Programme Overview

SCILL Coaching Sessions

Individual coaching sessions with professional SCILL coaches. Pre-registration required. Three coaches available simultaneously.
🕐 13:00–17:30

Executive Committee (EC) Meeting

Full Executive Committee meeting chaired by the AIJA President.
🕐 13:00–15:30

National Representatives Committee (NRC) Meeting

Meeting of all National Representatives to discuss country-level updates and NRC initiatives.
🕐 15:30–16:15

Joint APC + OCC Meeting

Joint meeting of the Academic Programme Committee and Officers of the Commissions Committee.
🕐 15:45–16:30

Human Rights Committee (HRC) Meeting

Internal meeting of the Human Rights Committee.
🕐 16:15–16:45

SCILL Board Meeting

Internal meeting of the SCILL (Skills, Career, Innovation, Leadership and Learning) Board.
🕐 16:15–16:45

Sustainability Board Meeting

Internal meeting of the AIJA Sustainability Board.
🕐 16:45–17:15

AIJA Women Network (AWN) Meeting

Internal meeting of the AIJA Women Network.
🕐 16:45–17:15

SCILL Coaching Sessions

Individual coaching sessions with professional SCILL coaches. Pre-registration required. Three coaches available simultaneously.
🕐 08:00–17:00

Welcome Address & Opening Plenary Session – Lawyers in Concert: Connecting, Creating, and Committing to Service

The opening plenary sets the tone for the congress, welcoming delegates and introducing the academic programme and the congress theme.
🕐 09:00-10:00

Session 1 – The Tone at the Top: When Governance Structures Fail — Compliance Breakdowns, Liability and Corporate Crime

What to do in a situation of crisis? This interactive session combines a keynote on leadership dynamics and ‘shadow hierarchies’ with a live boardroom simulation placing participants inside a corporate crisis. The scenario: a listed company under market and transaction pressure faces aggressive revenue practices, ESG reporting concerns and a whistleblower allegation, forcing the board to act amid legal, investor and reputational risk. Guided by cross-border expert practitioners, participants will advise the directors and management in real time on disclosure duties, investigations, transaction decisions and liability exposure, exploring how governance design and incentive systems can either prevent misconduct — or trigger it.
🕐 10:30-11:45

Session 2 – Playdates, Paydates and Privacy: The Legal Life of Family Influencers

Family life has moved online – and, increasingly, it is monetised. Family influencers, sharenting and child influencers raise complex cross-border questions at the intersection of family law, privacy and data protection, IP/media and platform law, and private clients / wealth planning. This session will explore the legal and ethical fault lines when creating, sharing, and monetizing content turns family life into a business model, offering a practical, lawyer-to-lawyer discussion on the legal risks arising when personal relationships and online businesses collide.
🕐 10:30-11:45

Intermezzo 1 – Conducting Complexity

In the concert hall, there are moments when everything depends on what happens in the next few seconds. A conductor stands in front of dozens of highly trained musicians, a hall full of expectations and no second chance. Legal practice knows similar moments: decisions must be made under pressure, with incomplete information and often in front of highly capable counterparts. Drawing on expertise developed through many years as an orchestral conductor and executive coach, Ingo Stadtmuller will explore with the participants how to navigate such situations with clarity and confidence.
🕐 11:45-12:30

AIJA Commission Meetings

Parallel commission meetings held alongside Intermezzo 1:
• Intellectual Property, Technology, Media, and Telecommunications – Park Suite 9
• International Private Clients & Family Law – Grand Klimt Hall 1
• Labour Law (+ Immigration Law) – Park Suite 5
• International Business Law (+ Sports Law) – Park Suite 7
• Business Crime & Civil Fraud – Park Suite 6
🕐 11:45–12:30

Seminar Crashcourse by APC

Top tips for organising an AIJA seminar. Presented by the Academic Programme Committee.
🕐 13:30–14:15

Session 3 – The Courage to Challenge: How Young Professionals Drive Cultural Change in their Law Firms

Change rarely comes from the top alone. In this interactive panel, participants of the Agents of Change program share real stories of questioning outdated leadership models, redefining success, and creating psychological safety in high-performance environments. What works? What backfires? And how do you build allies without burning bridges?
🕐 13:30-14:15

Workshop 1 – Breathe Fire in the Dragons’ Den: Legal Deal-Making for Healthcare Innovators & Investors

Enter the ‘Dragons’ Den’. An Austrian healthcare start-up/scale-up will open this practical workshop with a short pitch, followed by a fast-paced panel unpacking the deal’s pressure points. The audience will split into mixed deal teams to tackle investor and founder perspectives using a mini term sheet + DD snapshot + deal fact pattern, supported by the speakers and AI-assisted drafting. Teams will pitch their solution on stage and face rapid-fire questions from the ‘Dragons’.
🕐 14:30-16:00

Workshop 2 – Market Power vs Manpower: When Antitrust and Employment Law Collide

Over the past few years, there has been increased interest in antitrust investigations in the employment arena. Non-poaching agreements and wage fixing only scratch the surface of possible antitrust violations in the employment sphere. This practical workshop addresses this new legal landscape from different stakeholder perspectives, including a keynote speaker, interactive panel and small group discussions of a case study to identify actionable solutions.
🕐 14:30-16:00

Session 4 – Victims at the Centre: Trauma-Informed Justice in Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Cases

How does trauma shape a victim’s ability to engage with the legal system — and what does this mean for lawyers handling trafficking or migrant-smuggling cases? This session brings together UNODC experts and practitioners to explore credibility challenges, access to legal aid, and the practical realities victims face during investigations and prosecutions.
🕐 16:30-17:30

AIJA Commission Meetings

Parallel commission meetings:
• Tax Law – Park Suite 5
• Healthcare and Life Sciences – Park Suite 10
• Environmental and Energy Law – Park Suite 8
• Antitrust – Park Suite 6
🕐 17:30–18:15

Meditation Session

Short morning meditation session to start the congress day with focus and calm. Open to all delegates.
🕐 08:30–08:45

SCILL Coaching Sessions

Individual coaching sessions with professional SCILL coaches. Pre-registration required. Three coaches available simultaneously.
🕐 08:00–17:00

Workshop 3 – Untangling the Orchestra: Procedural and Substantive Battles in a Cross-Border Supply Chain Dispute

This interactive workshop immerses participants in a real-world cross-border supply chain dispute, where musical instrument orders collide with contractual complications, logistical delays, and competing legal frameworks. Through dynamic roundtable discussions, participants will tackle the strategic and procedural complexities of asymmetrical arbitration and jurisdictional clauses, interim measures in international disputes and force majeure defenses, sharing insights from their own jurisdictions and practices.
🕐 09:00-10:30

Workshop 4 – Creating Cities That Care: Applying Lessons from Vienna and Beyond to Inclusive and Safe Urban Design

Cities are evolving rapidly as they face the challenges of sustainability, social inclusion, climate change, and new mobility needs. This workshop brings together professionals from a wide range of disciplines to explore how legal frameworks and innovative planning can help shape better cities. It features a keynote speech by Claudia Brey, Chairwoman of ÖBB Immobilien GmbH, and connects theory with practice through an example of a landmark redevelopment project in Vienna.
🕐 09:00-10:30

Session 5 – The Insolvency Beat: Setting the Tempo in Integrated Capital Markets

This session focuses on the critical intersection between insolvency law and the functioning of capital markets, in the EU and beyond: how markets respond as insolvency risk builds or crystallizes, what that does to new-issue pricing, collateral and liquidity, and how those dynamics drive the decisions of issuers, investors, banks and market operators. Features a keynote speech by Jakub Michalik, Chief Policy Officer and Member of the Executive Committee at Euronext.
🕐 11:00-12:00

Session 6 – Phantom Carriers, Digital Identities and Platform Risk: How to Handle Fraud Cases in Global Logistics and the Digital Economy

Fraudsters posing as legitimate carriers: what to do when clients are facing a “phantom carrier” situation and are unable to trace the location of the goods. In such cases, timing is crucial to protect the client’s interests, and counsel must act promptly. Lawyers with any legal background will leave this session with practical insights. This session will also address the broader role of digital identity, platform risk and online verification in the digital economy. It will explore how reliance on digital credentials, online profiles and platform-based trust mechanisms may create opportunities for fraud, and how lawyers can assess risk, evidence, responsibility and liability when digital identity is misused.
🕐 11:00-12:00

AIJA Commission Meetings

Parallel commission meetings held alongside Intermezzo 2:
• Public Procurement Law – Park Suite 6
• Real Estate – Park Suite 8
• T.R.A.D.E. (Trade, Retail, Agency, Distribution, E-commerce) – Park Suite 9
• Banking, Finance and Capital Markets – Park Suite 7
• Insolvency – Park Suite 5
• International Arbitration – Park Suite 10
• Transport and Logistics Law – Grand Klimt Hall 2
🕐 12:00–12:45

Intermezzo 2 – Orchestrating Your Professional Path

Professional careers rarely unfold in straight lines. They develop more like a musical score – shaped by preparation, decisive moments, unexpected transitions and the willingness to redefine one’s role over time. This intermezzo demonstrates in a practical and interactive manner how to read and develop the score of your career journey.
🕐 12:00-12:45

Session 7 – Delivering Future-Forward Impact: Unlocking In-House Counsels’ Full Potential

Successful in-house legal departments are expected to deliver measurable value on complex topics with limited resources. This panel focuses on legal project management and influencing stakeholders as key enablers of performance. In-house counsel will discuss how structured project management and the ability to successfully influence stakeholders add value and improve transparency, efficiency, and outcomes — and how the right KPIs help turn legal teams from back office into strategic value drivers.
🕐 13:45-14:45

Session 8 – Legal Soundcheck: from Local Gig to International Tours

As performing artists and entertainers take their careers internationally, they face a range of legal and tax challenges that go far beyond the stage. This session will explore key cross-border issues such as structuring international performance and management agreements, navigating local regulations and understanding the tax implications of global touring and revenue streams. A dynamic, practice-oriented session for those working at the intersection of international business and culture.
🕐 13:45-14:45

First-Vice President Interview

Public interview with candidates standing for AIJA First Vice-President.
🕐 14:45–15:30

NATIONAL/ REGIONAl INITIATIVES

🕐 16:00–17:00

National / Regional Meetings

Country and regional group meetings organised by the NRC.
🕐 17:30–18:15

Meditation Session

Short morning meditation session to start the congress day with focus and calm. Open to all delegates.
🕐 08:30–08:45

SCILL Coaching Sessions

Individual coaching sessions with professional SCILL coaches. Pre-registration required. Three coaches available simultaneously.
🕐 08:00–17:00

AIJA Commission Meetings

Parallel commission meetings:
• Corporate and M&A – 📍Grand Park Hall 1–3
• Litigation – 📍Grand Klimt Hall 1–2
🕐 09:00–10:00

Workshop 5 – Part I – Pricing with Confidence: Turning Value into Revenue in Modern Legal Practice

This interactive session explores how lawyers can approach pricing as a strategic business development tool rather than an uncomfortable afterthought. Drawing on insights from general counsels globally, benchmarking from law firms, and lessons from consulting and other professional services industries, the session unpacks how value is perceived, positioned and translated into fees. Participants leave with a clear, step-based plan they can apply immediately, including how to navigate client conversations, alternative fee models and the growing influence of AI on pricing decisions.
🕐 10:00-11:00

Honorary Members Meeting

Internal meeting for AIJA Honorary Members.
🕐 11:00–12:30

Workshop 5 Breakout I – AI and Pricing of Transactional Work

Building on Part I, this Breakout explores how AI is reshaping value-based pricing in transactional practices. Through practical examples, participants will examine how automation, document-generation tools and data-driven risk assessment influence deal timelines, staffing, and perceived client value. The session offers concrete strategies for positioning and communicating fees in a market where efficiency gains challenge traditional pricing models.
🕐 11:30-12:30

Workshop 5 Breakout II – AI and Pricing in Litigation & Investigations

Building on Part I, this Breakout focuses on pricing in matters where uncertainty, complexity and case dynamics make value assessment more challenging. Participants will explore how AI-powered tools — from early case assessment to document review and predictive analytics — affect cost drivers and client expectations. The session provides practical guidance on structuring fee models for high-stakes disputes and investigations.
🕐 11:30-12:30

CALL TO ACTION – Governing AI: The Young Lawyer’s Voice

Artificial intelligence is transforming the legal profession at an unprecedented pace, and young lawyers are uniquely positioned not only to adapt to this change, but to help shape it. This session explores how the next generation of legal professionals, within AIJA, can play an active role in the policy debates defining the governance of AI – from regulatory frameworks and ethical standards to the future of legal education and access to justice.
🕐 13:30-14:00

Session 9 / AWN Session – The Invisible ‘Rules’: Gender, Bias, and Power Dynamics Young Women Lawyers Still Face and How to Overcome Them

Being perceived as ‘too young’, ‘too emotional’, ‘too female’, ‘too bossy’, or ‘not authoritative enough’; being interrupted, overlooked, or denied proper credit — these are just some of the invisible hurdles that, despite significant progress, women continue to face in the legal profession. This session explores the invisible ‘rules’ and unwritten expectations — unconscious bias, gendered assumptions, cultural norms, power structures and the double standards women face — and focuses on how to challenge them and create a fairer and more equitable legal profession.
🕐 14:00-15:00

Meditation Session

Short morning meditation session to start the congress day with focus and calm. Open to all delegates.
🕐 08:30–08:45

AIJA Annual General Assembly Meeting (AGM)

Annual General Assembly in two sessions:
(10:00–11:30) Session 1 ,
(11:30–12:00) Break ,
(12:00–12:45) Session 2
Livestreamed via YouTube.
🕐 10:00–12:45

Partners & Sponsors

CENTURION

PLATINUM

EMERALD

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

DESTINATION SPONSORS

SUPPORTING

ANNUAL SPONSORS