David Travers QC to speak at IBA Annual Conference in Washington

September 5, 2016

The annual International Bar Association Conference will be held in Washington this month. It is the premier event of the international legal circuit and attracts many representatives of the international legal and commercial sectors. David Travers QC will be speaking on product recalls in a session entitled “Recalls, reputations and repeat business: bringing companies and their products back from the brink of disaster.” The IBA program describes the session in these words:-

Whether recalling products due to safety risks (think over-the-counter pharmaceutical sabotage and exploding airbags), or other quality compliance defects (think incapacitating mobile phone and computer ‘bugs’ or car emissions/fuel efficiency software ‘issues’), the reputational damage that can accrue to highly valuable global brands is potentially devastating. If handled swiftly and responsibly, however, those companies and their brands need not just ‘survive’ the crisis; instead they can thrive in the aftermath, having demonstrated by their corrective action response how to reassure consumers that, while mistakes happen, they can be relied on to put things right.

We will highlight the many essential considerations arising for companies and their in-house counsel in the midst of reputational crises fuelled by an urgent (typically global) recall of products from consumers. We will present real-world recall examples and the companies and lawyers who were in the trenches, as well as true-to-life case studies in this interactive and vibrant session, with a focus on the winning legal, communications and public relations strategies that bring companies and their products back from the brink of disaster.

More information on this Litigation Committee session can be found here

The keynote speakers at the conference include Christine Lagarde (Managing Director of the IMF), Gen Colin L. Powell (US Secretary of State 2001-2005), Loretta E. Lynch (US Attorney General) and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, (United States Supreme Court). More information on the Conference can be found here