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The Rapidly Expanding Global Law Firm
As domestic clients expand their overseas operations and foreign clients set up offices or establish trade and investment interests in North America, law firms have had to globalize their practices. In terms of establishing and maintaining a presence in foreign countries, law firms have long juggled time-zone differences and trans-oceanic travel; what’s changed is the scale and number of foreign offices. The top destination cities are London, Paris, and Frankfurt, Germany, long the capitals of finance and commerce in Europe. Brussels and Madrid also are becoming popular locations for foreign offices of U.S.-based firms.
Firms also are opening more offices in Asia. Much of the growth has occurred in China, where top U.S. firms generally open offices in the major cities – Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. The second major Asian market is Japan. A third region where U.S.-based firms are pursuing expansion is Latin America. Growth in the region by the top U.S.-based law firms is still in the early stages but has remained steady, with most of the activity concentrated in Mexico and Brazil.
One way law firms extend their global reach is by opening new offices in foreign cities. Another method, which more rapidly expands a firm’s practice areas, number of attorneys and client list, is to merge with or acquire local firms in the target countries. This strategy also assures international clients that their needs will be met, regardless of jurisdiction.
One of the issues that international law firms face is multijurisdictional practice (MJP), or the practice of law across borders. Business, and therefore the practice of law, may have become global in nature, but in the United States, an attorney’s license is still state-based. As the Commission on Multijurisdictional Practice from the American Bar Association (ABA) noted in its 2002 report, Client Representation in the 21st Century, “Although client needs and legal practices have evolved, lawyer regulation has not yet responded effectively to that evolution.”
Although the report recognizes the difficulties and challenges of practicing law on an international stage, the ABA has not provided guidelines for global attorneys who are grappling with MJP and the issue of potential “unauthorized practice of law” (UPL). Law firms have had to come up with ways to cope with the issues of MJP and potential UPL. Some have dual-admitted lawyers in their foreign offices. Another option is to staff a foreign office with homegrown talent – that is, attorneys who are natives and are admitted to the foreign locale’s legal system.
