Gordon, T. (2023). Understanding How the Incorporation of a Law Firm Morphs Professionalism. University of New South Wales. The organisation of professions has been the subject of rich academic attention over the past few decades as scholars have sought to understand how different organisational structures influence professionalism. This focus has been spurred by an increasing…
“This Is Not Normal”: The Role of Lawyer Organizations in Protecting Constitutional Norms and Values
Lawyer organizations in the United States perform a range of functions. Some are essentially social clubs that provide networking opportunities for lawyers. Others help their members stay up to date on changes in the law and provide other educational and material benefits. Through these efforts, lawyer organizations often serve as a site where lawyers learn…
This Is Not Normal”: The Role of Lawyer Organizations in Protecting Constitutional Norms and Values
Lawyer organizations in the United States perform a range of functions. Some are essentially social clubs that provide networking opportunities for lawyers. Others help their members stay up to date on changes in the law and provide other educational and material benefits.1 Through these efforts, lawyer organizations often serve as a site where lawyers learn…
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…
Agency over technocracy: how lawyer archetypes infect regulatory approaches: the FCA example
Clark, Trevor, et al. “Agency over technocracy: how lawyer archetypes infect regulatory approaches: the FCA example.” Legal Ethics (2022): 1-20. In this article, we look at the contested role of in-house lawyers in regulated organisations in the financial sector. A recent Financial Conduct Authority consultation on whether to designate the head of legal of banks, insurance companies…
Legal Tech and EU Consumer Law
Abstract Legal Tech (LT) products and services automate certain tasks that lawyers usually perform. The use of these tools in business-to-consumer (B2C) markets create many opportunities for consumers and the justice system in general, but also raises concerns in terms of access to justice, choice and information, quality, fairness, redress and representation. This paper deals with…
Anti-Money Laundering and Lawyer Regulation: The Response of the Professions
Abstract The extension of anti-money laundering (AML) controls to lawyers has been a controversial topic since the early 2000s. The legal professions facing these measures have adopted differentiated strategies of response, three examples of which are examined and contrasted in this paper. In the US, the legal profession vocally objected to the measures and has been able to deflect…
Granular Legal Norms: Big Data and the Personalization of Private Law
Against the background of the emerging debate about personalized law, this book chapter explores how BigData and algorithm-based regulation could fundamentally change the design and structure of legal norms: impersonal law based on typifications could be replaced by a more personalized law, based on “granular legal norms”. We argue that the use of legal typifications which is a hallmark of impersonal law can be conceptualized…
Lawyers’ ethical obligations, innovative models of legal service and a time of regulatory upheaval: settlement counsel as an instructive model
Current models of professional regulation still embody traditional norms around the lawyer’s role. This article explores the constraints of reactive, rule-based ethical frameworks, using the example of Settlement Counsel, an innovative negotiation structure to advance settlement in commercial litigation. Settlement counsel work alongside litigation counsel, on the same side of the litigation file, but with carefully bifurcated roles….