“The fundamentals of international legal business practice – Avoiding conflicts of interest and other ethical traps” Part 1 of virtual training series by the China Working Group (CWG) of the IBA Asia Pacific Regional Forum (APF), and the IBA Young Lawyers’ Committee (“YLC”), June 22nd, 2021

Caroline Berube, Managing Partner of HJM Asia Law, was happy to kickoff an eight-part training series by moderating a stellar panel of brilliant lawyers: Peter Bartlett (MinterEllison, Melbourne, Victoria; Chair, IBA Legal Practice Division) gave opening remarks. Our panellists were Riccardo Cajola (Cajola & Associati, Milan; Webinar Officer, IBA Professional Ethics Committee), Michael S. Carl (SSEK Legal Consultants, Jakarta), Jose Cochingyan III (Cochingyan & Partners Law Offices, Makati City), Gábor Damjanovic (Forgó, Damjanovic & Partners, Budapest; Secretary-Treasurer, IBA Professional Ethics Committee) and Rachel McGuckian (Miles & Stockbridge, Rockville, Maryland; Scholarship Officer, IBA Professional Ethics Committee). The session started with an overview of lawyers’ ethics in China, Italy, Indonesia, Philippines, Hungary and the United States, followed by an interactive discussion on how to avoid conflicts of interest and other ethical traps.  We also presented case studies of ethical dilemmas in each country before taking questions from attendees.  Special thanks to Maria Chew (Conference & Marketing Administrator, IBA) and Juni Son (Director, Asia Office, IBA) for supporting on logistics and marketing.