COMBAR Constitution

The Constitution was last updated in July 2025. Please click here to download a copy.

Young Barristers’ Committees’ International Grant Programme 

The scheme is open for applications.  Details may be found at the International professional and legal development grant programme (barcouncil.org.uk) page.

If you have any questions please email ybc@barcouncil.org.uk

Combar supports the Bar Council’s Young Barristers’ Committees’ International Grant Programme. This is a programme that supports junior barristers (of 7 years’ practice or less), who are in employed or self-employed practice, to participate in international events or conferences of their choice by providing them with financial support. Candidates can make only one application for the grant each year.

IMPORTANT: Combar Application Criteria

Applicants must have been a Combar member for at least 18 months before they can apply for the grant.  This includes pupillage to allow those in their first year of membership, post pupillage, to apply. Successful applicants are asked to write a report about the international event for which they received funding and to attend at least one university law fair on behalf of Combar later in the year.

Although in principle the Bar Council may be prepared to make International Grants available for conferences taking place in the UK (as its Guidance says), Combar’s approach to the exercise of its discretion whether to make a contribution towards an International Grant is that we will not normally do so where the conference is due to take place in a location that does not involve any long distance travel or an overnight stay. Generally, successful applicants will receive grants from Combar of no more than £850.

Please click here to visit the Bar Council website for further details.

Examples of previous reports by previous beneficiaries of the grant can be made available on request to the Combar Administrator (admin@combar.com).

North America

North American and Offshore Meeting Montréal, Canada 28-30 May 2025

Registration is now closed for the COMBAR North American and Offshore Meeting which will be held in Montréal, Canada 28-30 May 2025.  The programme may be downloaded here.  Last updated 21 May 25.

May is tulip season in Montréal, with tulips, magnolias and cherry blossoms in bloom and the city abuzz with the start of terrasse season, when pavement cafes and restaurants spill out into the streets and Montréalers make the most of the return of the sunshine, warm weather and the end of the Canadian winter.

The venue for the Conference will be the Ritz Carlton.  The programme will follow a similar format to previous years. Mr Justice Henshaw, the Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court, has very kindly agreed to attend the Conference.

Canadian Supreme Court Judge, the Honourable Suzanne Côté will be in attendance as the Canadian judicial guest of honour at the concluding gala dinner.

This year we will be specifically welcoming back the Offshore members again and we anticipate being joined by a number of colleagues from the BVI, Cayman Islands and Bermuda (among other places).

The Conference will open with a welcome reception on the evening of Wednesday 28^th May 2025 in the splendour of the Oval Room and Terrace at the Ritz Carlton.  The Conference will run over the Thursday and Friday with a drinks reception on the Thursday evening, which will be held at le9e, a recently restored 1930’s Art Deco gem located on the ninth floor of Montreal’s Eaton Centre. The meeting will culminate with a gala dinner on the Friday 30th May 2025. This will be held in the spectacular  St James Theatre, which has been exclusively hired for the evening.  As ever, families are welcome, and a walking tour and lunch will be arranged for them to explore the delights of Montréal.  Details of the walking tour have been sent to delegates, family members can register directly here.

Conference sessions will include panels and talks on:

• fraud litigation, accessory, second and joint liability
• obtaining documents and evidence from non-parties, other jurisdictions and in support of related proceedings
• litigation and arbitration trends and hot topics in the UK, US, Canada and Offshore jurisdictions
• trial advocacy
• perspectives on how to build a sustainable, successful, happy and healthy legal career

As well as a closing debate on a topical legal issue.

Room Booking

30 April 25 Room update: The deadline for the group rate discount has now passed.  However, we understand that there may be limited rooms still available to book at the Ritz at their normal, undiscounted rate please call (514) -842-4212.  The nearby Mount Stephen Hotel (3 min walk) may also have rooms available. To reserve your room, you can either call the hotel directly at (514) 313-1000 or send an email to reservations@lemountstephen.com. The Ritz is located in downtown Montréal and delegates have a large number of other nearby hotels available for self-booking.

Registration

The registration link may be found here.

Juniors Barristers are Especially Welcomed

We strongly encourage junior members of the Bar to attend.  As with previous conferences significant grants are available for members under 7 years call from the Bar Council and British Council. Junior members may apply to the Young Barristers’ Committees’ International Grant Programme, which may pay up to two thirds of junior members’ total attendance costs.

North American Meeting 2024 Stockholm, Sweden

Registration is now closed but enquiries regarding late registrations are welcome, please email admin@Combar.com.

The North American Meeting will be held in Stockholm 29th May – 31st May.  Download the programme here.

Judicial Guests

We are fortunate to be joined by both The Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Sue Carr, DBE, PC, and The Hon. Mr Justice Foxton, the Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court, as our Judicial Guests.

Juniors Barristers are Welcomed

Attendance by Junior Barristers is strongly encouraged.  A new lower rate for “junior” Junior barristers of £200 for those under 4 years call (not start of practice) has been introduced this year. Those under 7 years are encouraged to investigate the Young Barristers’ Committees’ International Grant Programme, which offers to pay two thirds of Juniors’ total attendance costs.

Conference Programme

The meeting will be primarily held at the Hotel At Six, a modern, stylish hotel set in the centre of Stockholm save for the Friday morning session which will take place at the nearby Nordic Light Hotel.  Although it is only a 10 min walk between venues, free transport will be provided by the Hotel At Six to take guests from At Six to the Nordic, and back again.

The conference will consist of sessions addressing contemporary issues for commercial litigators including Law and Technology, Issues in Cross-Border Litigation, and Perspectives in Advocacy at both first instance and appellate level. On the Thursday morning there will be a breakfast for Juniors kindly hosted by our Judicial Guests.

The conference will begin with a welcome reception on Wednesday 29^th May 2024 that will be held at the Nest rooftop bar and spa.  Members’ families / children are warmly welcomed.

The panel sessions will run over the Thursday and Friday in the Hotels’ conference facilities. Both conference venues have been exclusively hired for each day.  After the success of the breakfasts at the conference in Boston in May 2023, welcome breakfasts will be held at the At Six Hotel on the Thursday and the Nordic on the Friday to start the conference day.

The Thursday evening cocktail reception will be held in the spectacular Vasa Museum and will include a tour of the 17^th century Swedish warship, for those that wish to.  The events will culminate with a gala dinner on the evening of Friday 31^st May 2024 that will be held in the Golden Hall of Stockholm City Hall, (Golden Hall  – Wikipedia), a beautiful historic venue which lives up to its name. Swedish Supreme Court Judge Eric M Runesson will give a short welcome speech at the drinks reception immediately before the gala dinner.

Walking Tour for Families and Guests

Families are warmly welcomed and a walking tour followed by lunch has been arranged for the Thursday.  It will start at the hotel At Six and will walk through the centuries of history that the Old Town offers. During the walk you will hear about how and why Stockholm was founded on its specific location. You will pass the Cathedral, where the Royal Family have their weddings and the Royal Palace. Details of how to book family members to the tour will be circulated closer to the event.

For those members with young families, babysitting facilities are available through Hotel At Six, by private arrangement, at a reasonable hourly rate. Please email info@hotelatsix.com directly to make arrangements.

Hotel Room Booking – Please book here.

We always try to secure a favourable rate with the conference hotel direct so that members can take advantage of a good rate.  However, the hotel has been offering very favourable room rates when booking direct.  While we can’t guarantee that these rates will not increase as availability decreases, we can highlight the very favourable policy which allows guests to cancel without any charge up to 24 hours before the date of check-in.  We would therefore encourage you to book rooms with the hotel now to take advantage of both the current excellent rates and the favourable cancellation policy, even if you are not yet sure whether you can attend the conference.   Rooms in Hotel At Six can be booked here.

Registration

Registration is open. We have managed to keep fees lower than the 2023 North American meeting in Boston.  We have also introduced a new lower rate for “junior” Junior barristers.

We look forward to seeing you and your families in Stockholm.  If you have any questions, please email me through admin@combar.com

Combined North American and Offshore Meeting 2023, Boston, USA

The successful meeting took place in Boston from the 31st May to the 2nd June.  It is hoped that the presentations will be distributed to the participants in due course. The registration link is now closed.

Combar International

With the UK widely recognized as the leading international centre for legal services and the majority of Combar’s membership regularly undertaking international work, a key part of Combar’s role is to foster relationships with the international legal community. Combar’s strategy is spearheaded by an International Committee and implemented by sub-committees for North America, India, Africa and Offshore. The development of international links offers Combar members the opportunity to build new relationships and deepen existing ones, while providing a multi-jurisdictional forum for the exchange of ideas, developments in the law and regional market insight.

Central to this is our Honorary Overseas Members (HOMs) programme, whereby leading commercial law practitioners in overseas jurisdictions are invited to join Combar. Our much valued HOMs are involved in planning and implementing activity in each region, working with Combar’s committees to create an effective and influential international network. Criteria for becoming an HOM can be found here. Regional activities include:

• Promoting closer ties, cooperation and information exchange between commercial practitioners in different jurisdictions.
• Regional events to further develop relationships, in particular through the long-established annual North America Meeting (which alternates between North America and Europe) and the Combar India Roundtable Conference, which has taken place annually for the past 3 years.
• Funding scholarship and exchange programmes for foreign lawyers.
• Provision of financial support to legal organisations in the developing world.

International Committee

• Anneliese Day KC, Chair, International Committee
• Andrew Onslow KC, Abdul Jinadu, joint Chairs, Africa Committee
• Sudhanshu Swaroop KC, David Brynmor Thomas KC, joint Chairs, India Committee
• Jeremy Richmond KC, Tom Mountford, North America Committee
• George Spalton KC, Chair, Gulf Committee
• Rosalind Nicholson, Georgina Peters, Alex Potts KC, Co-Chairs, Offshore Committee

COMBAR’s International Work

Combar barristers are active in courts and arbitration centres across the globe. More than a quarter of the world’s 320 jurisdictions use English Common Law, and several Combar member sets have a permanent presence in international jurisdictions.

Combar barristers also undertake a huge range and quantity of international work from London, both litigation and London-based arbitration. More arbitrations take place in London than in any other city in the world. Over 40,000 commercial and civil disputes were resolved in the UK through arbitration, mediation and adjudication in 2018. In more than half the 800 cases going through the Rolls Building each year, all parties are from outside the UK; more than 200 foreign law firms from around 40 jurisdictions operate in London. With these numbers in mind it is no surprise that international exports generated by barristers contributed an impressive £327 million to the UK economy in 2018, with almost 2,000 barristers working on international cases, an increase of 90% over a decade. Combar’s role is to ensure that the English and Welsh Commercial Bar continues to flourish both through undertaking international work in the UK and across the globe.

(All stats from UK Legal Services 2019, TheCityUK, December 2019).

Sub Committees:

125th anniversary of the founding of the Commercial Court

2020 marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Commercial Court in London and also the 50th anniversary of the formal creation of the Commercial and Admiralty Court.

Since 1 March is the anniversary of the first day on which the Commercial Court sat, the Court launched its anniversary celebrations at the start of March 2020.

The Commercial Court 125th anniversary celebrations will be running throughout the year, with a series of events held in conjunction with practitioners in and users of the Court.

A number of events are planned to mark the anniversary, details of which may be found at this link (although please note that the events may be subject to change in the light of COVID-19).