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A Taxonomy Of Lawyer Regulation: How Contrasting Theories Of Regulation Explain The Divergent Regulatory Regimes In Australia, England/Wales, And North America, Russell G. Pearce, Noel Semple, Renee Newman Knake

Law Publications

What explains the dramatic contrast between legal services regulation in the United States and anglophone Canada, on one hand, and England/Wales and Australia, on the other? In order to help explain these divergent regulatory choices, and to further comparative analysis, this Essay proposes a taxonomy of theories of legal services regulation drawn from these common-law jurisdictions. Although most jurisdictions employ a combination of approaches, as well as some hybrid methods, the Essay identifies the two dominant perspectives: (1) the professionalist-independent framework, predominate in anglophone North America, and (2) the consumerist-competitive framework found in the common law jurisdictions of Northern Europe …