Globalisation, Law, and Lawyers in a Time of Crisis: Introduction to The Global Lawyer by K Galloway, M Castan, and J Flood (LexisNexis, 2020)

Abstract

Using Kondratieff's concept of economic waves (K waves) which span 60 years this paper examines the conjunction of the end of the fifth cycle and the start of the sixth. According to Kondratieff there is a winter period lasting 15 years at the end of each cycle which is marked by crisis in many forms. Estimating the present crisis started with the refugee wave of 2015 I ask what this means for globalisation, ideals of global lawyering, and lawyers. Since the new K wave will be largely made up of radical developments in technology—nano-technology, hybrid machine-human forms, bio-engineering, and intense automation—I ask if legal professions and legal education are ready for this. Of course the answer is no, they aren't. So can professionalism be recreated to embrace the new K wave.

Keywords: lawyers, global, globalisation, legal education, Kondratieff, K waves