International Trade in Services.pdf - DSpace at Khazar University

Legal Services: Does More Trade Rhyme with Better Justice 77
the Paralegal Advisory Service Institute and is expected to continue to implement
the program in Malawi and offer services in countries as far afield as Bangladesh.
Cooperative Arrangements Are Prevalent
Vehicles for Integration
If small local law firms are to benefit from legal service exports, they will often
have to specialize in a particular area of law and work closely with domestic or
international partners to provide the scope of services that large-scale clients
demand. Also, cooperation with foreign partners can be seen as a second-best
solution in circumventing barriers to establishment, mobility, and practice in a
partner country.
Indeed, trade in legal services is frequently undertaken through various forms
of cooperation between law firms of different national origins. Because of the
greater access to new information and communication technologies, who in the
legal partnership network actually delivers legal services will depend on the practice
area, the law firm, the client, the jurisdictions involved, and the respective regulatory
frameworks. Depending on the particular regulatory environment and the
client needs, cooperation arrangements among global and local law firms may
take the form of the following:
• integrated international partnerships
• associations of independent local practices
• local firms hiring foreign practitioners
• international firms hiring local lawyers
• international firms establishing partnerships with local lawyers
• contractual outsourcing arrangements
• practitioners serving as foreign legal consultants (box 3.4)
Reductions in costs and improvements in the performance of information and
communications technology have facilitated collaboration between law firms and
business relations between law firms and clients in different countries. Law firms
are leveraging networked practices to broaden and deepen their area of expertise.
This type of partnership can be particularly useful for small and medium law
firms in competing for business with large, multinational clients. For example,
practitioners from more than 60 countries, including Algeria, Ecuador, Morocco,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Ukraine, and Vietnam, participate
in the online International Lawyers Network (http://www.iln.com/) to
engage clients electronically on matters of commercial law, litigation, and contracting.
Also, the Lex Africa law communityprovides a network of law firms in 27
African countries that specialize in corporate and commercial law. Networked