President's Page:IADC Global Connection: A 95-Year-Old Evolves

Abstract

Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.Paulo Coelho - Brazilian authorIn our 95th year, the IADC is enjoying a year of firsts. Our willingness to adapt and evolve is why we have and why we remain the premier global legal organization for attorneys devoted to the representation of corporate and insurance interests. The secret of success of any organization - or individual for that matter - is the ability to adapt to change, to embrace that change, and to leverage that change into success while staying true to the fundamentals that allowed the organization or individual to succeed in the years before. The IADC has lived that truth this year, and I hope you have or will soon be able to witness the exciting and dynamic evolution of the organization at one of our many events.I am composing this article sitting in the Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil after just having attended the lADC's inaugural Latin America Regional Meeting. If, like me before this visit, you have not had the great pleasure of enjoying the warmth and hospitality of our members in the region, you must consider coming here very soon. Like the IADC, Latin America is rapidly evolving with a vibrant energy, while honoring its proud heritage. At our inaugural meeting, we enjoyed the company of our members and guests from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Germany, France, and the United States. We all enjoyed socializing and finding the common denominators that bind us all, while learning about our unique cultures and interests. We also benefited from a series of presentations on the rapid changes in class action and arbitration law in Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Brazil. Our hosts, Fernando Serec and his many partners at the TozziniFreire firm, ensured a successful inaugural with their expert hospitality.But Sao Paulo was not the first for our year. It began in Sydney. In October, we held our inaugural meeting for members from Australia and New Zealand. Just as in Sao Paulo, our members enjoyed a day of signature fellowship and education about recent legal developments in the region. Our Aussie hosts, International Committee Chair Colin Loveday and former Board member Stuart Clark, executed a perfect inaugural, and I look forward to our Australian/New Zealand Regional Meeting next year down the Hume Highway in Melbourne.In both South America and Australia, we have begun a tradition of going to our members on each of their continents that I look forward to seeing continue into the next 100 years of our organization's proud history.Earlier this month, we also supported the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Legal Reform and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's inaugural event on Class Action Reform in Toronto, Canada. …