International Corporate Counsel College Schedule and Materials
Below is the conference schedule and meeting materials for your reference. If you want to have these materials onsite at the meeting with you, please print prior and bring them with you. If you have any questions, please email Melisa Maisel Vanis.
To view a list of registered attendees as of November 6, click here.
Wednesday, 8 November 2017
18.30 - 19.30
Welcome Reception
Amstel Room, Hilton Amsterdam
Thursday, 9 November 2017
11.00
Meeting registration opens in front of the Amstel Room.
11.45 - 13.00
Welcome Luncheon – Guest Speaker: The Honorable Justice Jamie K. Trimble, Judge of the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, Canada
Amstel Room, Hilton Amsterdam
Justice Trimble was appointed to the Ontario Superior Court (Canada), Ontario’s highest trial court, in December 2013. He sits in Brampton but circuits throughout the Central West Region.
Justice Trimble articled with, then practised with, Hughes Amys following his call to the Bar in Ontario in 1989. In his 25 years as a member of the Bar in Ontario, Justice Trimble had a broad litigation practice focusing on disputes involving insurance policy wording and coverage (first and third party) tort, negligence, professional negligence, construction, and contracts. He appeared in all levels of Court.
From 2009 to 2013, Justice Trimble was President of The Arc Group Canada, an affiliation of firms across Canada serving the insurance and risk management communities. In 2001, he became a certified Risk Manager, and was certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Civil Litigation. For his last ten years of practice, Justice Trimble was recognized by L’Expert as a leading litigator in commercial insurance. In 2011, Justice Trimble became a member of the IADC.
Trimble’s extra-curricular activities focussed on professional excellence. He has been a member of the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) since his days at law school. The Ontario Bar Association is the Provincial chapter of the Canadian Bar Association, and the largest such association in Canada. Trimble has held many positions within the OBA, including Chair of the Civil Litigation section 1998-08, Chair of Continuing Legal Education 2005-07, and OBA President, 2008-09. He has chaired numerous committees. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of the Advocate’s Society.
In practice, Justice Trimble was a regular speaker on insurance, litigation, and practice issues at the OBA, Law Society, Advocate’s Society, numerous county and district law associations, Ontario Risk Management Society, and for clients and client focussed groups such as The Arc Group. He continues to speak at most of these organizations.
13.00 - 13.15
Break
13.15 - 13.30
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
Opening Remarks - William J. Perry, 2017 International Corporate Counsel College Director, Carter Perry Bailey LLP, London, United Kingdom
Introduction to the IADC - Andrew Kopon Jr., IADC President, Kopon Airdo, LLC, Chicago, IL USA
13.30 - 14.30
Act of State – Expropriation and Interference: What Do You Do?
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
How can a company respond to a foreign government expropriating or otherwise interfering with the company’s operations or investments in that government’s country? The “Act of State” doctrine is essentially that the courts of the company’s home country will not accept jurisdiction over the executive acts of a foreign government in its own territory. So what solutions are there? Resolving by arbitration? Commercial or diplomatic pressure?
What precautions can a company take when setting up or investing abroad? Is political risk insurance for physical asset loss or for foreign government default a solution? What are the countries of current concern? What if a change of government (democratically or not), or just a capricious change of will, leads to a state dishonouring its obligations?
Moderator
Richard Eveleigh, Financial Lines Innovation Leader, AIG Europe Limited, London, United Kingdom
Presenters
Vlad Bobko, Head of Crisis Management, Aon Global Broking Centre, London, United Kingdom
Rodman Bundy, Director, Dispute Resolution Group, Eversheds Harry Elias, Singapore
Materials
14.30 - 14.45
Break
14.45 - 15.45
Business and Human Rights
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
The impact of business on society has given rise to an increasing focus on the responsibility of corporations to respect the human rights of those impacted by their business operations. This is being reflected in an increasing amount of both “hard” and “soft” law, corporate social responsibility guidelines and activism from, amongst others, civil society and socially responsible and ethical investors. This session will examine what corporations are required to do, what is expected of them, how realistic those expectations are, and what role in-house and external counsel can play.
Moderator
Peter J. Rees, QC, 39 Essex Chambers, London, United Kingdom
Presenters
Richard Harvey, Legal Counsel, Campaigns and Actions, Greenpeace International, Netherlands; Barrister, Garden Court Chambers, London, United Kingdom
Suzanne Spears, Partner, Volterra Fietta, London, United Kingdom
Andrew Vickers, Communications Director, Chrysaor, London, United Kingdom
Materials
15.45 - 16.00
Break
16.00 - 17.00
Enforcement of Foreign Judgements and Arbitral Awards
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
The panel will discuss whether a successful party can enforce a foreign judgement or a foreign arbitral award abroad with a special emphasis on Brazil, China, Russia, and the United Kingdom (after Brexit). Can the successful party enforce a foreign judgement in Brazil, China, Russia, or the United Kingdom, and can a judgement rendered in Brazil, China, Russia, or the United Kingdom be enforced in the EU? Will it be easier to enforce an arbitral award abroad, especially in our focus countries, and will such enforcement depend in which country the award was made? Will it be necessary to reconsider existing jurisdiction and arbitration clauses? What has a company to consider when it discusses whether to include a jurisdiction clause or an arbitration clause in a contract?
Moderator
Dr. Anton G. Maurer, Attorney and Managing Director, Anton Maurer International Legal Services Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, Stuttgart, Germany
Presenters
Simon Bai, Managing Partner, Lantai Law Firm, Tianjin, China
Wendy J. Miles, QC, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton, London, United Kingdom
Fernando Serec, Head of Litigation and Arbitration, Tozzini Freire, São Paulo, Brazil
Maxim Zgodko, Head of Legal Practice, Ackermann Bellmer, Moscow, Russia
Materials
17.00 - 17.15
Break
17.15 - 18.15
Social Media
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
Who would not be proud to see the comments and appraisals from the enthusiastic followers and customers on your company’s blog? But what if one of your customers who happens to have a large number of followers starts to write about the ‘horrible product experience’? Or the ‘arrogance of your customer care staff’? And how do you react to comments of your employees insulting your customers? And what do you expect from the social platform operator if the dialogue escalates? Do you get engaged in your employees’ private activities on social media? What are the limits of freedom of speech? And with all these risks does social media actually allow you to successfully communicate?
Moderator
Volker Weisshaar, General Counsel and Board Member, EMEA, Sonos Inc., Hilversum, Netherlands
Presenters
Sedge Beswick, Managing Director, SEEN Connects, London, United Kingdom
Remy Chavannes, Advocaat and Partner, Brinkhof N.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tobias Haar, General Counsel & EVP Corporate Functions, Gameforge Group, Karlsruhe, Germany
Materials
18.30 - 19.30
Cocktail Reception
Pavilion, Hilton Amsterdam
19.30 - 21.30
Dinner - Guest Speaker: “Too Big to Fail”: Edgar du Perron, now a Dutch Supreme Court Justice, shares personal reflections on his time as a financicial services ombudsman and investigator of two bank collapses - and the lessons they teach!
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
Prof. Edgar du Perron (1965) was appointed professor of private law at the University of Amsterdam in 1999 and was one of the youngest tenured law professors in the Netherlands. From 2006 to 2016, he served as Dean of the Amsterdam Law School. He was appointed to the Dutch Supreme Court per 1 April 2016. Prof. du Perron is an expert in the field of financial law, tort law, and contract law. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he served from 2007 to 2016 as Chairman of the Financial Services Complaints Commission at the Financial Services Consumer Complaints Institute (Kifid); a specialized ADR body to deal with financial consumer disputes. In 2005, he was appointed by the Dutch Minister of Finance as member of a committee set up to address the disputes relating to Lease Shares Consumer Investment Contracts. In 2009, he was appointed by the Dutch Minister of Finance as a member of the “Commissie Scheltema,” which investigated the fall of the DSB Bank in The Netherlands. He is also co-author of a report commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Finance addressing the role of the Dutch financial regulator (Dutch Central Bank) in the demise of Icesave (Landsbanki) in the Netherlands.
Friday, 10 November 2017
7.30
Meeting registration opens in front of the Diamond Room.
8.00 - 9.00
When the Whistle Blows
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
Whistleblowing is on everyone’s lips. It is a continuous relevant topic that keeps in-house legal and compliance departments, public authorities, and private practitioners busy. This panel, composed of specialists both from common law and civil law countries, will introduce the audience to whistleblowing legislation and the different approaches that Europe and the US have taken on this subject. They will address best practices, including recent developments, difficulties, legal and practical boundaries, and recent court cases.
Moderator
Dr. Jens Burgard, Head of Compliance Case Handling Legal, Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany
Presenters
Rossana Buzzi, Assistant General Counsel, Compliance & Ethics, Leader South Europe, Schneider Electric SA, Milan, Italy
Richard E. Glaze, Jr., Partner, Balch & Bingham, Atlanta, Georgia USA
Ronald Steen, Senior Prosecutor, Prosecutor’s Office Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Materials
9.00 - 10.00
African Trade Law and the Impact on Foreign Investment
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
Africa’s dire need of foreign investment on a massive scale is a timely topic. Would-be foreign investors are often discouraged by concerns about the capacity of African legal regimes to protect them adequately. Among the reasons for these concerns are laws fixing compulsory minimum equity stakes for citizens in specified sectors and exchange control regulations. Other recurring concerns include the fear of expropriation and other high-handed administrative action as well as risks of immunity, delays, bias, and ineffectiveness in the dispute resolution process. Members of the panel are distinguished litigators from southern, eastern, and western Africa and they will consider the extent to which such concerns may be well-founded and the options for addressing them.
Moderator
Prof. Gbolahan Elias, Principal Partner, G. Elias & Co., Lagos, Nigeria
Presenters
Aisha Abdallah, Head of Litigation, Anjarwalla & Khanna, Nairobi, Kenya
Priyesh Daya, Partner, Webber Wentzel, Johannesburg, South Africa
Materials
10.00 - 10.15
Break
10.15 - 11.15
Dawn Raids: When the Going Gets Tough and the Tough Get Going
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
With cartel-busting at the top of the competition law enforcement agenda, competition authorities worldwide are using their dawn raid powers increasingly aggressively. Many authorities have also recently updated their procedures, in particular with respect to IT search, to allow for more effective evidence gathering. Whilst the authorities do not have unlimited powers in relation to dawn raids, companies must be very careful when making any tactical challenges to the exercise of their powers, as any improper obstruction can lead to significant fines. This session includes a mock dawn raid of the room. You will be put through a mock dawn raid procedure and receive a de-briefing from the panelists who will share their experience from a number of different national jurisdictions.
Moderator
Peter Citron, Counsel, Hogan Lovells LLP, Brussels, Belgium
Presenters
Hanna Danwall, Head of Competition Law, Carlsberg Group, Copenhagen, Denmark
Dr. Petra Linsmeier, Partner, Gleiss Lutz, Munich, Germany
Helene Millenaar, Director, Competition Law, AkzoNobel, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Materials
11.15 - 11.30
Break
11.30 - 12.30
Follow Up on "Follow-On" Actions
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
Private competition litigation is still rather young in Europe but fast-growing. The implementation of the EU Directive of 26 November 2014 on “certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union” is well underway. This panel of expert practitioners will look at the threats and opportunities for corporations arising from these so-called follow-on actions. They will focus on issues such as passing-on and the shift of the burden of proof, the quantification of damages and the presumption of loss, funding and access to the authorities’ file, on the geography of claims in the context of the Brexit and of the rise of collective actions in Europe.
Moderator
Thomas Rouhette, Partner, Hogan Lovells (Paris) LLP, Paris, France
Presenters
Jacques Derenne, Partner, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, Brussels, Professor, Liège University and Brussels School of Competition, Belgium
Laurent Geelhand, Partner, Hausfeld, London, United Kingdom & Brussels, Belgium (formerly General Counsel Europe for Michelin)
Sophie Service, Senior Litigation Counsel, Telefonica UK Limited, Slough, United Kingdom
Materials
12.30 - 13.15
A Brexit Field Guide
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
Speaker
Rt. Hon. Dominic Grieve Q.C., M.P., M.P. for Beaconsfield, former Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland, and Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
13.15 - 13.20
Closing Remarks
Diamond Room, Hilton Amsterdam
William J. Perry, International Corporate Counsel College Director, Carter Perry Bailey LLP, London, England
Prof. Ianika Tzankova, International Corporate Counsel College Director-Elect, Tilburg University, Hansfield, Netherlands