“Globalisation has made us more vulnerable. It creates a world without borders, and makes us painfully aware of the limitations of our present instruments… to meet its challenges.” – Anna Lindh (source)
Today on Law Today we continue our ‘In Focus’ series, in which we discuss current, pressing affairs of the legal world. This three-part discussion covers the effects of globalisation on legal education, and why we must start from the ground up in creating global lawyers, giving legal education the desperate changes it needs to produce lawyers ready for the international stage.
Globalisation and the law
We exist in the time of rapid globalisation. The phenomenon has seen the ‘spread of products, technology, information and jobs across national borders and cultures’, and affects us all across social, political and cultural spheres. The globalisation of previous centuries was created by the industrial revolution, the spread of people enabled by air and sea travel and the birth of the internet. Its current iteration is fuelled by extraordinary advances in technology that have enabled communication and transportation to be largely affordable and accessible. As a result, we are hyperconnected, the challenge of geographical distance fading as economic activity has become global. Interdependence and cross-cultural relations are the new norm. Countless industries are looking beyond their national borders, conducting themselves on an international level. Globalisation has made international trade far simpler. As a result, the global economic sphere is booming, and it needs legal professionals trained on an international scale.
Globalisation creates new, global communities that reach beyond national borders. Along with this comes the need for new structures and norms, which can only be facilitated by global players who have a “deep understanding of the global level”. Further, globalisation elevates competition; its developments create new possibilities and challenges. A new global stage is set, and the bar is high.
Globalisation and its effects have widespread ramifications and challenges for the legal industry. Is the greatest of these the transformation of legal education that must occur to equip lawyers for their new future as global players? Can every effect and challenge to the legal field posed by globalisation can be withstood by lawyers educated and trained with a global mindset? Over several posts, we will explore the extent to which this is true.
The effect of globalisation on the legal industry
It could be argued that compared to the plethora of challenges globalisation poses to the legal industry, reformed education pales in insignificance. As I will discuss in depth in the next post of the series, globalisation demands a new type of lawyer: the global lawyer. Regardless of the field in which they practice, lawyers of the new generation must comfortably and confidently engage in foreign environments, across multiple jurisdictions, with others from a range of cultures and backgrounds. This demands practical skills, such as language and communication, and deeper requirements, such as open mindedness, self-awareness and knowledge of norms and procedures beyond one’s own. Further, the international level creates greater demands from clients, and lawyers must work to please a greater range of clients as less dominant economies increase their presence. Caserta and Madsen argue that technological advances such as social media and a wealth of information on the internet have given clients more knowledge, and therefore power. The balance has shifted, and lawyers must adapt.
Globalisation is shifting the sands of the legal business. Where firms previously had merely ‘international’ sectors in other countries, dealing with international law, they are now delving into the domestic matters of other jurisdictions, requiring a whole new level of skill and knowledge. Local firms must now compete against major players. Further, in recognition of the power of a global approach, many firms are partnering with their international counterparts, establishing global, professional networks and restructuring the legal industry as we know it today. Globalisation extends to the very nature of lawyers themselves, with increased flexibility and required skill level sees lawyers working beyond the typical retirement age, necessitating collaboration in the workplace across various age groups. ‘Virtual’ law firms and technological advances make flexibility workplace arrangements and the demise of the 9-5 workday possible, further altering the classic structure of the legal field. Finally, as the role of lawyers changes and extends beyond its traditional form, they must deal with redefining their role, their interactions and their ethical standards. This list is by no means exhaustive.
Graduate lawyers are entering a legal landscape that will soon be vastly different from mere decades ago. Currently, there are many challenges to the legal profession. Those detailed above are joined by advances in artificial intelligence and technology, issues of cybersecurity and data protection, the demand for flexibility working arrangements and the ‘Uberisation’ of legal services, among others.
In Part 2 of the series, we will discuss why, however, the most critical challenge is the reform of legal education that is desperately needed to equip lawyers of our immediate and distant future to successfully combat these challenges and adapt to the new, global landscape. I encourage you all to join the discussion; please keep it civil.
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