Law Commons^™

The Business Of Law: Evolution Of The Legal Services Market, Tyler J. Replogle

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

The legal services market is changing. This change has been driven by various factors through the years: expansion of in-house legal departments, globalization (through mergers and outsourcing), technological advances, and the rise of alternative legal service providers. This paper explores these factors in isolation—i.e., discussing each factor separately and distinctly from other factors. Then, this paper seeks to understand these factors together, as products of a legal services market that is evolving from the growth stage into the mature stage.

Part I summarizes the early history of law firms, including the rise of the Cravath System through the Golden Era …

Addressing Cultural Bias In The Legal Profession, Debra Chopp

Articles

Over the past two decades, there has been an outpouring of scholarship that explores the problem of implicit bias. Through this work, commentators have taken pains to define the phenomenon and to describe the ways in which it contributes to misunderstanding, discrimination, inequality, and more. This article addresses the role of implicit cultural bias in the delivery of legal services. Lawyers routinely represent clients with backgrounds and experiences that are vastly different from their own, and the fact of these differences can impede understanding, communication, and, ultimately, effective representation. While other professions, such as medicine and social work, have adopted …

The Landscape Of The Legal Professions In Europe And The Usa: Continuity And Change, Xiaomeng Zhang

Law Librarian Scholarship

Overall, all articles in the book are thoroughly researched, documented, and presented with in-depth scholarly analyses. Although it is entitled The Landscape of the Legal Professions in the Europe and the USA, the European focus is apparent and dominant. On the other hand, comparative methodology is employed in most of the articles, either through a comparison of Europe nations and the United States, or through comparisons and contrasts among European countries. It will be of invaluable assistance to scholars interested in legal professions and legal system specifically and foreign and comparative law in general. It will be a great addition …

Behind Closed Doors: Irb's And The Making Of Ethical Research, Xiaomeng Zhang

Law Librarian Scholarship

In the late 1700s, English physician Edward Jenner intentionally exposed his infant son to swinepox and an eight-year-old boy to cowpox in order to observe whether they would become immune to related smallpox, a disease. While modern history of human experimentation can be traced back to the eighteenth century, the topic did not engage significant public attention until 1946, when the Nuremberg trials disclosed horrific medical experiments carried out by Nazi scientists. Now, almost all research involving human subjects is subject to prior review and ongoing monitoring by institutional review boards, or IRBs. Behind Closed Doors: IRBs and the Making …

The Challenges Of Calculating The Benefits Of Providing Access To Legal Services, J. J. Prescott

Articles

In this invited essay, I explore how policymakers and other public-interested actors have empirically calculated the benefits of providing low-income access to civil legal services in the past, and how they might improve upon existing methods going forward. My argument proceeds in five parts. First, I briefly explain the optimal approach to allocating public funds from a welfare economics perspective. Second, I introduce the challenges of valuing “benefits” in the context of the public provision of legal services. Third, I summarize and critique existing attempts to quantify the benefits of and need for legal services funding. Specifically, I review, criticize, …

Kidsvoice: A Multidisciplinary Approach To Child Advocacy, Scott Hollander, Jonathan Budd

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

There is growing recognition that effective child advocacy requires a broad range of knowledge that often goes well beyond the legal needs of the child. This Essay details the multidisciplinary approach to child advocacy that KidsVoice, a Pittsburgh legal services organization representing almost 5000 dependent children each year, has implemented to better develop uniquely tailored recommendations regarding which placement and services might create better possibilities of success for each child and family.

Learning And Serving: Pro Bono Legal Services By Law Students, David L. Chambers, Cynthia F. Adcock

Articles

All lawyers' codes of professional ethics in the United States expect members of the bar to perform legal services for low-income persons. In practice, as we all know, many lawyers perform a great deal of such service while others do little or none. By much the same token, the accreditation rules of the American Bar Association urge all law schools to provide students with opportunities to do pro bono legal work; by much the same token, some schools in the United States have extensive programs for their students but many do not. In 1998, the Association of American Law Schools …

Liberalizing International Trade In Legal Services: A Proposal For An Annex On Legal Services Under The General Agreement On Trade In Services, Michael J. Chapman, Paul J. Tauber

Michigan Journal of International Law

The legal services industry is experiencing a fundamental transformation. Thirty years ago, legal markets were almost exclusively national; today, a global legal market is emerging and evolving at a considerable pace. Unfortunately, further globalization is hindered by the failure of national regulatory systems to respond effectively. Globalization has made domestic regulation more difficult because it increases the complexity of the interactions between lawyers, the legal system, and the authorities responsible for regulating the legal profession. As the process of globalization has blurred the distinction between national and international legal issues, an international regulatory regime governing transnational legal practice has become …

Building Community Among Diversity: Legal Services For Impoverished Immigrants, Robert L. Bach

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Essay introduces the Immigrants' Legal Needs Study (ILNS), which provides most of the data for this Essay. Part II focuses on immigrants' access to legal assistance. It analyzes the problems and needs of recently arrived poor immigrants-both immigrants share with longer established poor residents as well as special needs related to immigrants' residency status. Part III addresses the present day demography of our urban communities, including the levels of new immigration. Parts IV and V detail the legal difficulties faced by poor immigrants, the ways they deal with these problems, and community responses to these needs. …

Lawyers At The Prison Gates: Organizational Structure And Corrections Advocacy, Susan P. Sturm

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article attempts to fill the gaps in the discussion of public interest advocacy by exploring the roles of various legal organizations in providing representation to inmates challenging the conditions and practices in prisons, jails, and juvenile justice institutions. It is an outgrowth of a study conducted for the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation on the extent and quality of representation in corrections litigation. It puts forward an organizational change model of public interest advocacy as the most promising strategy for legal representation in the corrections area. It then identifies the major organizational providers of representation, assesses where they fall on …

Transitional Legal Practice And Professional Ideology, Bryant G. Garth

Michigan Journal of International Law

This essay assumes that there are three other reasons for studying transnational legal practice. First, such a study provides a way to explore some of the dilemmas that we often overlook about our domestic legal system. In both the domestic and transnational legal settings we are uncomfortable with the idea of law as "merely a business"; troubled by the invasion of "legality" into domains that once had seemed immune from state regulation; wary of the expense of "mega" law and litigation; reticent about a "total justice" which is expected to compensate individual victims of every unpleasant social accident; and nervous …

Doing Business With The People's Republic Of China: The Role Of Foreign Lawyers, Jamie P. Horsley

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article describes the nature of a legal practice involving business transactions with entities in the P.R.C. and the role of the foreign, or non-national, lawyer in such transactions. Part I focuses on the increasing volume of Chinese legislation and international agreements affecting foreign trade and investment in the P.R.C., and the difficulties of keeping abreast of and interpreting this recent legislation. Part II examines the role of foreign lawyers in Chinese business transactions. It also discusses the need for competence in the Chinese language, practical problems encountered in practicing in the P.R.C., and the use of local Chinese counsel. …

A Statutory Analysis Of The Right Of U.S. Lawyers To Practice In Japan, Cecelia Norman

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note argues that the JFBA's position is legally untenable. There is no legal bar to the establishment of firms by U.S. attorneys unlicensed to practice in Japan, provided they restrict their activities to advising non-Japanese companies on foreign and international law. Two central issues shape this debate: (1) the extent of the bengoshi monopoly conferred by the Lawyer Law; and (2) the scope of Japan's obligation to the United States under the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation (FCN Treaty) concluded in 1953.

A Federal Bar For Foreign Lawyers, Christopher J. Caywood

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this note presents the case for a national bar to regulate foreign lawyers. National regulation would likely enable the United States to conclude reciprocity agreements with foreign nations that would enhance the treatment of U.S. attorneys abroad. It would also benefit the American public by increasing the availability of legal expertise on foreign and international law, and encouraging international trade in services. Part II addresses potential objections to a federal bar regulating foreign lawyers. Part A examines state and local bar associations' concerns regarding the maintenance of adequate levels of legal and ethical competence. It argues that …

Legal Services And The Emergence Of A Service Economy: Practical And Theoretical Considerations, Richard Self

Michigan Journal of International Law

Perhaps the most difficult question facing legal professional associations is how to treat outsiders, particularly attorneys from foreign countries. The issue has become more acute as the growth of international trade and investment has led attorneys, following their clients, to attempt to establish themselves permanently in foreign legal jurisdictions. In fact, over the past three years the problem of transnational legal practice has, at least between the United States and Japan, become a trade issue in its own right. As U.S. lawyers attempt to tear down Japanese barriers against foreign legal "consultants," foreign attorneys in the United States struggle against …

The Role Of The Western Lawyer In East-West Transactions, Jeffrey M. Hertzfeld

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article identifies and analyzes the special areas which the Western lawyer must consider when advising a client regarding an East-West transaction. These areas, although interrelated, have been categorized for clarity and ease of analysis. Part I outlines approaches for dealing with the legal and economic environment in which business negotiations are conducted. It describes the practical knowledge that lawyers must possess in order to help clients gain access to non-market countries. It also explains the process of identifying and understanding the roles and duties of various parties in Eastern countries. Part II discusses the structuring of contract negotiations in …

The Role Of Law And Lawyers In Japan And The United States, Isaac Shapiro, Michael K. Young

Michigan Journal of International Law

The issues raised in connection with delivery of legal services in Japan are complex and best understood against the backdrop of the development of the legal profession in Japan. Part I of this article discusses the history of the Japanese legal profession, especially its recent history. Part II shows how this development has shaped the issues in the current dispute. It recounts the development of the dispute, the arguments that have been made on the Japanese and American sides, and the course of the negotiations over legal services as part of the Japan-U.S. trade agenda. This article concludes with a …

Annex: Provisional Regulations On Lawyers Of The People's Republic Of China, Michigan Journal Of International Law

Michigan Journal of International Law

To some Western readers, the function of Chinese lawyers as described in translations of the Provisional Regulations will appear comparable to the function of lawyers in the United States and many Western European countries. In at least one news release following enactment of the law, however, the government of the People's Republic of China denied any apparent similarity. A reprint of the Regulations and the Chinese Government's position as published in the Renmin Ribao, the official government newspaper, follows.-eds.

The Practice Of Law By Foreign Lawyers In The Sultanate Of Oman, J. H. A. Mchugo

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article discusses the practice of foreign commercial lawyers operating through branch offices of foreign firms in the Sultanate of Oman. In order to see how the present situation has developed, it is necessary to consider the particular circumstances of modern Oman. Part I outlines some important aspects of Oman's history. Part II focuses on the development of the Omani legal and judicial system since 1970 with regard to commercial law. Finally, part III examines the practice of the foreign lawyer operating in Oman, and illustrates the kind of legal work which he may carry out.

Legal Practice Shaped By Loyalty To Tradition: The Case Of Saudi Arabia, Carolyn R. Ruis

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note employs Saudi Arabia as an example of an Islamic country that has retained its religious traditions while being forced by economic necessity to adopt some Western commercial practices. Part I reviews the legal system of Saudi Arabia, highlighting the major differences and similarities between it and Western commercial law. Part II considers the legal requirements and cultural norms which Western attorneys should be prepared to observe while practicing in a traditional Islamic society. It suggests that strict adherence to custom and the Saudi Government's recent attempts to strengthen restrictions on both the professional and personal lives of expatriates …

Obstacles To The Implementation Of The Treaty Of Rome Provisions For Transnational Legal Practice, Gerald L. Greengard

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note argues that the Treaty of Rome has had, and will continue to have, little impact on legal practitioners within the European Community. Part I examines Community barriers to transnational legal practice among the EC nations. It looks first at the history and shortcomings of the 1977 Directive on Freedom of Lawyers to Provide Services. It then describes the effect of the failure of the Council of the European Community to enact a directive mandating mutual recognition of legal degrees. It concludes that neither the Council nor the European Court of Justice is likely to eliminate existing Community-wide barriers …

Gatt As A Framework For Multilateral Negotiations On Trade In Legal Services, Dean N. Menegas

Michigan Journal of International Law

While a number of commentators have discussed the adaptability of the GATT to problems of trade in services, none have specifically addressed its applicability to lawyering or other professional services. Part I considers the GATT's progress on services issues to date. Part II identifies and classifies the barriers to transnational legal practice. Part III explores the possibility of liberalizing many of these barriers through the application of GATT substantive concepts and the use of GATT procedural mechanisms.

Legal Services And The Trade And Tariff Act Of 1984, Michael K. Grace

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this note outlines the major nontariff barriers (NTBs) to trade in services. Part II discusses the provisions of the Trade and Tariff Act that are aimed at the reduction of those barriers. Part III examines the applicability of the TTA to legal services and the potential limitations on the provisions of an international agreement for that particular service industry. It concludes that concerns over state sovereignty, while no longer posing a constitutional obstacle to an international agreement on trade in services, will remain an important political force in the shaping of such an agreement.

Mobilizing Private Law, Richard O. Lempert

Book Chapters

The mobilization of law may be thought of as the process by which legal norms are invoked to regulate behavior. In the area of private law, mobilization has two distinct aspects. The first is the process by which existing disputes become engaged in the legal system. In theory this means that disputes are transferred from an arena where their resolution and the enforcement of resolutions depends on the relative power of the parties as enhanced or constrained by non-governmental normative systems to an arena where disputes are resolved by reference to governmental (legal) norms and resolutions enforced by the power …

The Myth Of Sisyphus: Legal Services Efforts On Behalf Of The Poor, Lawrence E. Rothstein

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In Greek mythology there is a story about the tyrant, Sisyphus, who is condemned to suffer everlasting anguish. Eternally, he rolls a huge rock up the steep side of a mountain only to have it roll down again just as he reaches the top. Such is the plight in which the poor person finds himself when confronting the legal system. If the poor individual is able to overcome the massive obstacles placed between him and full, fair litigation of his case, he finds that the rules to be applied to the case are stacked against him. This situation is not …

Group Legal Services For Trade Associations, Richard D. Copaken

Michigan Law Review

This Article will examine the goals of the Canons of Professional Ethics in this trade association context, noting the pre-Button limitations on the representation of members of such associations, and analyzing the possible impact of the three cases on the development of group legal services in this area. Hopefully, the perspective gained from such an examination may prove useful in the difficult task immediately confronting the legal profession: reformulation of the Canons to bring them into conformity with Button, BRT and UMW while minimizing, on the one hand, the loss of those traditional conceptions which have continuing value and …

Legal Aid--Lay Control And Organizational Complexity Render Oeo Legal Service Program Unacceptable To New York Court--In Re Community Action For Legal Services, Inc., Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and the New York City Council Against Poverty approved the organization and the OEO funding of three legal service corporations as part of a comprehensive program to provide legal assistance to New York City's poor. According to the plan, the first corporation, Community Action for Legal Services, Inc. (CALS), was to approve proposed plans for setting up and operating neighborhood law offices with OEO funds and then to supervise and coordinate the agencies that sought to put those plans into operation. These agencies, operating as delegates of CALS, and under subcontracts with it, were …

Attorney And Client - Drafting Legal Instruments As Practice Of Law, Milton Rabinowitz

Michigan Law Review

In citation of defendant for contempt for unlicensed practice of law, held, that the preparing of a note and chattel mortgage and advising as to the legal effect thereof constitutes practice of law. " . . . [The practice of law] includes . . . drawing of wills, deeds, mortgages and other instruments of like character, where a legal knowledge is required, and where counsel and advice are given with respect to the validity and legal effect of such instruments . . . . " State v. Barlow, (Neb. 1936) 268 N. W. 95.