President's Page--Volume 85, Number 1.

• Author: Kopon, Andrew

Full speed ahead. The IADC is approaching its centennial anniversary in 2020. The Association has travelled far and wide since the first Annual Meeting held in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the summer of 1920. Although the IADC has a long history, I would say with confidence that the IADC is more relevant today than ever before.

As the business of our corporate and insurance members and clients has grown internationally, so has our membership. We now have members located in fifty countries and territories located on six continents. In 2017, we held Regional Meetings in Sao Paulo, Singapore, Paris, London, Sydney, and Hong Kong, in addition to our regular Regional Meetings in North America. The volunteer spirit of the 2,500 plus IADC members is alive and well.

There are a few reasons why the IADC has been successful in growing its membership while keeping its eligibility requirements set at a high bar. The obvious reasons are the business relationships that exist in the IADC and the professional and personal relationships that develop over time. But, we should not overlook an essential factor in the IADC's equation for success. At the core of most IADC activities is the advancement of the Rule of Law, a commitment to fairness, transparency, and efficiency in our legal systems that provide a just forum for all parties. Advancing the Rule of Law for our corporate and insurance members and clients unites all of us. It requires us to stay abreast of the latest developments in the law, advocacy, and technology. The Rule of Law also requires us to become active as an Association to advance the goals of our corporate, insurance, and outside counsel members.

We cannot flourish as leading defense trial lawyers and global advocates without maintaining a high level of continuing education and peer-to-peer interaction involving the advancement of the Rule of...