts and bolts ofdeals”Eric Pan

“How can we betaking work awayfrom lawyers whenthere aren’tenough of them todo it all?”Marcos Roberto Fuchs

“The challenge is to get more firms tosign up”Gustavo Javier Torassa

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TODAY’S SCHEDULESESSION LOCATIONThursday AM 0830 – 1000Academic and Professional Development: Breakfast Florida Rooms, The Marriott Plaza HotelManaging Partners Breakfast Fiestas Room, The Marriott Plaza HotelThursday All day 1000 – 1800Gulping from the fire hydrant: strategies for roll-out of new fibre networks, including analysis of deals and regulatory issues Martín Fierro I (2nd Floor)Thursday AM 1000 – 1230United States versus rest of the world: who is winning the war on litigation? Retiro C (1st Floor)Thursday AM 0900 – 1200BIC open forum and open Policy Committee meeting Ombú I (2nd Floor)Thursday AM 1000 – 1300In search of the best – trade and customs practices by government, business and private sector advisors Catalinas (1st Floor)‘Show me the money’ – financing private companies with venture capital La Pampa (1st Floor)Organised crime: the impact of corruption and terrorism on the rule of law and public/private business Tirso De Molina C, Meliá Buenos Aires HotelInvestment treaty arbitration workshop Retiro B (1st Floor)Have fun at your own risk: drafting and enforcing liability/damages releases Casona A, Meliá Buenos Aires HotelTermination and substituted performance Martín Fierro II (2nd Floor)Is Latin America ready for private water? Gómez Losada (2nd Floor)Capital markets transactions in Latin America Retiro A (1st Floor)Employment and discrimination issues in the workplace affecting foreign workers Libertador B (1st Floor)Mediating disputes in the art and heritage sector: why and how to spread the word Tirso De Molina A, Meliá Buenos Aires HotelIntellectual property law meets competition law: latest developments with a Latin flavour Libertador A (1st Floor)Global product liability trends Casona B, Meliá Buenos Aires HotelReorganisation and reconstruction of airlines Auditorium (Ground Floor)In search for, in combat of ... tax arbitrage Atalaya (24th Floor)Electronic discovery and cross-border issues related to corporations Poncho (2nd Floor)Part-time law – implications for legal practice and education Río de la Plata (2nd Floor)Reconciliation: the challenges of combating impunity Ombú II (2nd Floor)Law firm management: Law firm visits Off siteClass actions: are they an effective access to justice tool? Tirso De Molina B, Meliá Buenos Aires HotelTrafficking in women and children El Aguila (24th Floor)Thursday AM 1100 – 1230Legal Profession and World Organisations: Open business meeting Golden Horn (1st Floor)Thursday AM 1030 – 1130Public and Professional Interest Division: General Meeting Libertador C (1st Floor)Thursday AM 1130 – 1230Legal Practice Division: General Meeting Libertador C (1st Floor)Thursday PM 1230 – 1330Human Rights Institute: General Meeting Libertador C (1st Floor)Thursday lunch 1245Litigation Committee lunch excursion Regina AustraleThursday lunch 1300Corporate Counsel lunch Fiestas Room, The Marriott Plaza HotelAfrican Regional Forum lunch Florida Rooms, The Marriott Plaza HotelThursday PM 1400 – 1800IBA Council Meeting and Election of Officers San Telmo (Ground Floor)Thursday PM 1500 – 1800Competition issues on regulated industries: access to essential facilities in emerging markets La Pampa (1st Floor)Financial crime and regulation Casona B, Meliá Buenos Aires HotelSentencing: innovative initiatives Tirso De Molina C, Meliá Buenos Aires HotelLatest developments in construction Martín Fierro II (2nd Floor)The transition to competitive power systems Gómez Losada (2nd Floor)Insurance fraud/asset tracing and subrogation Catalinas (1st Floor)Tractors, sensors, satellites and genes Libertador A (1st Floor)E-commerce and internet sales Retiro B (1st Floor)Lessons learned from children’s toys Casona A, Meliá Buenos Aires HotelThe international movement of children El Aguila (24th Floor)Financing and assignment of operating leases Ombú II (2nd Floor)Recent developments in maritime law Auditorium (Ground Floor)Anti-avoidance provisions – another great planning technique bites the dust Poncho (2nd Floor)Global trends in direct taxation: Part II Atalaya (24th Floor)Women in development: focus deficiency or cultural barriers, a legal and judicial perspective Tirso De Molina A, Meliá Buenos Aires HotelSecuritisation in the Americas: legal problems and opportunities Retiro A (1st Floor)Lessons from the school of hard knocks: extraterritorial reach of North American laws on multinational corporations Retiro C (1st Floor)Towards a system of international criminal justice: from the ad hoc tribunals to the International Criminal Court Río de la Plata (2nd Floor)Which law firms and organisations are doing the best international pro bono work? What models are being developed? How can they be adapted? Tirso De Molina B, Meliá Buenos Aires HotelGive a winning presentation Libertador C (1st Floor)Thursday PM 1500 – 1630OAS Inter-American Anti-Corruption Convention developments Ombú I (2nd Floor)Thursday PM 1530 – 1800Conflict management and dispute resolution Libertador B (1st Floor)Thursday PM 1630 – 1800Anti-Corruption: Open committee business meeting Ombú I (2nd Floor)Thursday PM 1800 – 1900African Regional Forum: Open business meeting Tirso De Molina A, Meliá Buenos Aires HotelThursday evening 1830Young lawyers’ reception Fiestas Room, The Marriott Plaza HotelThursday evening 1930Committees on Employment and Industrial Relations Law and Discrimination Law joint dinner Yacht Club ArgentinoThursday evening 2000Immigration and Nationality Law Committee dinner La CabanaThursday evening 2015Insurance Committee dinner Aberg Cobo HouseThursday evening 2030Criminal Law Section dinner La CabanaMaritime and Transport Law Committee dinner LolaTechnology Law Committee dinner Cabana Las Lilas

All locations in Sheraton Buenos Aires Hoteland Convention Center unless stated

A nyone with an interest in internation-al politics should make sure they

don’t miss this afternoon’s session on inter-national criminal justice, chaired by JusticeRichard Goldstone.

The exciting panel of speakers willinclude Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief pros-ecutor of the International Criminal Courtin The Hague, whose role has seen himinvestigate abuses in Sudan, Uganda andthe Democratic Republic of Congo. Alsospeaking will be Carla Del Ponte, who waschief prosecutor at the ICC during thepioneering International Criminal

Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, andfor Rwanda.

“It’s a very exciting panel; one of interna-tional experts” said Goldstone, speakingahead of the session, “and it’s relevant toanyone interested in international politics,not just law.” Through the testimonies ofthe experienced speakers, the session willinclude both an assessment of the ICC todayand, Goldstone hopes, “outline what lawyerscan do to move the endeavour forward”.

“People don’t realise the incredible pace atwhich international justice has moved in thepast 15 years, since the Yugoslavia tribunal in

1993. It’s been a movement of historic pro-portions, with the ICC now ratified by 106nations worldwide.”

Goldstone also welcomed the possibility ofcontentious questions from a roomful oflawyers discussing international war crimes.“There’s certainly room for a lot of debate,particularly in relation to the unfortunate factthat some large countries are still not involved;namely the US, China, Russia and India.”

The session is planned for Rio de la Plataon the second floor of the Sheraton, a spacewhich holds up to 90 delegates. ButGoldstone is expecting a better turn-outthan that. “I hope it’s so busy that we haveto be moved to a bigger room,” he said.Don’t let him down.

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Don’t miss thisHUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULESESSION LOCATIONFriday All day 0900International Construction Projects excursion San Antonio de Areco tourFriday All day 1000 – 1700Rule of Law Symposium Libertador B (1st Floor)Friday AM 1000 – 1300Directors’ duties and shareholder entitlements in public M&A Golden Horn (1st Floor)The New York Convention – worldwide implementation, recent cases and practical issues Catalinas (1st Floor)Civil law perspective on class action proceedings Retiro B (1st Floor)Mediation in international child abduction cases Martín Fierro II (2nd Floor)The greening of tourism: an oxymoron? Ombú I (2nd Floor)Aviation roundtable Poncho (2nd Floor)Understanding how Asian employment law applies to and affects foreign expatriates seconded to work in MNCs’ Asian operations La Pampa (1st Floor)Schemes for dealing with the energy crisis in the Americas Retiro A (1st Floor)UN oil for food: investigation, prosecution and civil recovery Martín Fierro I (2nd Floor)Friday evening 1900Closing dinner and tango show Tango Porteno

All locations in Sheraton Buenos Aires Hoteland Convention Center unless stated

Justice Richard Goldstone