More than Best Friends: Expansion of Global Law Firms into the Indian Legal Market
31 Pages Posted: 25 Sep 2010 Last revised: 5 Sep 2019
Date Written: March 28, 2011
Abstract
Over the past half century there has been an accelerating trend towards liberalization in the legal services industry. International free trade agreements have sought to promote open markets for legal services. The United States, United Kingdom, many European countries, Australia, Japan, Russia, China, and Singapore have all opened their legal markets to foreign law firms. India is something of an anomaly in this regard. Although it has one of the world’s largest economies and has benefited greatly from liberalization in many industries, its legal industry remains closed. Competition for foreign capital with other developing nations, particularly China, makes this an issue of paramount importance for India’s development.
This article examines India’s ban on the entry of foreign law firms into its legal market and assesses the implications of this policy on Indian firms’ ability to attract foreign direct investment. It then examines strategies that foreign firms currently use to participate in the Indian market and their costs and benefits for the development of India’s legal and governance infrastructure. Finally, it examines proposals for liberalizing the market in the light of their potential effects on India’s ability to attract foreign direct investment.
Keywords: India, Legal Profession, Legal Market, Law Firm, Global, Globalization, International
JEL Classification: K40, K20, L51, O2
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Regulating International Arbitrators: A Functional Approach to Developing Standards of Conduct