The Law Association of New Zealand is advancing a memorandum of understanding with the Inter Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) that will establish it as the IPBA’s primary New Zealand partner, following discussions held at the 39th LAWASIA Conference in Seoul.
Chief Executive Clayton Kimpton and President Tony Herring attended the conference from 14 to 16 September, where pull-aside meetings with the IPBA Council and the organising committee for the IPBA Sydney 2027 conference moved the proposed MOU from early-stage discussion toward practical implementation. IPBA President Priti Suri and President-elect James Jung will visit Auckland on 27 November to progress the agreement and promote the Sydney conference to New Zealand lawyers.
“The IPBA discussions were particularly significant, creating opportunities for deeper engagement and collaboration. The MOU gives us an institutional framework for the relationship and positions us as the first point of contact for IPBA in New Zealand,” Kimpton said.
The conference itself, hosted by LAWASIA and the Korean Bar Association under the theme Global New Order: Challenges and Perspectives, drew bar leaders, jurists, academics and practitioners from across the Asia-Pacific. It opened with an address by former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon and covered a broad programme spanning business law, human rights, environmental law, technology and data protection, employment law and cross-border legal developments.
The conference also featured an international moot competition, in which law students from across the Asia-Pacific argued hypothetical legal cases before panels of senior practitioners. Clayton Kimpton and Tony Herring both chaired judging panels.
“The level of talent was exceptional. It left us both feeling confident about the quality of the next generation of lawyers coming through across Asia-Pacific,” Kimpton said.
Beyond the IPBA, a series of pull-aside meetings with the presidents of the Fiji, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and New South Wales law societies opened discussions on coordinating South Pacific legal education, with a focus on reducing duplication, sharing delivery infrastructure and improving access to continuing professional development across smaller jurisdictions. The College of Law, represented by chairperson Joe Catanzariti AO and Director of International Affairs James Jung, has been identified as a potential delivery partner.
Engagement with the Korean Bar Association and the Busan Bar Association opened the possibility of an internship pilot programme, an initiative which The Law Association will progress with firms and partners.
“New Zealand is well positioned to strengthen its connections across the Asia-Pacific legal community. Seoul was a positive step toward changing that,” Herring said.
“What stays with me is how much of what we deal with at home is playing out in parallel right across the region. Those connections have created strong momentum to build on,” he continued.
The Law Association has identified follow-up priorities across each of the Seoul discussions. The visit to New Zealand by Suri and Jung in November will provide an important opportunity to build on these discussions and further strengthen the strong relationship and connections established in Seoul.
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