Below you will find the CLE schedule with materials for the 2026 Annual Meeting.
Under each CLE program description, CLE materials are listed. Please click each hyperlink to access that specific CLE material. If you have any issues accessing these materials, please contact Jennifer Aron, Professional Development Manager, at [email protected] or Ashley Hatfield, Director of Communications, at [email protected].
| PowerPoint PDFs are for IADC members only and require a login. (We ask the speakers to ensure that photos are approved for use.) If you do not have website credentials but would like access to a presentation, please contact Jennifer Aron at [email protected]. |
Sunday, July 5, 2026
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Emerging Threats to the Rule of Law
Committee Sponsor: Civil Justice Response
Particularly relevant for Prague's democratic traditions, the panel will examine the defense bar's role in protecting judicial independence and court integrity in the face of emerging threats. The panel will address how practitioners can respond to political pressure on courts, maintaining respectful advocacy in challenging judicial decisions, and the profession's collective responsibility in defending the rule of law. The discussion will also include perspectives from jurisdictions facing challenges to judicial independence.
Speakers: Hon. Allyson Duncan (Ret.), JAMS, Raleigh, North Carolina USA; Jessica Lam, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Toronto, Ontario Canada; Ewa Rutkowska, KRK Legal & Regulatory, Warsaw, Poland
Materials:
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
There’s No Place Like Home: Recent Trends in Personal Jurisdiction
Committee Co-Sponsors: Business Litigation, Drug, Device and Biotechnology, Product Liability, Transportation
The last decade has seen major shifts in personal jurisdiction rules, which significantly influence the overall risk a given lawsuit poses to defendants. For a time, Supreme Court decisions such as Bristol- Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court limited the forums where plaintiffs could sue, and particularly reduced “litigation tourism,” or suits where the plaintiffs and litigation had little connection to the forum state. But given later decisions such as Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co., the pendulum may swing back to more permissive jurisdictional rules. This panel will explore the evolution of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, as well as how the Court’s decisions have impacted rulings in lower federal courts and state courts.
Speakers: Michael W. Eady, Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, LLP, Austin, Texas USA; Betsy Farrington, Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP, Chicago, Illinois USA; Evan Holden, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Atlanta, Georgia USA; Christopher D. Morris, Butler Snow LLP, Ridgeland, Mississippi, USA
Materials:
10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Open Forum: Bonita Norris Conquering Your Everest: Resilience, Teamwork, and Performance Under Pressure
Bonita Norris is the youngest person ever to reach both the summit of Mount Everest and the North Pole. She did this having never climbed a mountain before the age of 20 and then reached the summit of Everest only two years later at the age of 22.
This rollercoaster journey that taught her the power of taking radical responsibility - for our own mindset, for how we show up in our team, and for finding the resilience to keep moving forward in life’s toughest moments.
Bonita went on to climb multiple 8,000m peaks, including Everest (8,849m), Lhotse (8,516m), and Manaslu (8,163m); has skied to the North Pole; and attempted to become the first British woman to successfully climb K2 (8,611m).
The barriers she broke through in the adventure world earned her a nomination for Cosmopolitan’s Woman of the Year Award.
In 2022, Bonita’s book The Girl Who Climbed Everest became a bestseller.
She now shares The Mountaineer’s Mindset: a set of high-performance tools learned on the ice face of the world’s highest peaks for more ambitious, resilient, and connected teams.
The Mountaineer’s Mindset explores three pillars of high performance:
- Growth Mindset - “focus not fret,” being a “learn it all,” accountability, resilience;
- Marginal Gains - “success by smallness,” keeping tough moments in perspective; and
- Teamwork - “Be great, make others great.” Bonita’s rich and diverse experiences in the mountains have honed her understanding of performance in the face of uncertainty, and she shares these unique insights with audiences all over the world.
Thank you to Open Forum Chair Chris Lam.
Materials:
Monday, July 6, 2026
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Class Actions or Crass Actions? The Latest on Class Action Litigation in North America
Committee Co-Sponsors: Business Litigation, Class Actions and Multi-Party Litigation, Product Liability
Almost every company selling products directly to consumers is at risk of facing class action litigation. This program will address important recent developments in class action litigation in the United States and Canada, including what is required to establish class-wide “price premium” damages, the viability of national class actions, whether voucher settlements are truly dead, and whether class actions are a viable alternative to nationwide injunctions.
Speakers: Tracey Cohen, Fasken Martineau, Vancouver, British Columbia Canada; Creighton Magid, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, Washington, District of Columbia USA
Materials:
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Is Witness Testimony and Cross-Examination in International Commercial Arbitration Overrated?Perspectives and Experiences from Africa, the Americas, and Europe
Committee Co-Sponsors: Alternative Dispute Resolution, International, International Arbitration
Disputes in arbitration are decided by a single arbitrator or an arbitration tribunal, not by a jury. How do you present and prove facts in arbitration proceedings? What convinces arbitrators? Under the rules of some countries, the memories of witnesses are refreshed, and witnesses are prepared by counsel and sometimes even in mock trials. In other countries the preparation of witnesses is limited or even prohibited.
Is witness testimony and the cross-examination of witnesses helpful for the tribunal to find the truth, or is it overrated? How often are arbitral awards based on oral testimony? Is the time and money for all activities relating to the witness testimony well spent? Listen to the perspectives and experiences of our panelists who are from Africa, the Americas, and Europe.
Speakers: Priyesh Daya, Webber Wentzel, Sandton, South Africa; Anne-Karin Grill, AKG Advisory, Vienna, Austria; Daniela Karollus-Bruner, CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz Rechtsanwalte GmbH, Vienna, Austria; Anton G. Maurer, Anton Maurer International Legal Services Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft MbH, Stuttgart, Germany; Edward S. Sledge, IV, Bradley LLP, Birmingham, Alabama USA
Materials:
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Not Getting the Band Back Together: Trademark Disputes in the Music World
Committee Co-Sponsors: Business Litigation, Intellectual Property, International
The world has witnessed some pretty famous “divorces” among bands when they didn’t take steps to protect their trademarks up front and decide who could use them should the band "break up." Who can use the name? Journey, REO Speedwagon, The Beach Boys, The Beatles vs. Apple, etc. This program will explore ownership of trademark rights, how to acquire them, what to do on the front end, trademark names, geographic locations, and more in the context of the music world using case studies of bands that fell apart.
Speakers: David L. Patron, Phelps Dunbar LLP, New Orleans, Louisiana USA; Rachael Rodman, Thompson Hine LLP, Columbus, Ohio USA; Gabriela Staber, CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz Rechtsanwalte GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Materials:
8:45 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Work of Equal Value? Navigating the Next Era of Pay Equity
Committee Sponsor: Employment Law
By June 7, 2026, all 27 EU member states must transpose the EU Pay Transparency Directive into national law, a move aimed at closing the gender pay gap. But what will this mean for businesses in practice?
We’ll explore lessons learned from the UK, where equal pay claims arising from the concept of equal value tipped Birmingham City Council into de facto bankruptcy, ultimately paying more than £250 million in settlements to female employees. What can organizations do to avoid similar risks?
Join our panel of experts from the USA, UK, and EU—alongside HR professionals—for insights on:
(1) Designing pay structures that ensure fairness and compliance;
(2) Understanding and measuring “work of equal value;” and
(3) Benchmarking strategies to future-proof your organization.
Speakers: Barbara Johnson, BLJohnsonLaw PLLC, Washington, District of Columbia USA; Cecilia Lahaye, Crowell & Moring, Brussels, Belgium; Daniella McGuigan, Ogletree Deakins, London, England
Materials:
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Advocacy in the Matrix - Navigating the Law in a Simulated World
Committee Sponsor: Product Liability
AI presents unique challenges and opportunities whether you are in trial or arbitration. Hallucinated legal citations are increasingly common. Deepfakes and AI-generated “evidence” must be detected and excluded. AI bots are beginning to participate in jury selection, analysis, and voir dire. Judges themselves are grappling with how to integrate AI tools into the administration of justice. How can the courts and practitioners immunize the courts from these existential threats? Using discussion, real-world examples, and a few entertaining demonstrations, this program provides practical guidance for navigating a profession transformed by AI.
Speakers: Jonathan D. Franklin, Franklin Legal Group, PA, Miami, Florida USA; Stephen G.A. Myers, Irwin Fritchie Urquhart Moore & Daniels LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana USA; Tanya Rolo, Johnson & Johnson, New York, New York USA; Michael C. Zogby, Barnes & Thornburg, Morristown, New Jersey USA
Materials:
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
One Crisis, Many Forums: Harmonizing Multi-Jurisdictional Defense
Committee Co-Sponsors: Class Actions and Multi-Party Litigation, Drug, Device and Biotechnology, International, and Product Liability
Increasingly, product crises trigger both regulatory investigations and class actions—often in multiple jurisdictions.
This session explores how defense teams can harmonize their strategy across regulatory, civil, and reputational dimensions. Drawing from recent pharma, automotive, and medical device matters, speakers will address privilege management, global messaging, and the use of cooperation agreements, or Pierringer-style settlements, to contain exposure.
Speakers: Lindsay Lorimer, McMillan LLP, Toronto, Ontario Canada; Suzanne G. Meredith, Toyota Material Handling North America, Inc. - US, Columbus, Indiana USA; Ron Peleg, Meitar Law Firm, Ramat Gan, Israel; Alexandra Rose, Clayton Utz, Sydney, Australia
Materials:
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Bankrupt? Now What? Practical Considerations Following a Party Bankruptcy in Mass Torts Litigation
Committee Co-Sponsors: Business Litigation, Product Liability, Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation
Building upon the 2025 Annual Meeting presentation on the Texas Two-Step bankruptcy, this panel discussion will focus on the consequences of a bankruptcy.
If your client files bankruptcy, how can its lawyers get paid? If a related entity files bankruptcy, can your client avail itself of the automatic stay? If it’s a co-defendant, should the matter be stayed as to all defendants or can it proceed without the bankrupt party?
A panel of experienced litigators and an in-house counsel who muddled through a bankruptcy will provide guidance you may use to advise your clients should another party to mass torts litigation file for bankruptcy.
Speakers: Elizabeth M. Brotten, Foley & Mansfield, PLLP, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA; Mahsa Kashani Tippins, DCo LLC, Nashville, Tennessee USA; Scott J. Wilkov, Tucker Ellis LLP, Cleveland, Ohio USA
Materials:
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Cross-Border Contract Enforcement in a Fragmented World
Committee Co-Sponsors: Business Litigation, Class Actions and Multi-Party Litigation, Corporate Counsel, International Arbitration
Explore how shifting geopolitics, sanctions, and diverging national laws complicate contract enforcement and arbitration—plus strategies to preserve jurisdictional predictability and enforceability across multiple legal systems.
Speakers: Bevan Brooksbank, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Toronto, Ontario Canada; Kurt B. Gerstner, Dentons Lee, Seoul, Korea; Aline Wey Speirs, Charles Russell Speechlys - Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Materials:
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Riding the Risk Pipeline: Drafting Insurance Policies for Corporate Offense and Courtroom Defense
Committee Co-Sponsors: Business Litigation, Construction Law and Litigation, Corporate Counsel, Employment Law, Insurance and Reinsurance
We are in a world where seeing around the corner, speculating the future, and trying to assess what is to come is expected. Insurance professionals are taking the lead on where the risks are hiding and exposing them through proactive drafting of policies to protect people, places, and things. Those being protected are the insured population of corporations and those being empowered are the counsel that defend them.
This panel will discuss the process of risk profiling in the insurance industry that results in the development of policies offered to its insured population; how companies internally determine the risks on their businesses and guide boards toward mitigation; and ways outside counsel can prepare to defend insured matters for corporate clients by understanding business risk tolerances and engaging insurance professionals as risk historians.
Speakers: Brittany F. Boykin, Brit Insurance, London, England; Alexander G. Henlin, Hurwitz Fine P.C., Concord, New Hampshire USA; Henning Schaloske, Clyde & Co, Düsseldorf, Germany; Sharon Donaldson Stuart, Christian & Small LLP, Birmingham, Alabama USA
Materials:
8:45 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Mitigating Litigation Risks in an Ever-Changing International Environmental Regulatory Climate
Committee Co-Sponsors: Environmental and Energy Law, International, Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation
The world is currently in a state of change regarding environmental litigation, regulation, ESG, and reporting rules.
Starting in 2025, the United States federal government and several governments around the world began to implement significant deregulation, rapidly changing long established rules and in some cases disregarding certain statutory requirements all together. In response, states, NGOs, and personal injury plaintiffs are pursuing traditional and new opportunities to prosecute private actors for failing to comply with minimum statutory requirements.
The EU is shifting from expansive ESG rule-making toward a more pragmatic, pro-competitive model in which frameworks such as the EU Taxonomy, CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards), Clean Industrial Deal, and the Omnibus package are simplified or introduced to support investment, transparency, and industrial competitiveness rather than impose excessive administrative burdens. Additionally, ESG and reporting issues appear and develop globally, in other jurisdictions.
These changes create a complex global picture of regulatory opportunities along with uncertainties and risks.
This presentation of international experts from various jurisdictions will analyze litigation and compliance risks in deregulation and liberalization of reporting standards and present strategies for navigating the ever-changing regulatory climate.
Speakers: Mark Clark, Parsons McEntire McCleary PLLC, Houston, Texas USA; Joel D. Eagle, Thompson Hine LLP, Cleveland, Ohio USA; John S. Guttmann, Beveridge & Diamond PC, Washington, District of Columbia USA; Döne Yalçın, CMS, Istanbul, Turkey; Kamil Zawicki, KKG Legal, Warsaw, Poland
Materials:
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
When Code Takes the Wheel: Mastering Autonomy’s Legal and Cyber Risks
Committee Co-Sponsors: Cyber Security, Data Privacy and Technology, Insurance and Reinsurance, Transportation
As software increasingly drives autonomous applications, liability starts to shift from users to code. This session equips IADC members to manage emerging risks when cyber defects, OTA updates, or AI behavior cause harm in autonomous applications such as vehicles, medical devices, industrial controls, and aviation subsystems. In considering who may be at fault when things go wrong, we’ll cover:
-Role of the manufacturer, software developer/programmer, and users
-Joint liability, e.g., of other drivers
-Industry guidance and best practices, including good machine learning practice
-Risk management across the product lifecycle
-Impact on insurance if algorithms are tweaked or “drift”
We’ll also examine autonomy’s promise of mobility, safety, and trucking relief, as well as the perils of ethical dilemmas, AI bias, hacking, and privacy.
Speakers: Sharon L. Caffrey, Duane Morris, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA; Summer Fowler, Exponent, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA; Sarah Jones, Waymo, Los Angeles, California USA; Michael Malterer, Dentons, Munich, Germany
Materials:
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Caught in the Middle: Plotting the Proper Ethical and Privilege Course When In-House Counsel Confront Risk, Compliance, and Business Pressures
Committee Sponsor: Corporate Counsel
In-house lawyers are often uniquely positioned between technical teams, external counsel, and business leadership, and in this role, increasingly encounter conflicting demands that create ethical and strategic tension. They must supply critical advice to, for example, resolve friction between these groups’ differing safety definitions, engineering and legal standards, and business goals and legal boundaries. They also face scenarios such as production pressures when minor non-compliances arise, external counsel recommendations that lack technical context, and OEM disagreements over compliance interpretations. And they must do so in a privileged manner—often with cross-border complexities—while maintaining ethical standards.
This panel will discuss these knotty issues and identify solutions for when in-house counsel—and their outside-counsel partners—are caught in the middle.
Speakers: Pinar Ciplak, AUMOVIO, Frankfurt, Germany; Konrad Pilatowicz, U-Haul International, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona USA; Todd Presnell, Bradley LLP, Nashville, Tennessee USA; Sarah K. Wolfe, AUMOVIO, Charlotte, North Carolina USA
Materials:
Wednesday, July 8, 2026
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Hot Topics in International Arbitration of (Re)Insurance Disputes
Committee Co-Sponsors: Insurance and Reinsurance, International, International Arbitration
In this dynamic 60-minute panel, leading insurance and reinsurance arbitration experts will analyze cutting-edge global trends reshaping dispute resolution in the insurance and reinsurance sectors. They will offer a forward-looking examination of emerging challenges ranging from cyber risk and technology disputes to sanctions-related arbitration stemming from geopolitical conflicts. Panelists will also discuss how evolving laws and regulations across jurisdictions are impacting arbitration strategy and procedure. Key issues include navigating jurisdictional hurdles in cross-border insurance disputes, adopting procedural innovations in international arbitration (such as virtual hearings and AI) to manage complex cases, and enforcing arbitral awards worldwide. Attendees can an engaging discussion of these hot topics and their practical implications to gain insight from seasoned practitioners that act in (re)insurance arbitration, both as party counsel and arbitrators. This session is tailored for seasoned insurance lawyers eager to stay ahead of global dispute trends and refine their arbitration approach and is at the core of IADC: international insurance disputes.
Speakers: Neftali Garro, BLP, San Jose, Costa Rica; Frank Lattal, Lattal ADR, Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania USA; Bill J. Perry, Carter Perry Bailey LLP, Maidenhead, England; Hiroyuki Tezuka, Nishimura & Asahi, Tokyo, Japan
Materials:
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Our Town Sues: Municipalities and States in Mass Tort Litigation
Committee Co-Sponsors: Drug, Device and Biotechnology, Product Liability, Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation
Lawsuits brought by state and local government entities have become common in large-scale litigation. In recent years, state attorneys general and municipalities have been active across a wide range of cases, including products liability, environmental, and antitrust disputes, sometimes with private counsel representing the government.
This panel will discuss the recent history of state and local government litigation, including examples of particularly impactful litigation by such entities, and discuss how outside and in-house counsel for defendants can best respond to litigation brought by state and local governments.
Speakers: Michael L. Fox, Duane Morris LLP, San Francisco, California USA; Shelly Goldklang, Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, New Jersey USA; Grant Worden, Torys LLP, Toronto, Ontario Canada
Materials:
7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Running Scared? Are We Settling Too Many Cases Because of Risk Fear?
Committee Co-Sponsors: Corporate Counsel, Insurance and Reinsurance, Insurance Executives, Trial Techniques and Tactics
In recent years, verdicts have risen and continue to rise, impacting the willingness of defendants to risk proceeding to trial, leaving their fate in the hands of the judge or jury. Different and sometimes opposite perspectives and analysis often arise when determining whether settlement or trial is the best strategy. Considerations such as defendant's business reputation, setting precedent, admissions, inflated damages, case venue, and jury pool all impact the final decision.
This program explores this perceived trend to settle out of fear of an unpredictable verdict or who the opposing attorney is and how lawyers can ethically and effectively counsel both insurers and their clients through the risk and reward of settlement or trial. The panel will provide insight for both in-house and outside counsel regarding how to ethically navigate these competing interests.
Speakers: Stacy L. Douglas, Everett Dorey LLP, Los Angeles, California USA; Christine S. Egner, Continental Tire the Americas, Fort Mill, South Carolina USA; Natalie Furniss, Nationwide Insurance, Columbus, Ohio USA; Deborah St. Lawrence Thompson, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, Baltimore, Maryland USA
Materials:
8:45 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Lawyering in the Exponential Age: Creativity, Curiosity, and Agility in the New In-House/Outside Counsel Partnership
Committee Sponsor: Corporate Counsel
As technology accelerates and client expectations evolve, legal excellence now demands more than expertise—it requires creativity, curiosity, and agility. This panel explores how these human capabilities are redefining the in-house/outside counsel relationship in an AI-driven era. Topics include what in-house counsel value most today, how AI is reshaping expectations, and how leading firms are adapting to stay ahead. Discover why the lawyers who thrive will be those who combine insight and adaptability with strategic collaboration.
Speakers: Donna Haddad, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois USA; Lloyd Johnson, Chief Legal Executive, San Francisco, California USA; Christian Murad, Lucid Motors, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Tarek Nakkach, Kyndryl, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Materials:
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Is Litigation Funding Always a Bad Thing?
Committee Co-Sponsors: Business Litigation, Corporate Counsel
We tend to think of litigation funding as a tool of the greedy plaintiff bar. But our clients are increasingly offered litigation funding to facilitate litigation that is important to them. Learn how to best advise them of important considerations when evaluating such proposals.
Speakers: Kirstin L. Abel, Daimler Truck North America, LLC, Portland, Oregon USA; Mark A. Behrens, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP, Washington, District of Columbia USA; Anna Cook, Bristows LLP, London, England; Alexander Geisler, Duane Morris LLP, London, England; Shaman Kapoor, Essex Chambers, London, England
Materials:
11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
From Farms to Pharma: Public Nuisance Claims in Large-Scale Litigation
Committee Co-Sponsors: Drug, Device and Biotechnology, Product Liability, Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation
From their use in past cases related to public lands and agriculture, public nuisance theories have now become a potent, widely used tool across a range of litigation, and particularly in cases targeting large-scale social concerns. For example, public nuisance claims have appeared in worldwide litigation related to climate change, where recent high-profile decisions may expand the doctrine’s use. Public nuisance theories have also been discussed extensively in connection with litigation over tobacco, PFAS chemicals, opioids, and “ultra-processed” food. This panel will discuss the history of public nuisance claims, their role in large-scale litigation worldwide, and how defendants can prevail against them.
Speakers: Sean Kennedy, Moderna, New York, New York USA; Robin Linley, Blakes, Toronto, Ontario Canada; Ben J. Scott, Butler Snow LLP, Memphis, Tennessee USA; Gregory Williams, Clayton Utz, Sydney, Australia
Materials: