This legal comparative article analyzes the regulatory framework of lobbying services provided by law firms in the European Union and the USA. The comparison of regulation between the jurisdictions focuses on three aspects: the definition of lobbying, the legal advice exception, and alignment with bar association rules. While the EU and the USA are largely…
Characteristics of lawyers who are subject to complaints and misconduct findings
Sklar, T., Taouk, Y., Studdert, D., Spittal, M., Paterson, R., & Bismark, M. (2019). Characteristics of lawyers who are subject to complaints and misconduct findings. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 16(2), 318-342. Regulators of the legal profession are charged with protecting the public by ensuring lawyers are fit to practice law. However, their approach tends to be…
Ethical considerations for lawyers when responding to clients with cognitive decline
November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, a time when we increase awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and the more than 6.2 million Americans living with it. And as our population ages, the chances that a lawyer may interact with a client with cognitive decline may increase too. The Alzheimer’s Association predicts that 12.7 million Americans 65 and older (almost 1 in…
Twelve Tips to Help You Avoid Disciplinary Proceedings
No lawyer sets out to become a disciplinary statistic. Some lawyers, however, find themselves corresponding more often with disciplinary authorities than others. Solo and small firm practitioners, especially with practices in criminal, family or personal injury law, receive the highest number of client complaint letters. During the many years of representing lawyers in disciplinary proceedings,…
The profession(s) engagements with LawTech: Narratives and archetypes of future law
This article argues that there are three narratives to technology’s role in augmenting, disrupting or ending the current legal services environment—each of which gives life to particular legal professional archetypes in how lawyers react to LawTech. In tracing these influential narratives and associated archetypes, we map the evolving role of LawTech, the legal profession and…
The regulation of lawyers in compliance
The field of compliance has exploded in interest, attention, and growth over recent years. It has emerged as a popular career path for those trained in the law, giving rise to an influx of job opportunities for new law school graduates and seasoned attorneys alike. Additionally, compliance has tightened the essential interplay between business and…
Judges and the Deregulation of the Lawyer’s Monopoly
In a revolutionary moment for the legal profession, the deregulation of legal services is taking hold in many parts of the country. Utah and Arizona, for instance, are experimenting with new regulations that permit nonlawyer advocates to play an active role in assisting people who may not otherwise have access to legal services. In addition,…
The future of law firms (and lawyers) in the age of Artificial Intelligence
This article explores the future for lawyers and law firms in the light of the changes that Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) is already bringing to the universe of legal services. Part I briefly describes some of the ways AI is already in use in ordinary life – from facial recognition, through medical diagnosis to translation services….
Evidence-based lawyer regulation
The legal profession is losing its authority over the regulation of legal services. Recent changes in antitrust law have put state bar associations under a spotlight. Competition from technology companies and concerns about access to justice have increased political pressure for market liberalization. Independent research is challenging the unique value of lawyers’ services, even in…
The great disruption: How machine intelligence will transform the role of lawyers in the delivery of legal services
Law is an information technology—a code that regulates social life. In our age, the machinery of information technology is growing exponentially in power, not only in hardware, but also in the software capacity of the programs that run on computers. As a result, the legal profession faces a great disruption. Information technology has already had…