re-elected secretary general of the International Bar Association at the 26th Biennial Conference of the IBA in Berlin.

Mrs. Kempe, who is also deputy chairman of the Bermuda International Business Association, won a convincing victory at the poll over Ghanaian lawyer Nutifafa Kuenyehia.

She intends to continue work, already underway, ensuring that the IBA is having an impact on countries in terms of human rights issues, continuing legal education and assisting the development of individual bar associations in various jurisdictions.

At one of the largest international conferences of attorneys ever held, which included more than 4,000 participants representing 150 countries, Bermuda received wide coverage.

Key Atlantic offshore competitors, like the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands, were not in attendance. European offshore centres, including Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, were represented.

In addition to her duties as IBA secretary general, Mrs. Kempe also co-hosted a conference on Human Rights, held at the Estrel Hotel in Berlin, just prior to the IBA conference and launched a women's interest group (WIG).

Mrs. Kempe said, "That is going to take a lot of work and I think it will be successful, because already 50 percent of the IBA's women members have responded to say they would like to be involved and believe it will be useful.

"It will be used primarily to allow the women members to network together and also use it as a launching pad to get them more involved in the activities of the IBA.'' Other AS&K lawyers attending included partner and head of the company department Peter Bubenzer, who spoke during a joint session of two committees dealing with taking companies public; partner in the trust department Monica Jones, who chaired a committee dealing with individual tax and estate planning, trusts and succession, and strategies for the assessment of capable and incapable clients; partner in the litigation department and Deputy Premier Jerome Dill, who was a commentator in a panel that heard a case study of international forum shopping; and, attorney from the Hong Kong office Frances Woo.

Representatives from two other Bermuda law firms attended the IBA conference.

Conyers, Dill & Pearman was represented by partners in the company department Lisa J. Marshall and Graham Collis, senior associate Michael McCabe. Mrs.

Marshall was a panel speaker during discussions of insurance regulators. Cox & Wilkinson was represented by Justin Williams.

With managing director of Coutts & Co. (Bermuda) Ltd. David Sussman, the Bermuda delegation totaled nine.

In addition to a week-long series of meetings and 130 presentations on a wide range of topics, the conference provided many opportunities for networking on a social basis among attorneys from around the world.

DIANNA KEMPE -- Re-elected secretary general of IBA.