North America
Combined North American and Offshore Meeting 2023, Boston, USA
The meeting will begin with a welcome reception on the evening of Wednesday 31 May 2023 in the Wyeth Room of the Langham Hotel, a cocktail reception will be held at the Boston College Club overlooking the city with river views on the Thursday evening and the conference will finish with a gala dinner held at the Moakley Federal Courthouse on Friday 2 June 2023. The conference itself will be hosted at The Langham Hotel, a beautiful venue located in the heart of downtown Boston, and will be accompanied by a variety of cultural and social events for members, their partners and families. The programme may be found here (updated on the 26th May).
The North American meetings are always valuable and hugely enjoyable occasions. The meeting is attended by COMBAR barrister members of all seniorities, as well as senior litigators from leading US, Canadian an Mexican firms, and it provides an unrivalled opportunity for people to meet and discuss matters in convivial and relaxed surroundings. This year, our guest of honour will be Mr Justice Foxton, the Judge in Charge of the Commercial Court. Boston will, we have no doubt, provide the perfect location for our first event in North America since 2019, and we are particularly excited that colleagues practising in offshore jurisdictions will also be in attendance, bringing an even broader international perspective to the sessions.
The Langham Hotel has offered COMBAR Members a group rate discount on their rooms. This is for the nights of 31st May through to the night of Saturday 3rd June and booking can be made at this link. Please note that this rate ceased on Monday 15th May 2023. However, the hotel have said that subject to availability, the discount will also apply up to 3 nights either side of the core dates. They will also offer a preferential rate for those members who wish to upgrade their room. For any upgrade requirements or bookings outside the core dates please call the in-house reservations team on 1-617-451-1992 or email the Group Reservations Specialist, Hannah Lee on: Hannah.Lee@langhamhotels.com. Please note the Langham offers a free cancellation up to 6pm, 1 day before arrival, so members are encouraged to secure their room booking. If you have any problems with booking online please contact admin@combar.com.
The link to the registration page may be found here, where you can register for the conference, receptions and the gala dinner. Attendees are also encouraged to book their flights and accommodation to try to beat any airline price rises. We greatly hope you can – and will – make it, and we look forward to seeing you in Boston.
While we look forward to welcoming old friends and new in Boston next year, Junior barristers are particularly encouraged to attend and COMBAR is supporting the Bar Council International professional and legal development grant program. The scheme offers funding and “enables junior barristers to take part in initiatives which will offer them a global perspective on legal issues and help them to thrive in an increasingly competitive legal market”.
North American Meeting 2022, Florence, Italy
The North American Meeting in Florence on 2 and 3 June was a great success. Having waited two years for the Meeting to finally take place, Combar members and our Honorary Overseas members were able to make up for lost time and enjoy lively and interesting discussion. The programme line up worked well with a good balance of substantive, comparative, procedural and acquired wisdom. The St Regis Hotel was a perfect venue for the conference, with its high ceilings and beautiful decorations and delegates did not feel trapped by the windowless rooms that are the usual custom for conference venues. The al fresco social events were lovely too and we were blessed with sunshine and warm weather throughout our time in Florence. Special thanks to all our panel speakers and to Jim Drake QC for inviting delegates to visit his vineyard at the weekend. I’m told business was brisk!