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Legal Services And The Doha Round Dilemma, Sydney M. Cone Iii.

Articles & Chapters

This article examines the nexus between two international topics, namely, trade negotiations, and regulation of the cross-border practice of law. Admittedly, this nexus is not found at a conventional crossroads. Legal services lie somewhat at the periphery of international trade measured in terms of the global value of goods, services and investment used to define major international economic relationships, or to define priorities in the formulation of national and transnational economic policies. Moreover, trade negotiators hardly figure amongst the principal regulators having responsibility for the professional conduct of individuals and firms engaged in the practice of law.

Notwithstanding the somewhat …

Legal Services In The Doha Round, Sydney M. Cone Iii.

Articles & Chapters

As a subcategory of professional services and a sub-subcategory of business services, legal services, when supplied transnationally, are the subject of negotiation in the current round of multilateral trade negotiation known as the Doha Round. The negotiations on legal services that take place in the Doha Round have considerable potential for affecting the economics and activities of lawyers and law firms, and for influencing the content of local professional rules governing the practice of law. This article examines that potential.