This piece was collaboratively co-authored by The Grey Matter and Elevare Asia.

The 2025 IBA Annual Conference recently concluded in Toronto, bringing together lawyers from over 100 jurisdictions. The event generated significant buzz across the global legal community, with real-time updates, insights, and reflections flooding LinkedIn and industry platforms — a testament to the IBA’s continued relevance as the premier gathering for international legal professionals.

When it comes to the Annual Conference, law firms often split between two school of thoughts:

• Some dismiss it as a “sheep walk” calling it an expensive, overcrowded affair that dilutes valuable BD time. They prefer targeted trips to specific countries or client-rich jurisdictions.
• Others argue it to be a once-a-year convergence where anyone who matters in the global legal market is present. If one is serious about cross-border work, one needs to be there!

For law firms genuinely committed to expanding their global relationships, the IBA presents a powerful opportunity. Drawing on over a decade of experience supporting firms before, during, and after the conference, we have seen that outcomes depend on preparation and purpose.

A clear, strategic approach transforms the IBA from a networking event into a genuine source of ROI — driving tangible business wins, cross-border collaborations, and sustained professional growth.

TGM’s approach to making IBA a success

IBA success for law firms is not simply about showing up and hoping for the best. It involves months of research and preparation. We help bring the right team members together for key discussions, prioritize strategic meetings, coordinate team schedules, and follow up proactively. The goal is to focus on productive meetings instead of haphazard networking.

• Early Outreach & Preparation: We begin the outreach exercise 4-6 months in advance by connecting with target firms, practice group committees and key influencers from the host country. This ensures that our schedules are filled with rewarding and meaningful meetings.
• On-the-Ground Coordination: Our meticulous planning executed with live spreadsheets and regular team check-ins to manage a swamped schedule of breakfast events, receptions and focused one-on-ones. Each conversation is intentional and recorded.
• Post Conference Debrief and Follow-Up: After the IBA, we meet with the IBA delegation for a debrief of all the meetings including their experience and learnings from the IBA week. We create a report for the firm, with all their learnings and share detailed analytics of our outreach exercise for the firm to understand how many firms we wrote to and how many converted into a meeting or an engagement. This exercise provides tangible learnings. We also prompt the firm to ensure timely follow ups such as thank-you notes, schedule virtual meet ups, joint webinars, or scoping new matters.

Factors for ROI

Law firms often question whether the investment in the annual IBA meet is worth the effort, time and energy.

The answer lies in how deliberately the event is approached, planned and executed.​ ROI is not a by-product of participation, it is the outcome of clarity, intent, strategic foresight, and disciplined implementation.

• Value creation is highest for those who prepare months in advance, defining their objectives such as exploring India outbound/inbound deals, connecting with global PE/MA specialists, or engaging with new practice area specific committees.
• Rejection comes before acceptance – learn to be comfortable with being ignored or receiving no response. It helps to better understand the firm’s target areas for improvement. In our experience, a first time mid-sized law firm achieving an approximately 10 -12 % conversion rates on cold outreach are considered excellent for the IBA Annual Conference.
• Relationship-building yields benefits over multiple years. Many meetings documented in the itineraries highlight how initial introductions, repeat conference attendance and shared sector interest lead to lasting business relationships and client work.​​
• Firms using the IBA as a platform for thought leadership by contributing to panels, hosting events or showcasing expertise, gain additional visibility within the global legal community.

What Is the Actual ROI? Here is a snippet of what comes out of the interactions during the IBA

• Deep-Dive into Industry Hotspots:  At this year’s IBA meetings for instance, meetings revealed a strong momentum and expanding business prospects between India and Argentina through minerals and agritech sectors. The Canadian market experienced similar growth patterns in health sciences and venture capital investments.
• Referral Networks & Cross-Border Collaboration: Engagements with firms from Belgium, USA, Liechtenstein, and Mexico resulting in concrete requests such as scope for due diligence or invitations to co-present client webinars, demonstrates the conference’s ability to convert introductions into concrete projects.
• Canadian Inbound Interest: Requirement from Indian firms to assist Canadian funds and startups eager to invest in Indian infrastructure and emerging sectors with specific growth opportunities in data centres, ports, airports, and retail. The Canadian firms inviting Indian firms to discuss mandates for infrastructure and regulated sector entry.​
• Real-Time Market Intelligence: Conversations provided insights on evolving legal landscapes including Dubai’s corporate tax reforms, Europe’s private wealth succession planning, private equity investments into Vietnam, and regulatory changes in automotive and infrastructure sectors. These insights offer Indian firms the edge to advise both inbound and outbound clients proactively.
• Some firms expressed preference to work with nimble Indian practitioners rather than larger firms, enabling agile and young firms to secure mandates.
• Several meetings highlighted the importance of repeat conference attendance and consistent follow-up, which deepens collaboration leading to sustained referral streams and business growth.
• Several discussions spark valuable ideas. Whether it is identifying the right committees or organisations to join, discovering innovative initiatives to implement, or exploring new technologies that streamline internal processes keeping one up to date on what is shaping the legal profession’s future.
• Spontaneous interactions at dinners, receptions and events validate the power of informal meet ups at IBA, which may not translate into immediate deals, but helps build a reservoir of contacts for the future.
• A landmark report launched at the International Bar Association’s (IBA) 2025 Annual Conference in Toronto – called Navigating Global Growth highlighted the growing global significance of independent law firms in cross-border legal work.

Elevare Asia’s perspective for lawyers and law firms in Asia

For lawyers in Asia, the IBA provides a great platform for global networking, professional development and influencing international legal standards.

Specific to Asia, the Asia Pacific Regional Forums, under the umbrella of the IBA, are tailored to address legal business development and challenges relevant to the region covering areas such as data privacy regulations, M&A trends and dispute resolution mechanisms in Asia. In the recent IBA conference in Toronto, sessions such as the Arab Regional Forum, Asia Pacific Regional Forum, China Working Group, India Working Group recognise that developments in these parts of Asia need to be shared on the global stage.

For Asia lawyers, the opportunity to attend and speak at IBA events helps raise their professional profile and brand recognition of individual lawyers and their firms among the international legal community.

However, for some lawyers, notably the younger ones or those from smaller hubs, the cost of attending global conferences can be a challenge. Another challenge is when the dust has settled after the event, the connections made, the plans discussed may be put on the back-burner as lawyers returning to Asia need to turn their attention to the more immediate.

Undoubtedly, a game plan established long before the event needs to be drawn up, but it has to be realistic – as realistic as the post event follow-up actions. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, but be focused on key priorities.

So is the IBA relevant to lawyers in Asia? The overall sentiment seems to support the IBA – going by the numerous positive posts of Asian lawyers on social media and the connections they have made while in Toronto. A LinkedIn post of a Singapore-based lawyer said, “The IBA 2025 was another huge success. The opportunity to renew friendships and to discuss ideas, trends and collaboration is always invaluable.”

More importantly, where there is business, legal advice is needed. In a recent report from the International Monetary Fund (Asia’s Economic Growth Is Weathering Tariffs and Uncertainty), despite tariffs and uncertainty, Asia has proven to be resilient and will remain the biggest driver of global growth, contributing to about 60% in 2025 and 2026. Asia’s business with the rest of the world is still going strong, therefore, for lawyers in Asia, showing up with a realistic game plan at IBA events is non-negotiable.

Continuing engagement beyond the IBA events

The IBA’s significance is especially evident in Greater China. Hong Kong, as a major international legal hub, benefits from the IBA’s global standards and networking, which supports its role in dispute resolution and arbitration. The IBA’s China Working Group engages with Chinese lawyers to keep pace with regional legal developments and promote active participation in IBA activities, facilitating important cross-border collaboration.

Additionally, Hong Kong’s legal institutions, including the Law Society and Bar Association, regularly collaborate with the IBA to promote legal education, uphold the rule of law, and maintain judicial independence – factors in maintaining confidence amid geopolitical challenges.

Beyond Greater China, the IBA supports lawyers across Asia – such as in Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN countries – by addressing local challenges like data privacy, ESG compliance, and dispute resolution within a global context. Together with its regional forums which enable tailored discussions, these efforts reinforce the IBA’s indispensable role in supporting a modern, internationally connected legal profession throughout Asia.

Conclusion

The IBA Annual Conference rewards strategy, not spontaneity. Its true value emerges when participation is guided by intent, preparation, and thoughtful follow-through. For law firms that invest time in defining objectives, curating meaningful interactions, and nurturing relationships beyond the event, the conference becomes a catalyst for long-term growth and global visibility.

Going beyond the conference, the role of IBA still holds relevance to the international legal community. Although, to ensure everyone benefits from the IBA event, activities and initiatives, everyone in the international legal community should understand the role of the IBA, what is their role in it and how they can contribute to this community.

In an interconnected legal landscape, success depends not on showing up, but on showing up prepared. With a structured approach, the IBA evolves from a crowded gathering into a forum for insight, collaboration, and opportunity — transforming perception from a “sheep walk” into a genuine strategic goldmine!