Drivers of change in the legal profession and legal education (North America)

I am the dean of IE Law School and I am currently copresident of the Law Schools Global League. I have extensive international academic experience and a global vision of legal education. Previously, I practiced as a lawyer at the leading Spanish law firm Pérez-Llorca. I earned a Ph.D in Social Sciences from IE University and I advocate international legal practice and innovation in legal education methodologies. I have an Executive MBA from IE Business School and I hold a Certificate in European Studies from the Europa Institute of the Saarland University in Germany; I was a visiting student at Cornell University in New York, and I have a Law degree from CEU San Pablo University. Among other responsibilities I co-chair the Commission for the Future of Legal Services of the International Bar Association (IBA), where I co-chaired the "Blueprint on global legal education" project; I am a senior advisor to the IBA Academic and Professional Development Committee, and co-director of the Pérez-Llorca-IE Chair of Business Law. I am the author of the book “Enseñar Derecho. ¿Puede servirnos la experiencia de Estados Unidos?” (“Teaching Law: Can the U.S. experience help us?”), on international legal education.

Attorney with more than 20 years of experience. His practice focuses on M&A and Banking & Finance with an emphasis in venture capital, crossborder finance and fintech, attending to a wide portfolio of clients that includes venture capital funds, non-bank financial institutions and entrepreneurs. In 2007, Fernando worked as a foreign associate in O’Melveny & Myers, LLP, in Los Angeles, California.

Stephen Bowman was Vice Chair and Managing Partner, People and Talent at Bennett Jones until his retirement on December 31, 2024. He was a member of the firm's tax department and led the firm's China and Asia initiatives. Stephen served as managing partner in Toronto for more than 13 years. Stephen's practice included mergers, acquisitions, corporate restructuring, corporate finance, and trans-border transactions, with extensive experience in asset-based financing and equipment leasing. His practice also encompassed estate planning, where he advised Canadian domestic and foreign clients in connection with the establishment, operation and reorganization of estate planning structures, as well as with business, philanthropic and wealth succession planning. Stephen has written and spoken on domestic and international tax planning matters and was a contributing author to Tax Policy in Canada, ed. by Mintz, McKenzie and Kerr, and to U.S. Taxation of Foreign Controlled Businesses, ed. by Marc M. Levey. He is a past president of the Canadian Branch of the International Fiscal Association. He is also a recipient of the Canadian Tax Foundation's annual Douglas J. Sherbaniuk Distinguished Writing Award. Stephen is Co-Chair of the International Bar Association's Future of Legal Services Commission, past Chair of the IBA's Law Firm Management Committee and a past member of the Council of the Section on Public and Professional Interest. He is the Chair of the Board of Directors of Greenwood College School and a past member of the Board of Directors of the Canada China Business Council. He is also immediate past Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Ontario Museum and currently serves as a director and Vice Chair of the Royal Ontario Museum Foundation.