International Perspectives on the Regulation of Lawyers and Legal Services

299 Pages·2017·2.289 MB·English

by  Andrew Boon (editor)

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE REGULATION
OF LAWYERS AND LEGAL SERVICES
This collection explores developments in the regulation of legal services by
examining the control of the markets in several key countries and in jurisdictions
within countries. The contributions consider emerging adjustments in regulatory
structures and methods; examine the continuing role, if any, of professionals
and how this may be changing; and speculate on the future of legal services
regulation in each jurisdiction. The introductory and concluding chapters draw
together similarities, differences and conclusions regarding directions of change
in the regulation of legal services. They consider the emergence of alternatives to
professionalism as a means of regulating legal services and some implications for
the rule of law.
ii
International Perspectives
on the Regulation of Lawyers
and Legal Services
Edited by
Andrew Boon
OXFORD AND PORTLAND, OREGON
2017
Hart Publishing
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ISBN: HB: 978-1-50990-517-1
ePDF: 978-1-50990-519-5
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Boon, Andrew, editor.
Title: International perspectives on the regulation of lawyers and legal services / edited by Andrew Boon.
Description: Oxford ; Portland, Oregon : Hart Publishing, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017036964 (print) | LCCN 2017038298 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781509905188 (Epub) | ISBN 9781509905171 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Legal services. | Legal aid. | Practice of law. | Lawyers.
Classification: LCC K133 (ebook) | LCC K133 .I58 2017 (print) | DDC 347—dc23
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PREFACE
Something significant is occurring in the regulation of legal services. In the
Western world, markets that have been formed, shaped and dominated by legal
professions are undergoing a variety of changes. This process may be dictated by
government p olicy, driven by pressure exerted by economic forces, globalisation
and technology. The task of this volume is to identify changes in regulation and
assess its implications.
Contributors reflect on the regulation of legal services in their own jurisdictions
and consider reactions to the pressure for change. Responses include increased
government involvement in regulation and a corresponding reduction in the
involvement of legal professions. These structural changes may lead to changes
in regulatory strategy, whether these are adjustments to existing arrangements
or experimentation with new methods of regulation. Contributors discuss the
impact of regulatory change on the rule of law.
Most of those involved in this project are members of the International Legal
Ethics Association.1 The international legal ethics conference series began with a
conference convened by Kim Economides and Julian Webb at Exeter University
in 2004. The Association was formed at the fourth bi-annual International Legal
Ethics Conference (ILEC) at Stanford University in 2010 at the instigation of the
conference organiser, Deborah Rhode. The conferences are attended by h undreds
of scholars, mostly from the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and
Canada, but also including many from continental Europe and Asia.
The International Legal Ethics Association is one of a number of academic asso-
ciations for those interested in lawyers and legal professions. Although legal ethics
is a binding theme of the Association and conference, attendees come at the sub-
ject from a number of directions. This is suggested by a typical list of streams from
the conference: Culture, Technology, Ethics and Society, Empirical Approaches
to Legal Ethics, Philosophy and Legal Ethics, Regulation of the Profession(s) and
Ethics and Legal Education.
When the sixth Conference was held at City University, now City, University of
London, in 2012, a panel session for the regulation stream led to the proposal for
1 http://www.iaole.org.
vi Preface
this book. At the seventh Conference, at Fordham University, New York in 2016, a
further (expanded) panel met to present the papers which are the basis of many of
the contributions to this volume.
Andy Boon
Centre for Professional Legal Practice
City, University of London
Gray’s Inn
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to all the contributors for their commitment and enthusiasm, and in
particular to those who commented on my chapters in this volume or contributed
to the two conference panel sessions at which initial papers were presented. On
behalf of the contributors I thank the audiences at these sessions for their i nterest
and ideas. I would like to thank Bill Asquith at Hart for his support and encour-
agement, Francesca Sancarlo for her patient help with the production schedule
and production issues, and Ceri Warner for editing the manuscript to create the
best text possible.
viii
CONTENTS
Preface .........................................................................................................................v
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................vii
List of Contributors ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xi
1. The Regulation of Lawyers and Legal Services .................................................1
Andrew Boon
2. The United States of America: Legal Services Regulation in the
United States—A Tale of Two Models ..................................................................27
Benjamin H Barton and Deborah Rhode
3. Singapore: Regulating Domestic and Foreign Lawyers—Singapore’s
Unified Approach .............................................................................................45
Alvin Chen and Helena Whalen-Bridge
4. Eire: The Lawyers of the Celtic Phoenix ..........................................................71
Maeve Hosier
5. Canada: Legal Services Regulation in Canada: Plus Ça Change? ...................95
Noel Semple
6. New Zealand: Finding the Balance between Self-Regulation
and Government Oversight ...........................................................................115
Selene E Mize
7. Israel: Regulation of Lawyers and Legal Services in Israel ............................139
Limor Zer-Gutman
8. Australia: Legal Services Regulation in Australia—Innovative
Co-regulation ..................................................................................................161
Francesca Bartlett and Linda Haller
9. Germany: The Constitutional Court as the Driver of Change in the
Regulation of Legal Professions .....................................................................185
Matthias Kilian