Interest in the ICLR’s new online service has been intense among the delegates at the International Bar Association’s annual conference in Dubai.

Lawyers from common law jurisdictions such as Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius, India, Hong Kong and Singapore have been especially keen to take up our offer of a month’s free trial with the benefit of a 20% conference discount in all follow-up orders.

A similar deal will be offered to delegates at the English Bar Conference this coming weekend.

The IBA conference is taking place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC). The new president of the IBA, Akira Kawamura, in his welcome speech, said the number of delegates (over 5,000) was the largest ever attendance at the annual conference, which is being held in the Middle East for the first time.

Giving the keynote address at the opening ceremony on Sunday evening, Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, an international lawyer and former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who has been a key opposition figure in the 2011 Egyptian blossoming of the Arab Spring, said there were challenges to be faced in an increasingly interconnected world in making sure that the rule of law was also globally respected. Law was a profession that provided its practitioners with the unique opportunity to improve society and change lives through focus on areas such as human rights, ethics, access to justice and the rule of law.

Following the keynote addresses, we were all taken on a magical mystery bus ride into the desert, to an old fort which is now the Al Sahra Desert Resort. Thirsty delegates were licensed to drink, and did so, as well as enjoying a magnificent buffet whilst lounging on Bedouin-style divans and watching lively Dhabke dancers, Tanoura dances and fire jugglers. Check out the video:

Dubai is a fascinating place, part commercial service centre, part rich folks’ playground. We have loved meeting everyone here and have been gratified by the wealth of interest in our products.