 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||
  |
|||
 |
|||
 |
|||
 |
Few organizations now operate within a single country. For example, a company may have headquarters in the United States, manufacturing centers and back-office operations in several offshore sites and a customer base that is worldwide. Given this new reality, the concept of a domestic company may soon be outdated. In the business environment without boundaries, employers must rethink traditional practices and re-examine how they recruit and train talent, distribute work, reconfigure jobs, automate operations and manage costs.
The now more accessible business world has created many opportunities for companies, and also has presented challenges, including greater competition, unfamiliar labor laws, questionable business practices and foreign regulations that can impede or curtail a companys business development efforts.
The globalization of the practice of law is the inevitable response to the increasing number of corporate clients expanding their international connections. Among law offices, globalization may mean that domestic firms have law offices in foreign countries or collaborate with foreign firms on cases or matters. When necessary, many national firms that are strong in their local jurisdictions also use formal and informal alliances with other firms to offer advice to clients. In addition to providing legal counsel to American-based clients that do business in foreign locales, law firms offer legal services to foreign clients with business ties or investments in the United States.
Source: Survey of 300 lawyers among the largest law firms and corporations in the United States and Canada. The survey was commissioned by Robert Half Legal and conducted by an independent research firm.
Technology and CommunicationsGlobe-spanning legal activity has given rise to a complex operational issue how to successfully create and manage geographically dispersed legal teams whose members work in various time zones, speak multiple languages and function in cultures markedly different than North American society. This scenario, which is already being played out in law offices, presents ongoing communication challenges.
To connect employees scattered throughout a network of domestic and foreign sites, some law offices now rely heavily on advanced technological tools that facilitate communication and create a sense that colleagues, while far away, are nearly as accessible as if they were just down the hall. For the largest firms, this means some type of integrated global communication infrastructure. A unified network allows a firms attorneys to communicate and access documents, e-mail, phone messages and databases, regardless of location or technological device used. When it comes to meetings, many firms utilize videoconferencing to join teams and offices who may be on opposite sides of the globe.
Source: Survey of 150 lawyers among the largest law firms in the United States and Canada. The survey was commissioned by Robert Half Legal and conducted by an independent research firm.
Source: Survey of 150 lawyers among the largest law firms in the United States and Canada. The survey was commissioned by Robert Half Legal and conducted by an independent research firm.
Globalization has brought the legal systems of many nations into closer and more frequent contact with one another, which has led to an increase in international litigation and enforcement proceedings. As U.S.-based corporations move into foreign markets, their law firms are sending attorneys to all corners of the globe to help clients comply with local regulations. Conversely, as foreign companies develop business interests local offices, investments, publicly traded securities in the United States, they are subject to U.S. rules, many more stringent than in the past. In the post-Sarbanes-Oxley Act era, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice have turned up the volume and aggressiveness of their investigations of foreign corporations. Many domestic law firms are handling legal matters and offering strategic advice to foreign clients.
While the legal work involved in modern business deals may initially flow back and forth across borders, any subsequent litigation remains country-specific. Because of the wide variance in court systems internationally, not all litigation skills are interchangeable. Although some of the differences among American, European and Asian legal systems have diminished due to globalization, no nation is willing to allow an extensive overhaul of its system.
The practices of outsourcing and offshoring, established strategies in the technology and communications industries, continue to take hold in the field of law. For firms to deliver legal services at competitive prices, or for legal departments to stay within the parameters of shrinking budgets, outsourcing and offshoring are increasingly viable alternatives to handling work internally.
Source: Survey of 150 lawyers among the largest law firms in the United States and Canada. The survey was commissioned by Robert Half Legal and conducted by an independent research firm.
Source: Survey of 150 lawyers among the largest law firms in the United States and Canada. The survey was commissioned by Robert Half Legal and conducted by an independent research firm.
Source: Survey of 150 attorneys among the largest law firms in the United States and Canada. The survey was commissioned by Robert Half Legal and conducted by an independent research firm.
Law offices that opt to outsource or offshore should be aware of the expense as well as the potential business and legal risks involved. Frequently, problems with outsourcing or offshoring arrangements arise not because of a lack of attention to legal details, but because the contract is too restrictive. In setting up an outsourcing deal, law offices must thoroughly consider various material risk matters and quality control, including the scope of the outsourced services; relationship management; regulatory compliance, confidentiality, privacy and security; and intellectual capital.
One effective and economical approach is to hire attorneys and other legal professionals on a project basis to assist with document-intensive projects, e-discovery, litigation assessment or specialized case work that cant be handled by full-time staff. The use of project professionals gives law firms and corporate legal departments immediate access to specialized skills, enabling law offices to take on larger and more complex cases, add practice areas, reduce costs for clients, and meet tight deadlines without overloading existing staff.
Facing the Global Talent Shortage
Within the next five years, many of the 76 million members of the baby boomer generation are expected to retire. And a 2005 survey by the Association for Legal Career Professionals revealed that each year, one out of five associates leaves U.S. law firms. Some may enter the corporate arena or the public sector; others may leave the profession altogether. These trends combined hold a significant staffing implication for both American and Canadian law offices. In the process of recruiting candidates, law offices, like every other business, can no longer afford to have a narrow scope in their search for talent.
Just as businesses are pursuing opportunities abroad, job seekers are likewise looking beyond their native countries for employment. This means that the candidate pool is increasingly transnational and transcultural. In addition, the U.S. legal talent pool continues to shrink. Enrollment at law schools nationwide dropped 6.3 percent last year, the second consecutive annual decrease. Meanwhile, the countrys major law firms are experiencing a spike in activity gross revenues among the most profitable firms were $52 billion in 2005. To staff adequately, law offices must look in new places and use creative methods to recruit candidates.
Many law offices have already adjusted to the reality of a global candidate base. For example, American law firms are looking northward for candidates and increasing their recruiting activities at Canadian law schools. Domestic firms also are looking across the Pacific for candidates.
Once a law office attracts and recruits skilled candidates, it must invest in their professional development in order to retain them and help them become valuable members of the firm or department. This is particularly true for attorneys who will be supervising legal teams whose members represent multiple languages and cultures, and for managers who oversee the interaction of domestic legal teams with attorneys and legal professionals working in foreign countries. To give attorneys more opportunities to develop a global mindset, law offices are increasingly creating or expanding exchange programs and overseas internships.
An important component of any training program is mentoring. For associates, the mentoring relationship should begin when they join a law office. The ideal mentor whether a partner or senior associate will advise the protιgι and share professional connections and knowledge. Globalization has given rise to a new approach e-mentoring, also called distance mentoring. This form of mentoring not only helps new associates integrate into a firm and acquire vital knowledge, but it also has the added advantages of unifying attorneys in various locations, preserving consistent standards across offices and keeping lawyers in outlying locales from feeling isolated.
In an effort to address the issue of global workforce development, most U.S. universities have adopted international curricula that teach global competencies, a specific set of attributes and skills that includes intellectual flexibility; critical and reflective thinking; the ability to listen, observe, evaluate, interpret and relate; fluency in at least one other language; competency in math, science, computing and technology; knowledge of geography; and, above all, an open-minded inquisitiveness that allows students to explore beyond their native cultures.
Global competencies are especially critical for law students. In response to the growing demand for attorneys with a global mindset and the skills to work on cases and matters of international scope, U.S. law schools are revamping and expanding their programs. Aside from taking international law courses, todays students also are looking for international internship opportunities with law firms.
