Laura-May Scott

Earlier this month, Reed Smith attended the 2026 AIRMIC Annual Conference at the ICC in Birmingham. The conference, under the theme Back to Basics, featured over 2,000 delegates from across the risk and insurance community who discussed the evolution of some established trends and explored emerging risks. We unpack some of the main themes and what they mean for policyholders and practitioners further below.

Drones can deliver goods faster, cheaper and more sustainably than traditional methods. But how are they shaping the global supply market and what are the benefits and challenges of using them? Reed Smith partners Laura-May Scott and Gregory Speier discuss the current state and future trends of the drone delivery market, the key drivers and barriers of its growth, and the legal and regulatory implications of this emerging industry.

In 2024, the citizens of more than 60 countries have gone or will be going to the polls to exercise their electoral rights, leading some to dub this year the "super-cycle" election year. The political change that some of these elections will bring could also bring political risk, but political risk insurance can mitigate some of those risks.