Transnational Legal Practice 2008

Abstract:     
This article reviews developments in transnational legal practice during 2008, including international developments, U.S. developments, and regional developments in Australia and Europe. The article begins by reviewing international legal services statistics and information about legal education developments. The next section focuses on legal services developments related to the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), including the status of the 2008 negotiations regarding GATS Track #1 (market access) and Track #2 (domestic disciplines). This section also introduces the International Bar Association’s September 2008 “market access-skills transfer” resolution and reviews the state implementation status of the ABA’s foreign lawyer multijurisdictional practice resolutions and state rules permitting foreign in-house counsel. The article highlights other international developments including the resolutions by the Conference of Chief Justices and the Council of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) regarding lawyer discipline cooperation, the European Court of Justice’s attorney-client privilege case called Akzo Nobel, the October 2008 adoption of the Risk-Based Guidance for Legal Professionals by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the ongoing implementation of the 2007 U.K. Legal Services Act, including the adoption of rules that took effect in March 2009 that permit legal disciplinary practices by solicitors in England and Wales. The article also discusses a number of new developments, including the Legal Services Initiative of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), various ABA “summits,” the Conference of Chief Justices’ adoption of a resolution endorsing ABA MJP Recommendation #9 regarding temporary practice by foreign lawyers, and the issuance of a report on Global Professional Responsibility by an American Society of International Law task force. The article concludes with a review of some of the recent resources and conferences that had focused on the topic of legal outsourcing.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 26

Keywords: legal services, GATS, Akzo Nobel, ABA, legal education, FATF, CCBE, CCJ, international legal ethics, legal profession

JEL Classification: K33, l84, K10, 120, F01, L8, N70

Accepted Paper Series