What do US Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour and first woman president of the International Bar Association (IBA), Dianna Kempe QC, have in common?
Apart from being women who have broken through the cliched glass ceiling in their respective fields, they will all be speaking at the first World Women Lawyers Conference to be held in London on 1 and 2 March 2001. Women lawyers from all jurisdictions and across the whole range of practice areas will have the chance to meet, learn and network in a unique event attended by some of the world's most successful and powerful women.
This is the first time that the voice of women in the law will be heard in such a forum, and it is not just the lawyers practising in the Western or developed legal systems who have come together through the IBA Women's Interest Group, which was founded by Kempe.
The 2001 conference will be a first in many ways. Counsel Selinda Melnik is the founder and first chair of an international organisation called the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), which was formed in 1994 by women lawyers, accountants, bankers and others working in the insolvency area from over 20 countries. Its dual purpose is to enhance the position of women in the insolvency-related professions and to raise awareness of the impact of insolvency on women and families internationally.
Melnik says, 'My role in the conference is to co-chair with Nancy Lazar of Davis, Polk & Wardwell (NY) a session on "The Impact of Insolvency on Women and Families", with panellists from Asia, Africa and North America who will explore the impact that insolvencies have on women and families and the reforms in domestic and international insolvency and other laws necessary to assist them'.
She adds: 'I am very excited about the World Women Lawyers' Conference and applaud the indefatigable efforts of new IBA President Dianna Kempe in conceiving, organising and presenting a ground-breaking international event certain to make a lasting contribution of continuing benefit over the coming years.'
The difference with this conference has been highlighted by the range of the panellists for the session to be co-chaired by Melnik - it is truly international. The topics in the two-day conference are comprehensive, both geographically and in covering the wide spectrum of legal practice. The sessions range from e-commerce, banking and finance and capital markets, energy law, employment law, to family law, human rights and a plenary session on women, Islam and the law.
Shazadi Beg, a special adjudicator based in London who deals with refugee appeals, says, 'This conference is different because it encompasses a whole range of issues and interests right across the board, not just the concerns of women from the developed world, and the objective is to show women that they really can make a difference.'
For the conference and her involvement as a speaker at one of the plenary sessions, Beg is preparing an action plan to encourage women to speak for themselves and for others; part of that plan is to ask that those attending the conference donate part of their fees to help the work of the IBA's Human Rights Institute, and also to ask those attending to volunteer part of their free time to help in training lawyers for those parts of the world where that advice and assistance is most needed, such as in Karachi. She adds: 'We are looking for lawyers to support the work of the international community of lawyers in working to provide access to justice, including pro bono work and the setting up of legal aid systems.'
This initiative is not a new one. As Melnik says, 'In 1975, I was fortunate to have been an active participant in planning and administering the First United Nations International Women's Year Conference and NGO Forum, which was held in Mexico City, and which has been held on a regular basis over the last 25 years. That international conclave had a tremendous impact on all who attended and helped to draw attention to critical women's issues internationally and shape the debate and programme development in this area. I fully expect the First World Women Lawyers Conference to similarly impact women in the legal profession and domestic and international laws.'
As for the new IBA president whose brainchild this conference is, her views are clear and inclusive. Kempe says, 'It is aimed at inspiring and challenging all those who attend. We have people attending from all over the world, from the developed and developing countries, ranging from India, South Africa, as well as the US and Europe. The keynote speakers such as Christiane Amanpour and Madeline Albright have, inspirationally, done things that are amazing, by any objective criteria. That is what the conference is about - the IBA's Amsterdam conference saw the IBA's Bernard Simons award go to Pakistani lawyer Asma Jahangir for her work in promoting human rights in her country. That will continue to be one of the core issues for the IBA generally, and for the Women's Interest Group, in particular, that you give back to the community - it is a way to make a difference.'
Further information is available from:
Lynn Hazlewood
Head of Public Relations and Marketing
International Bar Association
271 Regent Street
London W1B 2AQ
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7629 1206
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7409 0456
E-mail: lynn.hazlewood@int-bar.org
Website: www.ibanet.org
Dianna Kempe QC
Appleby Spurling & Kempe
Cedar House
41 Cedar Avenue
Hamilton HM 12
Bermuda
Tel: +44 (1) 295 2244
Fax: +44 (1) 292 2159
E-mail: dkempe@ask.bm
Notes
International Bar Association
The International Bar Association is the world's largest organisation of Law Societies, Bar Associations and individual lawyers engaged in international practice. Founded in 1947, it is composed of over 16,000 individual lawyer members in 183 countries and 178 Law Societies and Bar Associations together representing more than 2.5 million lawyers.
The Association's overriding aim is to provide a forum where lawyers can contact, and exchange ideas with, other lawyers. To serve the needs of individual members, the Association contains some 57 specialist Committees which between them cover a vast range of legal subject matter - including Arbitration and ADR, Banking Law, Practice Management and Technology, Employment, Taxes, Medicine and the Law, Utility Law, Water Law and many others. There are also various Forums and Working Groups focusing on regions such as the Asia Pacific, or particular topics such as Capital Markets or the role of Women in the Profession. The Committees, Forums and Working Groups are organised into three Sections, devoted respectively to business law, legal practice and energy & natural resources law.
The Women's Interest Group (WIG) has members in 47 countries representing every area of legal expertise and experience and is one of the largest networks of women lawyers in the world. The WIG was established at the IBA's Biennial Conference in 1996. It was the brainchild of Dianna Kempe QC, President of the IBA, who realised the enormous potential for such a group to exchange and exploit its combined knowledge and experience.