The Legal World is Flat: Globalization and its Effect on Lawyers Practicing in Non-Global Law Firms

Abstract

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Thomas Friedman has stimulated and changed the popular dialogue in the U.S. about globalization in his New York Times columns and books such as his bestseller "The World Is Flat." It is clear that globalization has affected U.S. lawyers who practice law in global law firms. But most U.S. lawyers do not practice in global law firms. What about these U.S. lawyers? Has or will globalization affect the average U.S. lawyer? This article uses Friedman's book "The World is Flat" as the lens through which to view the potential impact of globalization on U.S. lawyers who do not practice in global law firms. The first section of this article analyzes each of the ten flattening forces Friedman describes, including outsourcing and offshoring, and explains whether they have already affected the practice of law in the U.S. or will do so in the future. This section concludes that globalization is an important phenomenon even for those lawyers who do not practice in global law firms. The second section of the article poses the question of how U.S. lawyers might respond to globalization. The article suggests that U.S. lawyers - wherever and whatever they practice - think about globalization both offensively and defensively and consider both the opportunities and challenges globalization presents.

Keywords: legal services, Friedman, World is Flat, outsourcing, offshoring, globalization, legal ethics

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