Scots to co-host ICW in Toronto

The Law Society of Scotland has been invited to co-host the biennial world summit of In-house Counsel Worldwide (ICW), less than a year after being accepted as a member.

Formed in October 2011 by a group of in-house counsel associations from around the globe, ICW’s purpose is: “Uniting the Global in-house legal community, for the benefit of all in-house counsels, their organisations and the profession, through cooperation and collaboration.” It now comprises 12 national associations, whose individual in-house members can take part in ICW activities.

Entitled “Beyond Borders: Business and Law in the Global Village”, this year’s summit is being held alongside the annual conference of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association in Toronto from 29 April to 1 May.

Co-hosted by Kenny Robertson of RBS, along with Simone Cole, general counsel at Weston Foods, the programme comprises both workshop and career building sessions. A particular theme is legal innovation, with thought leader Mark Cohen heading a session billed as “Practice on the edge of innovation”.

Robertson told the Journal that with RBS actively involved in current IT developments including artificial intelligence, he hoped the conference would allow “cross-pollination” as delegates from different jurisdictions share experiences of best practice and new applications of smart systems.

Joining him in Canada will be Graeme McWilliams, current convener of the In-house Lawyers’ Committee in Scotland, who sees ICW both as providing opportunities for employers with overseas interests, and as a further way to benchmark the promotion of the in-house sector as a career, highlighting its potential international dimension and offering another forum through which to encourage the creation of more in-house traineeships.

Another main theme is ethics for in-house lawyers, which features on the summit programme in more than one context.

And the conference also includes “The Pitch”, a competition in which legal tech startups show off their solutions to improve how in-house lawyers can serve their clients – all judged by a panel of experts, potential investors, and delegates present.

For the Law Society of Scotland, ICW membership, and its conferences, assist its strategy to promote the Scottish jurisdiction as a place to do business and also to promote the services of Scots solicitors and legal professionals abroad.

Go to www.ccca-accje.org for the conference details. Visit the ICW website here.