IBA Annual Conference 2026

Why IBA Annual Conference 2026 matters for M&A and corporate lawyers

The IBA Annual Conference is the pre-eminent gathering of the global legal profession, drawing more than 6,000 lawyers, judges, academics, and regulators to Seoul for six days of substantive programming across more than 200 sessions. For international law firms and in-house counsel, it is the single most concentrated opportunity each year to meet peers in cross-border M&A, banking, competition, arbitration, and tax — spanning Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, and emerging-market jurisdictions in one venue. The Seoul 2026 edition places particular focus on Korean and wider Asia-Pacific deal flow, semiconductor and AI regulation, and the evolving ESG disclosure landscape. Expect showcase sessions from the Korean Bar Association alongside the IBA's standing committees on mergers and acquisitions, corporate and M&A, and litigation.

Who attends

Partners and senior associates from global and regional law firms, general counsel and in-house lawyers from multinationals, judges, regulators, academics, and senior law-firm business-development professionals. The profile skews partner-and-above from firms with cross-border practices — if your firm does corporate, M&A, banking, or disputes work with any Asia-Pacific exposure, your counterparts will be here. Practical signal: expect heavy concentration of M&A, private equity, dispute resolution, competition, tax, and arbitration practitioners. Delegate lists historically run 6,000+ from 130+ jurisdictions.

Your post-conference follow-up playbook

Before Seoul: pull the public delegate list the IBA publishes 4-6 weeks pre-event and cross-reference it against your firm's target clients and referral partners. Book 20-minute breakfast or coffee slots before sessions — evenings are consumed by committee dinners and you won't see anyone. During Seoul: favour the session breaks and the official IBA app's messaging over cold lobby approaches — partners there have full calendars and zero patience for surprise pitches. Keep notes per conversation (what practice, what jurisdiction, what they mentioned). After Seoul: follow up within 72 hours while the conversation is warm. Reference something specific they said, not a generic 'great to meet.' A well-written follow-up with a link to a relevant client alert or a specific proposal converts; a templated nice-to-meet-you does not. Conference Networker automates the parsing of the delegate PDF and generates the first-draft personalised follow-up — the writing and the relationship still belong to you.

Frequently asked questions