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Nearly 8 of 10 US Lawyers Favor Globalization of Law - Globalization - Global Policy Forum Nearly 8 of 10 US Lawyers Favor Globalization of Law
Business Credit Management UK
July 10, 2003
Although legal experts cite the difficulties of standardizing laws internationally, nearly eight of 10 U.S. lawyers surveyed believe the legal profession would benefit from the convergence of numerous laws across international borders. The survey – the first comprehensive international study on issues facing the legal profession – was conducted by the International Bar Association (IBA) and sponsored by LexisNexis™ U.S., a leading provider of legal, news and business information services.
Money transmission and money laundering topped the list of legal areas that should be standardized internationally, with 73 percent of U.S. IBA members responding to the survey selecting it. Trade and investment (67 percent), environmental protection (64 percent), and terrorism and security (64 percent) also were picked by a majority of lawyers as areas that should be regulated globally. Overall, 79 percent of U.S. lawyers favored the convergence of several laws across international borders.
"This survey shows a remarkable consistency around the world as to what matters most in the future development of the law - and how we are all going to be in this together", said Philip F. Zeidman, Chair of the IBA Foundation. "The practice of law-making is being increasingly affected by international issues, and lawyers as a profession have a great challenge and responsibility to be internationally well-informed".
"We cannot make these laws on a nation-by-nation basis if they are to be really effective. They must be standardized so there are fewer perceived barriers to cross-border enforcement," said Alan M. Kindred, the U.S. country representative of the IBA for the Western United States.
He noted that even within the U.S., the regulation of professional conduct is largely on a state-by-state basis. "In California, for instance, there is a specific state statute that California lawyers have a duty to keep their clients’ confidences and secrets inviolate. So it is a dilemma for lawyers who become aware of a client’s activities, which may amount to illegal money transmission and laundering, as to whether there may nonetheless be a higher duty to somehow bring such activities to the attention of authorities, especially when the money is known, or perhaps reasonably expected, to be funding a future terrorist attack."
While 56 percent of lawyers surveyed see increased globalization of the law as an opportunity rather than a threat, experts caution that global convergence of law will not be simple, citing recent international legal issues over the Internet and consumer privacy.
"The Internet allows you to do business in other jurisdictions without physically being there — or even intending to," said Larry Street, co-author of The Law of the Internet (Lexis Law Publishing, 7th edition), commenting on the survey results. "This raises many legal issues, one of which is how to deal with law-abiding businesses located in one jurisdiction and using the Internet in a manner that violates the laws of another jurisdiction due to variations in culture, values and law." Street is the lead attorney in the technology/intellectual property practice area of the Atlanta law firm Morris, Manning & Martin.
"If you look at privacy as a test-case on the globalization of law, you can see how difficult it will be to tackle money transmissions, trade, environmental protection, and terrorism," said Mark Grant, co-author The Law of the Internet who practices law in the technology area at the same firm. "The European Union has created a model for protecting consumer privacy, but a dominant world player like the U.S. isn't willing to adopt the same type of privacy restrictions any time soon."
Making the challenge for globalization of law even more daunting, U.S. lawyers find very little international legislation that currently affects their work. Only 27 percent of lawyers surveyed felt that the North American Fair Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or other regional trade agreements affect their work. The UN Global Compact affects only 5 percent of lawyers, while the WTO trade agreements were cited by only 17 percent.
The LexisNexis-IBA Legal Survey 2003 polled 700 IBA members in eight countries — Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, Argentina, Chile and the U.S. The live telephone survey was conducted in May. It was the first of four global surveys that LexisNexis and the IBA are sponsoring on issues affecting the legal profession. A copy of the first of the survey series is available at www.lexisnexis.com.
LexisNexis is the official legal publishing sponsor of the IBA. The two organizations announced in March 2003 that they were creating the largest global alliance of its kind in the history of the legal profession.
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