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

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

Transnational Legal Practice 2006-2007

Law practice continues to expand across borders, and lawyers and law firms from the United States and other countries are substantially invested in representations that take them outside of their home jurisdictions.[1] Unfortunately, reliable information relating to the extent of internationalization of the legal market is scarce. Neither the number of lawyers and law firms working in the international legal services market nor the receipts generated from internationally-related work are readily and reliably available. Nevertheless, statistics from both the United States and United Kingdom provide a sense of the numbers from the largest present sources of international legal practice. In the category of outbound services, for example, we can consider how U.S. lawyers and law firms serve foreign clients and U.S.-based clients in their offshore activities. One measure of these services could include the offshore activity of U.S. law firms. The American Lawyer Global 100 includes nine U.S.-based law firms with more than a quarter of their lawyers stationed outside of the United States, three of which support more than 50 percent of their lawyers working from overseas offices.[2] Another study of approximately sixty large U.S. law firms reported that those firms support approximately 375 offices overseas, where approximately 8,000 lawyers are working;[3] three-quarters of these lawyers are working in offices located in Europe. The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that the export of legal services from the United States generated $4.3 billion in receipts in 2005, while imports of legal services were valued at$914 million, yielding a 4:1 surplus for balance-of-payment accounts.[4] According to the U.K. Department of Constitutional Affairs, British law firms generated £1.9 billion in exports in 2003, compared to £1.5 billion in imports.[5

Transnational Legal Practice 2008

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

Transnational Legal Practice 2008

The current financial turmoil shaking the world illustrates the connectedness of national markets and economies. Legal practice is no exception: lawyers and their firms are experiencing the upheaval along with their clients.1 This has resulted in new opportunities for lawyers and firms–in bankruptcy and restructuring and, likely in the future, in regulatory advising as well–and, at the same time, in substantial challenges. The promise of benefits from a diversified practice–in terms of both substance and geography–is being tested as lawyers and law firms follow their clients through the uncertainties of the current economic conditions. As law firms cut the size of their legal and non-legal staffs and decrease compensation expectations, they also are capitalizing on the benefits of a geographically diverse footprint of practice by looking to overseas activities as opportunities for growth. The number of firms announcing new offices in the Middle East, for example, has not slowed during the economic crisis.2 Over the last twenty years or so, the growth of overseas activities of the largest U.S.-based law firms has far outpaced their growth within the United States, by a rate of ten-to-one.3 In 2007, more than 15,000 lawyers worked for the National Law Journal 250 firms in more than 550 offices located outside the United States.4 Indeed, two U.S.-based law firms with substantial investments in overseas offices joined the ranks of four of the London “Magic Circle” firms in a new category dubbed the “global elite.”5 But the description so far relates only to the most visible part of the story of the importance of overseas-related work for U.S. lawyers. Overseas-related work also supports lawyers working for firms that do not have formal international footprints. These may be firms with foreign clients or U.S.-based clients involved in offshore activities or partnerships. They may be firms that are members of international networks or associations of lawyers that serve as a source of referral relationships, among other things. Each of these arrangements points to the continuing importance of keeping watch over the regulatory and business environment for lawyers outside the United States. The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that the export of U.S. legal services generated $6.4 billion in receipts in 2007, while imports of legal services were valued at nearly$1.6 billion, yielding a four-to-one surplus for balance-of-payment accounts.6 If globalization continues, as appears likely, lawyers may be able to rely on overseas activities as a sort of hedge against instability at home. Access to overseas legal markets, then, remains an issue of high priority

Transnational Legal Practice 2008

The current financial turmoil shaking the world illustrates the connectedness of national markets and economies. Legal practice is no exception: lawyers and their firms are experiencing the upheaval along with their clients.1 This has resulted in new opportunities for lawyers and firms–in bankruptcy and restructuring and, likely in the future, in regulatory advising as well–and, at the same time, in substantial challenges. The promise of benefits from a diversified practice–in terms of both substance and geography–is being tested as lawyers and law firms follow their clients through the uncertainties of the current economic conditions. As law firms cut the size of their legal and non-legal staffs and decrease compensation expectations, they also are capitalizing on the benefits of a geographically diverse footprint of practice by looking to overseas activities as opportunities for growth. The number of firms announcing new offices in the Middle East, for example, has not slowed during the economic crisis.2 Over the last twenty years or so, the growth of overseas activities of the largest U.S.-based law firms has far outpaced their growth within the United States, by a rate of ten-to-one.3 In 2007, more than 15,000 lawyers worked for the National Law Journal 250 firms in more than 550 offices located outside the United States.4 Indeed, two U.S.-based law firms with substantial investments in overseas offices joined the ranks of four of the London “Magic Circle” firms in a new category dubbed the “global elite.”5 But the description so far relates only to the most visible part of the story of the importance of overseas-related work for U.S. lawyers. Overseas-related work also supports lawyers working for firms that do not have formal international footprints. These may be firms with foreign clients or U.S.-based clients involved in offshore activities or partnerships. They may be firms that are members of international networks or associations of lawyers that serve as a source of referral relationships, among other things. Each of these arrangements points to the continuing importance of keeping watch over the regulatory and business environment for lawyers outside the United States. The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that the export of U.S. legal services generated $6.4 billion in receipts in 2007, while imports of legal services were valued at nearly$1.6 billion, yielding a four-to-one surplus for balance-of-payment accounts.6 If globalization continues, as appears likely, lawyers may be able to rely on overseas activities as a sort of hedge against instability at home. Access to overseas legal markets, then, remains an issue of high priority

Transnational Legal Practice 2009

This article identifies some of the most important U.S. and international developments in transnational legal practice and provides citations for further research. The article begins by briefly reviewing the impact of the recession on legal services. The second section focuses on international developments. It identifies some of the ongoing efforts to implement the 2007 U.K. Legal Services Act, including the issuance of the influential Hunt and Smedley reports. It also provides information about law reform initiatives in France, Scotland and Korea. This section of the article also provides information about Canadian and Australian developments regarding admission of foreign applicants and proposed changes to the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test used in England and Wales. The U.S. developments cited in this article include the Conference of Chief Justices’ discipline cooperation agreements with the CCBE and with the Law Council of Australia, various developments related to admission of foreign applicants in U.S. states, important legal education and admission developments, new state adoptions of foreign legal consultant and temporary practice rules, and the creation of the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20, which has been asked, inter alia, to consider the impact of globalization on the legal profession and lawyer regulation. This article also surveys various trade developments related to legal services, including the 2009 “Legal Services Initiative” of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The U.S. is a member of APEC, which represents approximately forty percent of the world’s population, fifty-four percent of world GDP, and forty-three percent of world trade