I had the honor and privilege to be part of the delegation led by Dr. Lalit Bhasin for the Spring Meeting and conference hosted by the American Bar Association (“ABA”) at Washington DC from April 25- 29, 2017 and at New York on May 1, 2017. At the outset I would like to place on record my deep appreciation for Dr. Lalit Bhasin for his par excellence in leading this delegation to ensure that this event becomes a super success. His enthusiasm and positive energy and spirit helped make my time together both productive and fun.

The conference began with a high level meeting of delegation with the chair of ABA, including the other senior members and members of the Indian committee at ABA. The meeting was followed by a lunch at a very famous restaurant called Mccormick & Schmick’s Seafood & Steaks

On the next day, the delegates had a meeting scheduled with Ambassador Frank G. Wisner who is an international affairs advisor for an international law firm, Squire Patton Boggs. The meeting was very informative with free exchange of ideas and thoughts on several issues involving legal professionals of both countries and possible areas of collaborations. One of the key events on this day was lunch at Capital Hilton where the ABA Section of International Law bestowed its “Mayre Rasmussen Award” for the “Advancement of Women in International Law” upon Ms. Preeti Suri; who I can now call a friend after this visit. It was proud moment for all of us to see her receiving the award and a standing ovation.

The third day of the ABA conference was to visit the prestigious University of District Columbia- David A Clarke School of Law to I interact with the Dean and faculty over lunch. Further, on second last day in Washington DC, I got to witness an erudite conference on “The New Realities of Dealing with Iran: What Has and Has Not Changed since Implementation Day”

I must say that the highlight of the ABA conference was the mesmerizing Spirit Cruise of Washington around the Potomac, which I attended with Dr. Lalit Bhasin. This cruise was organized by ABA and was well attended as it was chockablock. The cruise was a beautiful blend of fabulous dinner, entertainment and fascinating views of America’s greatest landmarks and Washington DC’s historic waterfront. The defining moments was when Dr. Bhasin put on his dancing shoes and hit the floor; while most of us young ones kept waiting for someone to start.

During the conference, I managed to spend some quality time with other fellow lawyers and members of the delegation, some of whom I met for the first time. Some of the lawyers were truly veterans of ABA conferences having attended these several times in the past as part of Indian delegation.

The grand finale of Washington DC was an outstanding one day conference on “Emerging Legal Challenges in the Unites States and India” hosted by India committee, ABA section international law and organized by DLA Piper, a US law firm and patronage of the conference. The conference was graced by the presence of diverse and dynamic group of speakers and panelists from India and abroad who gave their valuable inputs on the following subjects:

• Media coverage of the trump administration;
• Sustainability and shareholder activism;
• Cybersecurity due diligence in mergers and acquisitions transactions;
• Intellectual property rights under United States government contracts; and
• Prospects for United States – India relations under the Trump administration