MLRC European Media Lawyers Conference: Dublin

Dublin, Ireland • June 24, 2024

Continuing MLRC’s series of annual meetings that began in Paris, Berlin, and Amsterdam, we invite you to join us in Dublin for a full day of discussion and networking with colleagues from around Europe. The conference brings together media lawyers from Europe and the United States to discuss comparative media law, strategies to defend freedom of expression, and ways to strengthen the media lawyer community.

FAQs

Location: Google’s Dublin Office: Google Docks, Barrow Street, Dublin 4 (opposite Gordon House)

There will be a sign in desk as soon as you enter the building, where you will collect a name badge and be escorted to the meeting room.

Registration is 190 Euros. Conference includes light breakfast, lunch, and reception.
Register by credit card here. To pay by wire email:  lzimmermann@medialaw.org. (Note: You will be charged in US dollars.)

Morning Sessions

• 9:00-9:30
  Registration & Welcome
• 9:30-10:30
  Libel and privacy law developments across the island of Ireland: a new destination for libel tourism?
  Moderator: Ciaran O’Shiel, A&L Goodbody. With: Mr Justice Simpson; Sarah Lennon, Head of Litigation & Regulation, Google; Jonathan Scherbel-Ball, 5RB; Eva Morris, Senior Associate, A&L Goodbody LLP.
  
  
• 10:30-11:10
  Views from Ireland’s Bench:
  Mr Justice David Barniville, President of High Court Ireland
  Mr Justice Adrian Colton ,Head of the Kings Bench Northern Ireland
  
  
• 11:30-12:30
  Litigation and Regulation Online: The EU Digital Services Act & Litigation of Online Content: Online harms, hate speech, together with online libel, privacy and harassment claims.
  Moderator: Olivia O’Kane, DWF. With Dualta Ó Broin, Head of Public Policy, Meta Platforms Ireland; Judy O’Connell, Coimisiún na Meán, Stiúrthóir Dlí (Legal Director); Adam Smyth, Head of BBC NI; Dominic Watkins, Global Regulatory Compliance and Investigations, DWF Law.
  
• 12:30-1:45
  Lunch followed by talk: Trump trials, political speech, and the U.S. Presidential race.
  
  Afternoon Sessions
  
• 1:45-2:45
  Comparative Vetting Exercise: Irish, UK, European & US approaches to defamation and privacy concerns. Group discussion led by George Freeman, MLRC.
  
• 3:00-4:00
  Training AI to Vet News Content
  Moderator: Lesley Caplin, Dentons. With Neil Brady, Co-Founder and CEO of defamation protection software CaliberAI. Plus a panel discussion on the influence AI can have in newsrooms, what it can bring to publishers as well as its limitations, with journalists Catherine Sanz (The Business Post) & Tom Lyons (The Currency).
  
• 4:15-5:00
  Debate: Reporting Restrictions & Contempt of Court: Balancing justice and the public interest. With Barrister Mark Harty SC, Dublin; and Robert Latham, Jackson Walker, Dallas.
  
• 5:00-6:00
  Reception at Google.