GLOBALISATION OF LEGAL PRACTICE
| Published date | 01 December 1990 |
| Date | 01 December 1990 |
| Author | KEITH ROSS |
First of all I would like to thank Mr Justice Lai for his kind invitation to speak at today’s seminar. This first conference of the Academy of Law, comes at a time of challenge and promise for the profession in Singapore and it is an honour and a pleasure for me to be taking part in this way.
Globalisation of legal practice in the coming decade is a fairly substantial subject. In the time available I shall set out some views (which are personal rather than necessarily those of my firm) about why, and to what extent, legal practice is becoming international, possible future trends, the challenges facing practitioners and possible responses to those challenges. Any discussion of globalisation of legal practice cannot avoid regulatory questions affecting the profession. Accordingly I shall also mention some of the issues which may face those who are charged with regulating the profession around the world.
The last 45 years have seen a remarkable lowering of barriers to the movement of goods and capital and the provision of services between many countries. This has contributed to a sharp rise in levels of prosperity in much of the world. Other things being equal those countries with the most open economies appear to have been those which have benefitted most. An integrated global economy, in which barriers to the supply of goods and services are steadily falling away, is increasingly a reality. Commercial or financial transactions which in some way cross national frontiers are increasing constantly and at an accelerating rate.
These development have important consequences for the legal profession. This is especially the case for those in commercial practice and in those countries which are most exposed to relatively open trading and financial systems such as the United Kingdom and Singapore. We should, however, keep these trends in perspective. While they are relevant for those in commercial practice, for those engaged in other practice areas their significance at present is limited.
For many commercial practitioners, the actual nature of the legal issues with which they are confronted increasingly have an international or cross-border element. Lawyers are required to respond smoothly and very promptly indeed to difficult problems involving substantive legal issues under the laws of more than one jurisdiction.
Perhaps the requirements and pressures on lawyers are better understood by trying to look at the position from the point of view of the client. The client is increasingly a company or institution which, reflecting economic trends, conducts business on an international basis. The individual involved, in any particular matter may well lack the time or indeed knowledge to assemble and coordinate a team of lawyers in different jurisdictions. His preference will frequently be to speak to a lawyer with whom he normally deals in one of the jurisdictions involved and leave it up to that lawyer both to arrange the team and take the necessary action on the legal front, whether this is arranging the preparation of a memorandum of advice, institution proceedings, drafting documentation or whatever.
In a few cases, large organisations which have very regular and substantial dealings with lawyers around the world see benefits in regulating their relationships with their lawyers in a very structured manner. They may wish to follow very clearly stated procedures in respect of, for example, billing and, very occasionally may find it easier to make such arrangements with a limited number of lawyers worldwide.
Regardless however, of how the relationship with lawyers is organised the client’s priorities are firstly to be assured of receiving the highest possible standard of service, at an acceptable price. Secondly, as the pace of business around the world accelerates, the client requires this to be done in the promptest possible manner.
A client, perhaps under intense competitive pressure, may well be impatient at the prospect of delay if its lawyers in a particular country need to educate themselves about the underlying commercial matters involved in a particular type of matter even if these are of considerable complexity.
For a lawyer to be able to meet these client expectations, knowledge of the substantive law of his own jurisdiction, while clearly essential, may be insufficient. A clear understanding of the underlying commercial practices, which in turn may well reflect elements of foreign laws, will also be essential. Moreover it is clear that increased involvement with cross-border matters means that lawyers must both know and have the easiest possible access to lawyers with appropriate expertise in other jurisdictions. The arrangements between such lawyers must allow them to work together in the most efficient possible manner. I believe this requirement is central to present trends in the development of international legal practice.
The challenge for practitioners therefore is how best to organise their relations with lawyers in other jurisdictions so as to provide a service of the type expected.
There is clearly no “right” or “wrong” way of arranging relationships between lawyers in different countries. The individuals who make up a law firm and the clients they serve are unique in each case. What may well be the right approach for the circumstances of one firm may be quite wrong for another. I shall simply run through some of the options.
I shall begin with the normal basis for cooperation between lawyers in different jurisdictions which is the relationship of correspondents. This is simply where a law firm in one country, on behalf of a client, instructs a lawyer in another jurisdiction. This is the usual way in which these matters have been handled historically and remains today the...
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