The new President of the International Bar Association has been named. Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Aldama, a partner at Gómez-Acebo & Pombo in Madrid, Spain, has taken up office.

She is the first woman to hold the position in 20 years, and only the second in the IBA’s 76-year history.

Themes

Her tenure is for the two calendar years of 2023 and 2024, succeeding Sternford Moyo of Zimbabwe.

Arpón de Mendívil commented: “I take on this responsibility with great excitement and firm commitment. My aspiration as President of the IBA is to steadily elevate the association to the next level.

“Our profession, through a global association as the IBA, has a great opportunity as well as the responsibility of assuming a leading role in upholding the rule of law, democracy, and human rights across the world, and thus having a positive impact in society.”

As IBA president, Ms Arpón de Mendívil intends to focus on five key themes:

• Highlighting the impact of the legal profession in society,
• Approaching gender equality in the legal sector with a frontal and transversal view,
• Placing the legal sector as a relevant player in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda,
• Analysing and anticipating human-rights protection in the digital environment, and
• Preparing the legal profession for the future, especially young lawyers.

Overarching these themes will be the promotion of the rule of law.

A leading professional in the telecommunications, media, and technology sector, Arpón de Mendívil holds a law degree from ICADE, a Master’s in European Union Law from the College of Europe in Bruges, and a PIL from Harvard Law School.

She was IBA vice-president from 2021–2022 and has held several senior positions, including being on the IBA management board, since 2009.

Formerly IBA treasurer and legal practice division chair, the lawyer has a 25-year association with the organization.

The IBA's new vice-presidents are Jaime Carey (managing partner at Chilean law firm, Carey), and Claudio Visco (managing partner at Italian law firm, Macchi di Cellere Gangemi).

The new IBA secretary-general is Jörg Menzer (managing partner of Bucharest office of pan-European law firm, Noerr).