Trends and Challenges in Lawyer Regulation: The Impact of Globalization and Technology

24 Pages Posted: 16 Jun 2012 Last revised: 3 Oct 2012

See all articles by Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson Law

Steve A. Mark

Government of the Commonwealth of Australia - Office of the Legal Services Commissioner

Tahlia Ruth Gordon

NSW Office of the Legal Services Commissioner

Date Written: 2012

Abstract

The articles in the 2012 Fordham Symposium on Globalization and the Legal Profession address a number of specific issues that have arisen as a result of globalization and technology. But it is also possible to frame in a much broader fashion the challenges facing the legal profession and its regulators. Because lawyers around the world are subject to many of the same globalization and technology forces, similar issues now arise in multiple locations around the world. Accordingly, one can now speak of common “trends” and challenges in lawyer regulation as regulators around the world scramble to respond to similar developments.

This article identifies six different types of challenges facing contemporary lawyer regulators and some of the regulatory trends that seem to be emerging in response to these issues. As the article notes, across the globe, there have been changes in the “who-what-when-where-why-and how” of lawyer regulation. The article identifies each of these types of changes so that the legal profession and regulators can anticipate these changes and learn from each other's experiences. This article also provides the introduction and context for the authors’ longer Symposium article which focuses on Regulatory Objectives for the Legal Profession, which is a recent development designed to answer the “why regulate” question.

Keywords: legal services, legal profession, co-regulation, ex ante regulation, regulatory objectives, globalization, outcomes based regulation, virtual practice

JEL Classification: L8, L84, K33, N70

Suggested Citation

Terry, Laurel S. and Mark, Steve A. and Gordon, Tahlia Ruth, Trends and Challenges in Lawyer Regulation: The Impact of Globalization and Technology (2012). 80 Fordham Law Review 2661 (2012), Penn State Law Research Paper No. 11-2012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2058701

Laurel S. Terry (Contact Author)

Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson Law ( email )

Lewis Katz Hall
150 S. College St.
Carlisle, PA 17013
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://dickinsonlaw.psu.edu/laurel-s-terry

Steve A. Mark

Government of the Commonwealth of Australia - Office of the Legal Services Commissioner ( email )

Level 15, Goodsell Building
8 - 12 Chifley Square
Sydney, NSW 2000
Australia

Tahlia Ruth Gordon

NSW Office of the Legal Services Commissioner ( email )

Level 9, 75 Castlereagh Street
Sydney
Australia

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