International Relations Committee
Solicitor & Notary Public Solicitor, Foot Anstey
Our next meeting is Wednesday 9th December 2026 at 4:30pm at Tozers, Exeter. If you would like to attend or find or more, please email kelly@dasls.com.
Introduction to the International Relations Committee from the Chair, Emma Mitcham
I have chaired the IRSC since 2017 and, in that time, I have been blessed with a range of opportunities to engage with legal issues in an international dimension through collaborative working with other lawyers in different legal jurisdictions. As a result, I have become actively involved with the Human Right committee of the FBE (more on that later).
Our Committee reflects the nature of our society as a progressive and divergent collective of likeminded individuals with a passion for upholding the rule of law.
We encourage international networking with our counterparts in other countries on the basis that very often we are provided with valuable insights into how others deal with legal problems that face us all. Our respective legal systems may be different, but those issues or problems do not recognise international borders.
We are fortunate to be members of the FBE, which is a pan-European professional network representing around one million lawyers that serves to link our members, whilst providing business opportunities across the continent.
We are specifically twinned with Erlangen, Verona, Rennes, Bilbao, Gdansk and Leuven, although we have a number of more informal (but no less important) arrangements with other law societies, including Barcelona and Antwerp. These relationships are longstanding ones of some considerable years . Every year, each twin bar takes it in turns to host a delegation focusing on comparative law, whilst also showcasing the highlights of the presenting city.
To see what we are all about, you are very welcome to attend our meetings as an observer so do feel free to direct any enquiries to me at notarysouthwest@outlook.com or Kelly.baker@dasls.com.
THE TWIN BARS CHARTER WAS SIGNED IN 1994
Michael Cosgrave - A life dedicated to "The Rule of Law" and Wollens.
DASLS were pleased to join the celebration of our member and one of the original founders of the International Relations Committee, Michael Cosgrave on Tuesday 15th September at the Hotel Indigo in Torquay.
Michael and has spent many years travelling Europe with his international friends and colleagues .
Friday 5th to Sunday 7th June 2026 - DASLS hosted international guests from our TWIN BARS in Exeter.
Ben Darby, DASLS President and Emma Mitcham, DASLS International Relations Committee Chair welcomed international lawyers from from our Twin Bars across Europe, Bilbao, Erlangen, Gdansk, Poland, Rennes and Leuven.
We were also joined by The Law Society President Mark Evans and Lucy Dennett OBE, Director of Policy who attended the the Legal Innovation Dragons Den event at The South West Institute of Technology, Exeter University on Friday 5th June.
DASLS are extremely proud of our Junior Lawyers Division and the five members who represented the Exeter delegation. Rebecca Stephens, Stephanie Foulger, Ikra Ghani, Ciaran Ivey and Sophia June gave an impressive pitch in the DASLS Dragons' Den...watch this space! MEET THE PITCH TEAM.
Thank you to our amazing panel of "Dragons" Julie Waddell Mark Evans Colin Dart Sue Prince for putting all six pitch teams through their paces.
To close the formal day we hosted a dinner at the Hotel du Vin. Saturday, despite the rain was a day of sightseeing tours to showcase our beautiful City of Exeter. We were delighted for the use of the Devon & Exeter Institute and the Junior Lawyers opened their own afternoon tea café.
Mark Evans launched Legal Runner in Exeter for all those that could manage a 8:00am start on Saturday for a 5km loop along the canal. What a great way to start the day! The weekend culminated with the Legal Sunday Service.
Gazette Article Page 17 and 18
DASLS Newsletter Page 16 and 17 
International Twinning Conference - May 2025
The Committee were delighted to send a delegation of six delegates to attend International Twinning Conference in Rennes.
International Twinning Conference - Gdansk, May 2024
Earlier in May of this year, Emma Mitcham, Pam John, Chris Fotheringham, and Chloe-Ann Roberts-Hawkey, attended the International Twinning Conference alongside various international bars which was held in Gdansk, Poland. The delegates were introduced to old and new faces with Chris and Chloe-Ann staying with two local attorneys. The weekend was split into two days with a conference being held on the Saturday followed by a dinner and then site seeing on the Sunday.
The International Twinning Association was set up by DASLS a number of yeas ago and includes the European bars of Rennes (France), Verona (Italy), Gdansk (Poland), Erlangen (Germany), Leuven (Belgium), and Exeter. The annual conference provides an opportunity for each delegation to share practices within the bar and for the host bar to hold a lecture on a given subject. This year’s topic was Artificial Intelligence with a case study surrounding its use in a Real Estate transaction. The delegates were asked to see how a large language model, such as Chat GPT, would answer the case study and then to compare the AI’s answer to their actual answer.
Each delegation’s presentation on the topic was interesting where they informed the audience how AI differed to the actual advice of a lawyer in their respective jurisdictions. The Exeter contingent, however, stole the show with an Oscar worthy dramatic performance.
Rather than provide a lecture on the subject as other delegates had, Exeter acted out a performance whereby Chris and Chloe-Ann were the clients and Emma and Pam were the advisors with Emma acting as ‘Sue You’, the AI software, and Pam acting in her actual capacity as a Solicitor. Chris had the misfortune of being advised by ‘Sue-You’ whereas Chloe-Ann received the correct advice from Pam. The performance was very well received and enjoyed by all (some said it stole the show!).
Overall the conference was very interesting with all jurisdictions agreeing that whilst AI is a tool to be used by lawyers around the world, it is still in the early stages of development and can get things wrong. In particular, it was noted that a lay client would not be able to identify where the advice was incorrect so without the better judgment of a qualified lawyer, clients could be completely misunderstanding the advice generated by AI. As such, human lawyers still need to review any advice given by AI.
Following the conference, the delegates enjoyed a tour of the sights of Gdansk followed by an excellent performance by the Verona choir and an entertaining dinner with all of the delegates.
On the Saturday, all delegates visited Gdynia, a town near Gdansk. Here, they partook in a walking tour of the town and were educated on the history of the area. Following this walking tour, all delegates enjoyed a lunch and it was then time to fly home.
Given the Pandemic and the impact this has had on recent conferences, it was brilliant for the conference to go ahead as usual. Exeter will be hosting the conference in 2026 so if you would like to attend and potentially host a delegate then please get in touch: kelly@dasls.com
Future events:
16 October 2026 - Solemn opening session of the judicial year 2026–2027 in Antwerp
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