OUR MAN IN COPENHAGEN – I arrived in Copenhagen straight from the ETL Global conference in Warsaw. Moving between two cities, two environments and two sets of conversations has a peculiar effect: you are still mentally in the previous meeting, yet you already sense that you are entering a space with its own pace and energy. My first moments were therefore rather reserved. Alongside the anticipation came a slight uncertainty, familiar to anyone arriving at a large international event who suddenly realises how many people, topics and potential meetings lie ahead.
I had a similar feeling at my first IBA conference in Paris in 2023. After some time, it is easy to forget how powerful such an event really is. It is not just the formal programme, the expert panels or the individual meetings in your calendar. The strength of the IBA starts to show much earlier: in the hotel lobby, on the metro, on the way from the airport or over morning coffee. In Copenhagen, that impression returned gradually, but very clearly.
The most striking motif of the first few hours, for me, was the lanyards with name badges. It may sound trivial. A badge is, after all, a practical item meant to help with names, organisations and orientation. But once you start meeting more and more people of all ages, nationalities and professional backgrounds wearing the same IBA badge, this small object takes on a different meaning.
On the way to the Bella Center, the picture is almost everywhere. On the train, on the pavements, in cafés and in front of the venue entrance, you see small groups of people wearing badges, trying to find the right way, greeting colleagues or having their first conversations. Some arrived with a team from their firm, others are clearly on their own. Alongside experienced partners stand junior lawyers, in-house counsel, academics and other professionals working in international legal practice. At first glance, they all share the same simple sign of belonging.
That, in my view, is the „power of badges“. It is not merely a formal marker of a participant, but an unobtrusive symbol that you belong to an exceptionally broad community of people for whom cross-border work is a daily reality or a professional ambition. The badge makes the first contact easier. It gives you a legitimate reason to approach a stranger and ask where they come from, what they work on, or how a particular part of legal practice works in their country.
As the badges multiply, the atmosphere changes. The initial reserve gradually fades. People greet each other more, smile, and strike up conversations more naturally. Often a short question or a remark about the journey, the city or a professional specialisation is enough. A conversation that begins with something seemingly trivial can quickly turn into an exchange of experience about working with clients, about differences between legal systems, or about how the legal profession is changing in individual countries.
What makes such gatherings valuable is precisely that relationships do not arise only at pre-arranged meetings. They also arise outside them: while queuing, while moving between venues, or at an unplanned encounter with someone who has the same professional question but a different national experience. You do not come here only to listen. You come to ask questions, compare notes, learn, and gradually build a network of contacts that can be useful long after you return home.
The first day in Copenhagen has therefore not yet brought major announcements or final conclusions. Instead, it offered a reminder that even a seemingly ordinary badge can carry a powerful meaning: openness to new conversations, professional curiosity, and a sense of belonging to a community that transcends the boundaries of individual firms and countries.
The opening ceremony then placed this feeling in a broader context. It was a powerful and majestic reminder of the size and significance of the IBA, of the role of lawyers with global expertise, and of the connections that can help steer international relations in the right direction. The protection of the rule of law was a strong theme, as were concrete examples of IBA members‘ involvement this year, including the negotiation of an agreement between the USA and Greenland.
The welcome party followed this serious tone with lightness and energy. In my impression, and in the reactions of others, it was one of the most diverse and entertaining IBA parties, superbly organised in every respect. It had exactly what makes such gatherings worthwhile: space for informal conversation, unexpected encounters, and the joy of so many different professional and personal worlds meeting for a moment in one place. The organisers deserve great credit.
The welcome party also reminded me of something I fully realised already in Paris in 2023: international lawyers are a unique group of people, and one that is incredibly close to my heart. They have a special energy. They are open and curious, willing to share experience directly and talk practically about almost anything, and they also know how to enjoy themselves, naturally and wholeheartedly, from the first minute of the evening and the first note of music. In Copenhagen, you could feel it from the very beginning: the dance floor was soon full, and nobody was afraid to truly enjoy the evening, whether they were thirty or sixty-five. And it is precisely amid the music, dancing and informal conversations that space emerges for contacts that are not only professionally useful but also personally inspiring. It is a specific and unique community, and I am proud to count myself among its members.
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