Globalization and the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20: Reflections on Missed Opportunities and the Road Not Taken

43 Pages Posted: 25 Jan 2015 Last revised: 12 Feb 2015

See all articles by Laurel S. Terry

Laurel S. Terry

Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson Law

Date Written: 2014

Abstract

The ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 was established in order to “perform a thorough review of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the U.S. system of lawyer regulation in the context of advances in technology and global legal practice developments.” The thesis of this article is that the Commission was much more successful with the “technology” aspect of its work than it was with the globalization aspect of its work. This article offers an explanation for these differing levels of success and identifies an alternative path the Commission might have taken that might have led to greater success with respect to its globalization mission.

The article begins by offering background information about the ABA's 20/20 Commission. The next section of the article discusses the current impact of the 20/20 Commission’s work. It then explains why the Commission’s technology work arguably will continue to have a greater impact than its work with respect to globalization. The fourth section identifies a “road not taken” with respect to the Commission's globalization mission. This section includes concrete steps that the ABA 20/20 Commission might have undertaken to make the globalization aspect of its work more successful. The Conclusion to this article suggests that the ABA could still – and should still - undertake these steps in order have a greater impact in a globalized world of lawyer regulation.

Keywords: ABA, American Bar Association, globalization, 20/20, Commission, future, legal services, legal profession

JEL Classification: L8, L84, K33, N70

Suggested Citation

Terry, Laurel S., Globalization and the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20: Reflections on Missed Opportunities and the Road Not Taken (2014). 43 Hofstra Law Review 95 (2014), HLS Center on the Legal Profession Research Paper No. 2015-1, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2554822

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

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
116
Abstract Views
982
Rank
430,305
PlumX Metrics