QUICK LINKS
Information
CLE Materials
Return to the 2026 International Corporate Counsel College Attendee Page
2026 INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE COUNSEL COLLEGE INFORMATION
How to Obtain CLE Credit:
Attendees wishing to receive CLE credit for the International Corporate Counsel College may apply directly to their applicable accrediting authority. Following the program, IADC will provide a certificate of attendance, the program agenda, and other available supporting materials to assist attendees with their individual applications. Attendees should review their jurisdiction’s requirements in advance.
|
2026 INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE COUNSEL COLLEGE CLE MATERIALS
Below you will find the CLE schedule with materials for the 2026 International Corporate Counsel College.
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 Melisa Maisel Vanis, Director of Meetings and Professional Development, at [email protected] or Ashley Hatfield, Director of Communications, at [email protected].
15 OCTOBER, THURSDAY
8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
REGISTRATION
9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Mark Hansen, 2026-2027 IADC President, GROWMARK, Inc., Peoria, IL USA
Cecilia Lahaye, International Corporate Counsel College Director, Crowell & Moring LLP, Brussels, Belgium
9:15 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Moderator: Jennifer Haltom Doan, Haltom & Doan, Texarkana, TX USA
Speakers: Congressman Nathaniel Moran, Whitehouse, TX USA; Johan Van Overtveldt, Member of the European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium
10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
NETWORKING BREAK
10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Volatility, Uncertainty, Chaos, and Ambiguity (VUCA): Finding Solutions in the Current Geo-Political Climate
VUCA is an acronym used by business and strategic leadership to describe unpredictable, rapidly changing environments and to outline frameworks for successful decision-making. In the current tumultuous geopolitical landscape, legal counsel should re-examine and reinforce the contractual frameworks upon which the continuity of their businesses and commercial relationships depend. Join our experienced panelists as they discuss the practical legal tools and contractual mechanisms (e.g. hardship, choice of law, force majeure) which companies can use to protect their interests and preserve business continuity in challenging times.
Moderator: Paul Lefebvre, Jansen Lefebvre, Brussels, Belgium
Speakers: Koenraad van Himbeeck, John Cockerill Group, Seraing, Belgium; Tom Vasterd, Witteveen+Bos N.V., Deventer, the Netherlands
Materials:
11:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Competition and Competitiveness in the EU: A Roundabout Where Competition Policy and Industrial Policy Meet
The relationship between safeguarding competition between companies and ensuring their competitiveness in a global economy was already high on the agenda of the European Union at its origin in the 1950s and it has not disappeared from that agenda ever since. Are these two objectives at odds with each other or do they complement one another? The panelists will delve deeper into this timely topic, speaking from their personal experience as enforcement official, legal advisor, or economic expert.
Moderator: Luc Gyselen, Arnold & Porter, Brussels, Belgium
Speakers: Karel Bourgeois, Crowell & Moring LLP, Brussels, Belgium; Olivier Guersent, Former Director of DC Competition, Brussels, Belgium; Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Kühn, Berkeley Research Group, LLC​, Brussels, Belgium
Materials:
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
LUNCHEON AND NETWORKING
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Decisions About Your Disputes: How Judges Decide the Cases We Put in Their Hands
In any legal system based on the rule of law, judges will interpret and apply the law to the cases that come before them. What is the process for judicial interpretation and adjudication, including the spectrum of expectations that the public imposes on judges? Is it a matter of “judicial activism” versus “judicial restraint”? This program will discuss whether these terms should be reconsidered as features of the process, and the boundaries and considerations that constrain judges and ensure the integrity of the legal systems and the respect for the rule of law.
Moderator: Shannon R. Joseph, Morningstar Law Group, Raleigh, NC USA
Speakers: Hon. Jerry W. Blackwell, U.S. District Judge, District of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN USA; Prof. Dr. P. Lemmens, Judge Emeritus, European Court of Human Rights, Leuven, Belgium; Caroline Verbruggen, Court of Appeal, Brussels, Belgium
Materials:
2:30 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
NETWORKING BREAK
2:45 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Borders, Bytes, and Burdens: The Modern Challenge of Cross-Border Document Production
An arbitrator, an in-house counsel, and two experienced outside counsel address the challenges of cross-border document production and discovery in international arbitration and litigation.
Moderator: Dixie T. Wells, Ellis & Winters LLP, Greensboro, NC USA
Speakers: Emily Hay, ArbBoutique, Brussels, Belgium; Eileen Khor, Siemens Energy, Erlangen, Germany; Siraj Omar, SC, Siraj Omar LLC, Singapore, Singapore
Materials:
3:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
AI - Friend or Foe? How AI Redefines the Relationship Between In-House and Outside Counsel
A practical look at the effects of AI on the practice and the relationship issues it creates between inside and outside counsel, privilege, privacy, and other practical issues.
Moderator: Jonathan Franklin, Franklin Legal Group, PA, Miami, FL USA
Speakers: Natalia Chumak, Signature Litigation, London, England; Alex Jacobs, Berkeley Research Group, LLC​, Dallas, TX USA; Alexandra Simotta, Group General Counsel – Strategic Affairs and AI Governance, Anyline GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Materials:
6:30 p.m.
DINNER
Guest Speaker: Matthew Whitaker, United States Ambassador to NATO
16 OCTOBER, FRIDAY
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Navigating Troubled Waters: Mastering Global Risk in Tariffs, Supply Chains, and Maritime Hotspots
When marine insurers cancel war-risk coverage in a high-risk conflict zone, a strategic strait is effectively shut down and global trade grinds to a halt, even before physical blockades take hold. Global trade compliance becomes a highly complex matter when faced with a continuously evolving U.S. regulatory landscape. What is the EU’s perspective on regulatory harmonization between the U.S. and Europe? How can one ensure supply chain resilience and avoid carrier liability across Asia and global routes? This EU/US panel will provide insights to help multinational companies steer their way through the choppy waters of tariffs, customs enforcement, and crisis management in international shipping.
Speakers: Ivana Kikerec, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Zagreb, Croatia; Marco Remiorz, DWF, Hamburg, Germany
Materials:
10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK
10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
EU Sanctions, Russian Retaliation, and the Rule of Law: The Case of Euroclear
Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, roughly €185 billion ($213+ billion) in Russian sovereign assets held at the Belgian central securities depository Euroclear were immobilized as part of the EU sanction regime. The question on whether and how to use these funds could be used became the subject of intense legal, financial, and geopolitical struggles. Euroclear is a case in point on how geopolitical tension can put the rule of law under considerable duress and on the scope of legal protection that is awarded in the event of sanctions.
Moderator: Michel Tison, Dean of the Law Faculty, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Speakers: Celia Challet, Assistant Professor in Law, European School of Political Science, Université Catholique de Lille, Lille, France; Kristof Macours, Group General Counsel & Company Secretary, Euroclear, Brussels, Belgium; Peter Van Elsuwege, Professor in EU Law, Ghent University, Academic Supervisor Minos (Multidisciplinary International Network on Sanctions), Ghent, Belgium
Materials:
11:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
CLOSING REMARKS
Cecilia Lahaye, 2026 International Corporate Counsel College Director, Crowell & Moring LLP, Brussels, Belgium
Edmund Kronenburg, 2027 International Corporate Counsel College Director, Braddell Brothers LLP, Singapore, Singapore