Global uncertainty and instability have been increasing over the last decade, but significant armed conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Africa, tensions in Asia, unprecedented weather events, and an election super-cycle have converged in 2024 to fuel even greater real and perceived instability.  With more 1.5 Billion ballots cast in 73 elections taking place globally in 2024, even in well-established democracies we are seeing political violence, from Mexico’s pre-election assassinations, to the protests in Austria following its September election results, to the overthrow of the government in Bangladesh by student protesters following its elections in January, and, across the world, we are seeing the migration of the economic elite to jurisdictions that are perceived to provide personal security, tax certainty, and stability.  In this climate of migration and instability, we as advisors have to be flexible and creative in our planning approaches and thoughtful in how we address our clients’ concerns that stray far beyond taxation.

Identifying good culture and practice in an increasingly competitive and fast-changing landscape is straightforward, but how do you define it and how do you achieve it? This session will explore how our workplaces are evolving, pitfalls and innovative approaches to retention and recruitment, and the tensions and benefits of generational diversity.

Borderline tactics in litigation: where is the line and how do you draw it? This session is going to cover some of the more extreme tactics we have come across as well as the litigation strategies which we consider are both over and underused in both UK and offshore litigation.

This session will examine tax treaties: the OECD model tax treaties for income taxes and estate taxes, and the impact of privileged tax status, domicile status and amendments.

This session will explore firm strategies and the evolving international regulatory landscape.

Wealth transfers in international settings: making them happen the optimized way.

To what extent does legal analysis accommodate changing views of morality and ethics and what are the potential pitfalls and challenges for legal advisors navigating these issues?

’For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer’…An interactive discussion about the interplay between matrimonial property regimes and nuptial agreements on death and divorce in England, Brazil and beyond. 

There are many roadblocks to effective BD. The most successful lawyers work hard to become trusted advisors which enables them to generate high volumes of long-term revenue for the whole firm. This workshop will explore how to master BD and overcome these roadblocks as well as look to what the future might hold for BD. Come armed with your own BD roadblocks to discuss how you might go about overcoming them to develop your own clients relationships.

This is the return of our popular Friday morning session which will be a chance for us to touch on topics which we missed elsewhere in the agenda, and others which our group would like to raise. This is a chance to bring up the interesting recent developments in your jurisdictions which mightn’t have fit earlier in the Forum.