Walker Clark
Worldview Archives
Law Firms Without Borders: Challenging Trends in Cross-Border Legal Services
Although law firms today face a seemingly vast array of strategic, operational, and management challenges arising from the globalization of the legal services industry, there are at least five emerging trends that characterize law firms that are successfully building profitable cross-border and multinational practices, even when based in only one office or country.
This paper, presented at the 2022 Annual Conference of the American Bar Association International Law Section, on 29 April 2022, describes these five trends, based on observations and research by the author and other Walker Clark consultants in law firms over the past twenty years.
“New Law”: When Being an Excellent Lawyer is not Good Enough
As one managing partner of a U.S. law firm recently commented, "Today we have to be experts in subjects that they never taught in law school, not even five years ago. Being an excellent lawyer is no longer good enough."
Advising clients about compliance with international economic sanctions is one such challenging "new law" area.
Is Central America the next target for the global law firms?
For at least the last two decades, conventional wisdom has held that Central America is not an attractive market for setting up local operations of global firms, because of three key factors.
While all three factors remain present to date, other market factors have altered the picture somewhat.
An Open Indian Legal Market: Opportunity or Threat to Indian Law Firms?
The Bar Council of India is about to approve rules to permit foreign lawyers to practice in India. National and local law firms in India are already concerned about how the entry of foreign lawyers and law firms could change the competitive dynamics of the Indian legal market.
Seven Keys to the Future of Independent Law Firms in Asia
The effects of globalization of legal markets pose a unique set of risks and opportunities for independent law firms in Asia.
This brief article outlines seven observations of Walker Clark LLC members, some of whom have more than 20 years’ experience advising Asian law firms on strategic and operational matters.
What Binds Us Together
In these days of sanctions, sabre-rattling, and "red lines," it is refreshing to see how the common values and commitments of the legal profession prove stronger than the political, economic, and ideological differences that would divide us.
This is one of the ten most frequently read posts in the Worldview Archives, with more than 11,000 views since it was published in 2014.
Serving the Foreign Client
As cross-border and global business issues become more common, many small, previously locally-focused, law firms now face, for the first time, the challenges and opportunities of acting for foreign clients.
Even law firms that already do cross-border legal work encounter new and different expectations from new clients from the other side of the world, where local customs and practice may be profoundly different from the firm's previous experience with clients from neighboring countries or one of the major business centers.
