International Law Firms (ILF) a worldwide network of independent law firms held its annual conference on 18thOctober 2025 in Singapore, with the title “Expanding ILF Network and Navigating Alternative Dispute Resolution – Collaboration with Asia Pacific”. We report on this special event in this s article.
International Law Firms – ILF in a nutshell
Founded in 1998, INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRMS (ILF) is a professional association of medium-sized independent business law firms, covering all major jurisdictions on the globe, growing to include more than 70 law firms from 50 countries worldwide.
ILF organises virtual and physical conferences in every year to discuss latest developments in the legal world and boost collaboration and networking opportunities between its member law firms.
Annual Conference in Singapore
This year the annual conference was hosted by the Chong Chia & LIM LLC, the Singaporean member of ILF.
The Conference took place on the18th October 2025 in Singapore in the Fairmont Hotel, Raffles City Convention Centre with 16 law firms from various countries of 4 continents, including Asia, Africa, America and Europe.
The Conference was opened by the welcoming speech of Tony Maalouli (ProConsult Advocates & Legal Consultants, Dubai ) as Chair of ILF, and Kuang Keong Chong (Chong Chia & Lim LLC, Singapore), as representative of the member law firm hosting the event.
After the conference opening, all ILF members introduced their respective law firms, including their practice areas and strengths, and informed other members about most important latest developments in their jurisdictions. ILF recently onboarded a new member firm AK & Co. Law Firm (Israel, Tel Aviv), on behalf of which Assaf Kriel, managing partner held an interesting presentation.
Arbitration and ADR in focus
This year the conference was focusing on arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.
The first presentation was held by Kuan Keong Chong (Chong Chia & Lim LLC, Singapore) with the title „The Arbitration Scene in Singapore”, and it discussed the legal and institutional framework of institutional and ad hoc arbitration in Singapore.
The second presentation was held by Richard Schmidt (SMARTLEGAL Schmidt & Partners, Hungary, Budapest). The title of the presentation was “The lingua franca of international arbitration – 40 years of UNCITRAL Model Law”, and it was focusing on the approach of various jurisdiction in relation with such important issues as the law applicable to arbitration agreements and the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal.
The next presentation’s title was “Recent changes to the UK Arbitration Act” and it was held by Rupert Croft (CROFT Solicitors, United Kingdom, London), who summarised the key-changes of the lex arbitri of the United Kingdom, which entered into force in 2025.
The second panel was closed by William Shawn (ShawnCoulson, USA, Washington DC), whose presentation was entitled “Arbitration in the United States – Alternative Dispute Resolution Grows as an Alternative to Congested Courts” and discussed recent developments of arbitration in the USA.
Related to the above topics, the presentation of James Peng (PW & Partners, China, Guangzhou), entitled “The latest Development of Commercial Mediation in China” in the third panel discussed the status and opportunities of mediation in China, where this alternative dispute resolution method is very popular not only in commercial cases.
Internal matters of ILF
After the professional presentations, the representatives of ILF members discussed internal matters of the organisation. The plenary discussion revolved about two fundemantal questions, namely, how to expand the ILF network, and how to increase collaboration between ILF members.
After the discussion, the representatives listened and discussed the Treasurer’s report, prepared by Alejandro Bettoni (Asejur, Costa Rica), Treasurer of ILF, the report of the Membership Committee prepared by Christiana Theophilou (TSG Theophilou, Cyprus) and the report of the Technology Committee, prepared by Iordan Cholakov (Dimitrova, Cholakov and Partners, Bulgaria).
Social Program
In the remainder of the conference, members had the opportunity to savour Singeporean cuisine at the gala dinner held at SKAI, Fairmont Singapore, and view the gorgeous panorama of the city from the 70th floor.
On 19 October, the member firms could participate a guided tour around the heritage areas of Singapore, including Chinatown, Little India, and the Arab Street, and have a Dim Sum Lunch at Lei Garden Restaurant (Chijmes).
Thank you to our Singaporean Member firm Chong Chia & Lim LLC, for organising this great conference, to the speakers of the conference for the interesting professional insights, and to all participating member firms of ILF, for coming to Singapore for this weekend and spend together quality time with fellow lawyers around the world.
Written by Richard Schmidt, Managing Partner of SMARTLEGAL Schmidt & Partners, Vice-Chair of ILF