Each October, the American Branch presents International Law Weekend (ILW) in New York City. This two-and-a-half day conference features over 30 panels, and many of the world’s leading international lawyers participate. John Bellinger, the Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State, spoke at the ILW 2008 luncheon, and the Belgian Mission to the United Nations hosted the Weekend's annual gala reception. In 2009, the speaker was Lucy Reed, President of the American Society of International Law and an international arbitration specialist at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, and the British Mission hosted the annual reception. Recent ILWs have attracted approximately 800-1,000 registrants.

Attendance at ILW, as at all American Branch conferences and programs, is free for members of the American Branch and for the Branch's student associates.

Every other year the American Branch holds International Law Weekend – West. This two-day conference began in 2001 in Malibu and has been held in subsequent years in Los Angeles, Costa Mesa, and Santa Clara, California. Its most recent stop was Salem, Oregon in March 2009.

The next ILW-West will take place February 25-26, 2011 at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.

The American Branch is inaugurating International Law Weekend – Midwest. This biennial conference will be modeled on the highly successful International Law Weekend – West, which brings together international law practitioners and academics to present panels and discuss significant themes and developments concerning a range of international law topics. ILW – West will continue to be held in odd-numbered years, and ILW – Midwest will be held in even-numbered years.

The first in this regional series will be held February 12-13, 2010, at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and the second ILW - Midwest will be held at Case Western University School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio, in early 2012. The theme of the 2010 Denver conference is "Sustainable Development, Corporate Governance, and International Law."

Much of the work of the ILA occurs at its biennial conferences, at which members from all national branches interact. The most recent ILA conference was in Rio de Janiero (2008). Upcoming conferences will be in The Hague on August 15-20, 2010: www.ila2010.org, Bulgaria (2012), and Tokyo (2014). In May 2007, the ILA accepted the American Branch’s invitation to hold the 2016 conference in the United States, which has not hosted a biennial conference since 1972.

The American Branch sponsors occasional talks and programs, especially in the Washington, DC area, and cosponsors numerous events. See the Calendar of Events. For example, the Branch has recently staged two International Law Career Panels for students as well as the substantive panels, "Treaties in U.S. Courts" and "A World of Free Trade Agreements."

If you are interested in hosting an event or have suggestions for future events, please contact Rachel Smith, the American Branch’s Program Director, at programdirector@ila-americanbranch.org.