Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2010

Publication Citation

44 International Lawyer 563 (2010)

Abstract

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.

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