Learning to be a lawyer in transnational law firms: communities of ...

institutional heterogeneity and the national system of the professions. We focus on English firms,
highlighted in Italics in Table 1 because our research suggests these firms have developed the
most advanced organizational learning strategies that use CoP to ensure all lawyers in all
worldwide offices learn about the procedural best practices of the firm but also the attitudes,
values and behaviours the firm’s lawyers are expected to display. In particular we focus on the
role and effects of organizational learning via CoP involving Italian lawyers in Milan working
for English transnational firms. Our rationale for focussing on Italy is that, first, the effects of
Italian institutions on the activities of transnational law firms have not be studied to date.
Second, as the work of Culpepper (2007) and Trigilia and Burroni (2009) suggests, Italy
provides an example of what in Table 2 is described as a particularistic environment with the
home-country of English transnational law firms corresponding with the arm’s length model.
This means Italy provides an example of when institutional difference between home and host
countries is great and, therefore, organisational CoP are most affected by institutional
heterogeneity and play the biggest role in overcoming the affects of such heterogeneity on
workers attitudes and values.
Analysis is based on a series of 66 interviews. Interviews were completed with representatives of
all of the English transnational law firms listed in Table 1. Individuals were interviewed in
London and Milan and held positions including office managing partner, partner, head of
training, trainer, senior associate, associate and trainee. This represents all sections of the
hierarchy in law firms. Interviews were also completed with regulators of the legal profession
and education in England and Italy, law schools in the two countries and freelance providers of
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