Comments of a Commissioner

These comments are solely the views of Peter D. Ehrenhaft, one of the twelve members of the ABA Commission on Multijurisdictional Practice. They are not the official views of the Commission and, indeed, may be modified by the presenter based on the further information the Commission is now gathering from interested parties. These comments are intended to stimulate thought and discussion of the issues and to encourage all sectors of the profession to submit their views to the Commission. The final deadline for the submission of written materials for the Commission\u27s consideration in the preparation of its Initial Draft Report and Recommendations was June 15, 2001. The draft will be circulated for comments, hopefully by November 2001, and additional materials will then be received. However, submissions received before the Draft is prepared will probably be the most helpful

An Administrator\u27s Look at Antidumping Duty Laws in United States Trade Policy

Trade policymakers, like military strategists, are often fighting the last war. Our present antidumping law was passed in 1921. It was a reaction to trade problems perceived in the years during and after World War I. The related countervailing duty law harks back to an even earlier era. Since their enactment we have tinkered with each. Administration of both statutes has been surrounded by extensive regulations and a body of unwritten practice. But solving the trade problems of today-if that is what we are doing-with this elaborate legal corpus will not necessarily provide us with a sensible guide to the laws we need to meet the challenges of the next decade. Important new trends are discernible even now. Perhaps the old rules will continue to serve us in these new situations; more likely, they will give way to new thinking

Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility in a Global Context

These remarks elaborate on legal ethics , more properly understood as professional rules of conduct. The paper examines three principles in particular: competence, faithfulness, and fair service charges. Finally, the essay describes the direction of the European Union as a model for the practice of law

Transnational Legal Practice 2006-07

This article reviews developments in transnational legal practice during 2006 and 2007, including international developments, U.S. developments and regional developments in Australia and Europe. The primary focus of the international developments section is the WTO\u27s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). This article discusses GATS Track 1 Activities related to legal services, including the Legal Services Collective Requests and issues related to GATS Track 2 and the potential development of GATS disciplines. This section also surveys GATS-related initiatives of the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association and U.S. implementation of foreign lawyer multi-jurisdictional practice rules. In other areas, the international developments section addresses the development of a code of conduct for defense counsel practicing before the International Criminal Court and developments in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). With respect to U.S. transnational legal practice developments, the article reviews U.S. bilateral free trade initiatives, lawyer discipline cooperation initiatives and significant litigation. The regional developments section documents the emergence in Australia of the first publicly-traded law firm and Australia\u27s efforts to promote greater multijurisdictional practice for Australian lawyers in the U.S. This section also reviews various European developments, including European competition law initiatives, the Akzo Nobel case currently pending before the European Court of Justice, and developments related to the free movement of lawyers, codes of conduct, money laundering and lawyer education