During the July vacation I attended the 2024 International Commercial Law Conference, held in Oxford and London. In addition to the many members of our Bar and the Bar of England and Wales, who spoke on panels and presented papers, we were privileged to hear from the Right Hon Lord Hodge PC, Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (who delivered a key note address and an after dinner speech in Oxford and participated as part of a panel in London), the Honourable Justice Steward of the High Court of Australia, and other commercial court judges from Australia and the UK. I congratulate Paul Hayes KC, the President of CommBar and his committee for their tireless work in planning and running the conference, and Daniel McInerney KC, Dr Laura Hilly and Nick Young who coordinated the Oxford leg. It was a long way to go for a conference, but the participation of our UK colleagues made it absolutely worthwhile, as did the opportunity to visit the Inner and Middle Temples, where the conference was held, in London to see how the Bar there is organised.
