Madrid and middle-earth

Lovely isn’t it?

Now imagine 5,000 lawyers all networking like their lives depend on it. Add the two together and welcome to the IBA Annual Conference, which this year has descended on Madrid.

You can imagine mothers dragging children to their breast as the legion of suits strides through the city.

Last year’s conference was held in Buenos Aires, so with just a short flight to the conference for most Europeans, it was bound to be a well attended event.

And those who made the journey have not been disappointed so far, as our blog from the conference reveals.

His Majesty King Juan Carlos of Spain, no less, opened the conference with lawyers enjoying sangria at the Bernabau, home to Real Madrid football club.

With speeches by Gerry McCann, father of Madeleine and Zimbabwe’s Morgan Tsvangirai, there’s plenty to draw the crowds.

Despite the conference itself being in “Madrid’s equivalent of Neasden” our moles on the ground have been enjoying every minute.

Highlights include persuading the hotel to keep the balcony open late into the evening, immersing themselves in the huge number of number of languages (“I overheard someone speaking Elvish this morning”), and meeting a group of South African lawyers and agreeing to a house swap for the World Cup next year  (“I just need to find his business card again…”).

Yes, your firm’s money is being well spent.

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STOP PRESS: Clifford Chance partners elect Jeremy Sandelson for global litigation job. For more on this see TheLawyer.com.

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