Law firm network Lex Mundi held its 2016 Asia Pacific Regional Conference from November 17 to 19 in Jakarta, Indonesia, hosted by local law firm Ali Budiardjo, Nugroho, Reksodiputro (ABNR).
The event was open to member firms and their clients, and featured expert speakers from government, business and the media who shared their perspectives on economic growth for the region. It opened up opportunities to explore a broad array of legal matter discussions and meetings related to cross-border transactions; antitrust, competition and trade; and litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution.
Topics discussed included the future of economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region; the ASEAN region in 2016 and beyond; capitalising on the emerging market of Indonesia; the changing legal market in the Asian region; furthering business development initiatives, and effective communications for law firms.
John Matson, a partner with Irish law firm Arthur Cox and the chair of Lex Mundi, said the conference programmes allowed participants to have a better understanding of the socio-economic opportunities and challenges in the APAC region. “Attendees had come away with a better understanding of economic growth for the APAC region, developments with the ASEAN economic community, the emerging Indonesian market and the changing marketplace for legal services in the region,” he noted.
This conference is one of the four regional conferences that Lex Mundi holds each year in various areas including North America, Latin America, Europe and Middle East or Africa. It provided member firms with the opportunity to invite their clients as it focuses on topical regional and sub-region matters having a great impact on clients’ business activities. “The conference was a great opportunity for our member firm lawyers to gain and share information and help them serve clients investing and operating in the APAC region,” said Carl Anduri, president of Lex Mundi.
He added that one of the key highlights of the conference was that business and political consultants providing insights into key social-political activities impacting businesses within the region to clients and Lex Mundi member firm lawyers. “We benefited through focused networking with clients and member firm lawyers, by planning joint business development efforts, skills training and sharing legal developments within APAC jurisdictions among member firm lawyers,” said Anduri.
Matson further noted that through the conference clients were also able to interact and build connections with other Lex Mundi member firm lawyers who have the expertise and in-depth understanding of the local economies, governments, business climates and cultures for their respective jurisdictions to support their cross-border legal needs.
Agus Ahadi Deradjat (Agung), a partner at ABNR, said that as the firm had been a member of Lex Mundi for 25 years, it was an “honour” to host the Jakarta conference. “The preparation was a lot of work, but we were rewarded by the positive comments of the conference participants who were generally happy with how the event went. We are also very pleased that everyone seemed to have a good time during the three-day conference,” he said.
During the conference there were reports of protests in the city, but those did not have any impact on its smooth running. “The conference was held during what an ‘interesting’ time in our national politics. Some of the participants were nervous about getting caught up in the commotion, but in the end they understood that Jakarta is a safe city. We were glad that the conference went smoothly,” said Agung.
