RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONS/C/W/43
6 July 1998
(98-2691)
Council for Trade in Services
LEGAL SERVICES
Background Note by the Secretariat
A. Introduction
1. This Note has been prepared at the request of the Council for Trade in Services and provides
background information on the legal services sector.  It is meant to facilitate the discussion in the
Council on the exchange of information programme and it should not be regarded as exhaustive.
2. During the Uruguay Round negotiations, the Secretariat produced a note on “Trade in
Professional Services” in document MTN.GNS/W/ 67 of 25 August 1989, which contained general
information and data on trade in professional services and two short sections focusing on legal
services.  This Note does not duplicate the work undertaken during the Uruguay Round, but attempts
to provide a more specific analysis of issues affecting trade in legal services.
3. In the past decades international trade in legal services has grown as a result of the
internationalisation of the economy.  Increasingly, lawyers are faced with transactions involving
multiple jurisdictions and are required to provide services and advice in more than one jurisdiction.
The demand for lawyers to be involved in foreign jurisdictions often comes from their corporate
clients, who do business across borders and choose to rely on the services of professionals who are
already familiar with the firm’s business and can guarantee high quality services.  Some countries also
favour international trade in legal services, as the establishment of foreign lawyers is seen as a catalyst
for foreign investment, contributing to the security and predictability of the local businessenvironment.
4. The concept of “one stop shopping” and access to high quality services for firms doing
business cross-border appear as major factors in favouring the internationalisation of the legal
profession.  The lack of local expertise in certain fields of the law is, however, a factor that might
gradually disappear as local practices develop skills in order to be able to attract foreign clients.  Theestablishment of forms of collaboration between foreign and local firms as well as the employment of
local lawyers by foreign firms and of foreign lawyers by local firms are factors which could
contribute to the emergence of a more competitive legal profession in those countries which are still
mainly importers of legal services.
5. The main obstacle to trade in legal services is represented by the predominantly national
character of the law and by the national character of legal education.  There are of course important
similarities between national laws, in particular within the “great legal systems” or “legal families”,
which are based on the same legal tradition and often share common bodies of law such as caselaw or
legal codes.  Legal families, however, do not provide a satisfactory solution to the obstacles
represented by qualification requirements in legal services, as the main aspect of a lawyer’s educationis still his knowledge of national law, which differs for each country within a legal family and in some
cases even within the same country.S/C/W/43
Page 2
6. It is clear how common legal traditions might facilitate trade in legal services within legal
families, but it should not be understated that there are also common elements among legal educations
across the world and that obstacles to trade in legal services between countries belonging to different
legal traditions - albeit higher than within legal families - may still be overcome.
B. The legal profession
7. The legal profession is divided across national lines and reflects the national character of the
law.  National laws have been grouped in legal families, sharing common legal principles, and in
some instances similarities in the structure of the legal profession.  Comparative lawyers have
identified the following main legal families: Romano-Germanic Law, Common Law, Socialist Law,
Hindu Law, Muslim Law, Laws of the Fa r East, Black Africa and Malagasy Law.1  The Romano-
Germanic and the Common Law families stretch well beyond the countries in which they originatedand are the families of laws who bring together the largest number of national laws.  Moreover, other
legal traditions, which constitute separate legal families, have been influenced by the expansion of
Romano-Germanic Law and Common Law and share some legal principles with either of these two
families or in some instances with both.
8. The Common Law legal family shares the same legal principle of stare decisis , which binds
lower courts to decisions of higher courts on the same points of law.  The corollary of the stare decisis
principle is that caselaw constitutes the main body of law in common law countries.  Some Common
Law countries also share the same caselaw, even in the absence of a formal hierarchy between their
respective courts of law.
9. The Civil Law tradition is based on the concept of codification.  The law is codified by the
legislator in codes (civil code, commercial code, criminal code, etc.), which cannot be altered and
must be applied by the courts.  Codes differ among Civil Law countries - to a certain extent more than
the caselaw between Common Law countries - as each country adopted its “national codes”, however,
some codifications, especially in the field of civil law have exercised important influences on others.
The first codification was the attempt by emperor Justinianus to codify Roman Law in the Corpus
Iuris Civilis .  More recent are the French Code Napoleon  of 1804 and the German BGB  of 1990,
which have exercised great influence on the codifications which have taken place in the past two
centuries in other Civil Law countries.  As codes grow old in Civil Law countries, a major role is
played by ordinary legislation passed by parliaments in the various fields of the law.
10. The national and local character of the legal profession is a reflection of the national character
of the law and of the territorial jurisdiction of the courts.  The principal role of the lawyer was
originally that of advocate, and the legal profession was organised around the courts, with each barassociated to a specific local court.  Lawyers were  required to maintain physical establishment in the
territory of the local court in order to be accessible to other members of the bar and to the court itself.
The paradigm local court / local bar / local lawyer changed with the expansion of trade and with the
emergence of new fields of the law such as business and trade law for which representation before a
local court is relatively less important.  In most circumstances these subjects require legal counsellingin matters involving transactions, relationships and disputes not necessarily entailing court
proceedings.
11. This change in the practice of law also led to  the emergence of a new type of lawyer mainly
involved in counselling, as opposed to the tr aditional lawyer/advocate, whose main role is
representation before a court.  While the profession of advocate is almost always regulated and is
                                                     
1 David, René,  “Major legal systems in the world today : an introduction to the comparative study of
law,” ( Les grands systemes de droit contemporains ) translated and adapted by John E.C. Brierley, 3rd ed.,
London, Stevens, 1985.S/C/W/43
Page 3
reserved to qualified members of a professional association (often the local bar), in some countries
there is no monopoly by lawyers on legal advice so that members of other professions such as
accountants, bankers or estate agents can offer legal advice in relation to economic activities covered
by their respective professions.  Trade restrictive aspects of the regulation of advocates include
nationality requirements, residency requirements, local qualification requirements and local language
requirements.  In contrast, lower regulatory barriers for counselling lawyers in some countries havefacilitated trade in legal services and in the partic ular the establishment of foreign lawyers as foreign
legal consultants.
12. The distinction between advice and representation is clearly expressed in English law, where
the profession of solicitor (counselling) is separated from that of barrister (court representation).  The
separation between the two professions is, however, becoming less rigid than in the past, as solicitors
have been gradually admitted to appear before lower courts in England and Wales.  In France the
legal profession, previously divided between avocats  and conseillers juridique et fiscal , was recently
unified under the common title of avocat , resulting in the merger under a single profession of the
functions of court representation and advice on legal and fiscal matters.  In Japan there is not a formal
distinction within the legal profession between counselling and representation functions, but the
number of lawyers entitled to appear before a court, bengoshi , is relatively very small.  Most of the
counselling functions, on the other hand, are performed by company in-house lawyers, who do notqualify as bengoshi  and cannot appear before a court of law.  In some countries a nationality
requirement exists for representation services, due to the public role performed by the court lawyer in
the domestic legal system.
13. Another important distinction within the legal profession concern “notarial activities”.
Notarial activities include property transactions, successions, affidavits on divorce and mergers andacquisitions in the area of company law.  In some countries notarial activities are performed by
counselling lawyers or by other public officials, while in other countries, in particular Latin countries
in Europe and South America, they are reserved for an independent legal professional, the notary.  In
both cases the professional performing notarial services can act as public official, at least in some of
the activities he performs.  Due to the public role often played by the notary, notarial activities are notthe forefront of liberalisation in legal services and in those countries where the profession is separated
there is often a nationality requirements for notaries.
2
14. Professional organizations exist in most countries, and in some cases more than one
professional organization exists in one country, especially when the legal profession is divided
between different professionals (advocates, counselling lawyers, notaries, etc.), geographic areas (on
the basis of court jurisdiction) and different fields of the law.  Membership of professional
organizations is often compulsory, however, also in those countries where it is voluntary the vastmajority of practising lawyers are members of the relevant organization.  In some countries
professional organizations have regulatory functions, while in others this function is performed by the
courts especially with respect to court lawyers.
Possible questions:
•What is the role of international trade in sectors such as host country law and court representation,
considering the differences in national law and legal education between national legal systems and
families of laws?  Are there common elements in national laws and educations, within and acrosslegal families, which can help bridging the gap?
                                                     
2 In some countries certain notarial activities are regarded as “services supplied in the exercise of
governmental authority,” like legal services pertaining to the administration of justice.  However, unlike judges,
court clerks and public prosecutors, who are civil servants, notaries often supply their services “on a commercial
basis,” and therefore subject to the provisions of the GATS.S/C/W/43
Page 4
•Does the public role of certain professionals (court lawyers and notaries) justify nationality
requirements?
C. Definition of legal services
15. A broad definition of legal services would include advisory and representation services as
well as all the activities relating to the administration of justice (judges, court clerks, public
prosecutors, state advocates, etc.).  This second aspect, however, is effectively excluded from the
scope of the GATS as in most countries it is considered a “service supplied in the exercise of
governmental authority” according to Article I(3)(c) of the Agreement.  The GATS covers alladvisory and representation services in the various field of the law and in statutory procedures.
16. In the WTO “Services Sectoral Classification List” (document MTN.GNS/W/120), “(a) legal
services” are listed as a sub-sector of “(1) business services” and “(A) professional services”.  This
entry corresponds to the CPC number 861 in the United Nations Provisional Central Product
Classification.  In the UN CPC the entry “legal se rvices” is sub-divided in “legal advisory and
representation services concerning criminal law” (86111), “legal advisory and representation services
in judicial procedures concerning other fields of law” (86119), “legal advisory and representation
services in statutory procedures of quasi-judicial tribunals, boards, etc.” (86120), “legal
documentation and certification services” (86130) and “other legal and advisory information” (8619).
3
                                                     
3 861 Legal services
8611 Legal advisory and representation services in the different fields of law
86111 Legal advisory and representation services concerning criminal law
Legal advisory and representation services during the litigation process, and drafting
services of legal documentation in relation to criminal law.  Generally, this implies thedefence of a client in front of a judicial body in a case of criminal offence.  However, it
can also consist of acting as a prosecutor in a case of criminal offence when private legal
practitioners are hired on a fee basis by the government.  Included are both the pleadingof a case in court and out-of-court legal work.  The latter comprises research and other
work for the preparation of a criminal case (e.g. researching legal documentation,
interviewing witnesses, reviewing police and other reports), and the execution of post-litigation work, in relation to criminal law.
86119 Legal advisory and representation services in judicial procedures concerning
other fields of law
Legal advisory and representation services during the litigation process, and drafting
services of legal documentation in relation to law other than criminal law.
Representation services generally consist of either acting as a prosecutor on behalf of the
client, or defending the client from a prosecution.  Included are both the pleading of acase in court, and out-of-court legal work.  The latter comprises research and other work
for the preparation of a case (e.g. researching legal documentation, interviewing
witnesses, reviewing police and other reports), and the execution of post-litigation work,in relation to law other than criminal law.
8612 86120 Legal advisory and representation services in statutory procedures of quasi-
judicial tribunals, boards, etc.
Legal advisory and representation services during the litigation process, and drafting
services of legal documentation in relation to statutory procedures.  Generally, this
implies the representation of a client in front of a statutory body (e.g. an administrative
tribunal).  Included are both the pleading of a case in front of authorized bodies otherthan judicial courts, and the related legal work.  The latter comprises research and other
work for the preparation of a non-judicial case (e.g. researching legal documentation,
interviewing witnesses, reviewing reports), and the execution of post-litigation work.S/C/W/43
Page 5
The revision of the UN CPC approved by the UN statistical committee in February 1997 leaves the
legal services classification substantially unchanged.  However, it includes as a subclass of legal
services “Arbitration and conciliation services,” previously part of management consultancy services.4
17. It appears, however, that the UN CPC distinction between advice and representation in
criminal law, other fields of the law and statut ory procedures was not as relevant to Members
scheduling commitments as the distinction between advice and representation in host country, homecountry and international law.  As the UN CPC classification in this sector did not reflect the reality of
trade in legal services, Members have preferred to  adopt the following distinctions in scheduling
GATS commitments, which appear better suited than the UN CPC to express different degrees of
market openness in legal services: (a) host country law (advisory/representation); (b) home country
law and/or third country law (advisory/representation); (c) international law (advisory/representation);
(d) legal documentation and certification services; (e) other advisory and information services.
18. A Member may allow foreign professionals to practice its domestic law, international law and
the law of his home country or of a third country.  In all these circumstances the commitment may
cover only advisory services or it may extend to representation services, so that a foreign professional
may represent a client before a domestic court or an arbitration tribunal in the host country.
Professionals practising international, home and third country law are often referred to as Foreign
Legal Consultants (FLCs).  This definition has also been adopted in some GATS schedules.
•Should the revision of the UN CPC take account of the Uruguay Round scheduling distinctions in
legal services in re-defining classification in the sector?
•Is the distinction between host country, international, home country and third country law
satisfactory?
D. The legal services sector
19. The legal services sector has experienced a steady and continuous growth in the past decades
as a consequence of the growth in international trade and of the emergence of new fields of practice,
in particular in the area of business law.  Sectors su ch as corporate restructuring, privatization, cross-
border mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property rights, new financial instruments and
competition law have generated an increasing demand for more and more sophisticated legal services
in the past years.  Unfortunately there are no comprehensive disaggregated data on the size of the
sector, as legal services are often bundled together with other professional services or business
services.5  It has been estimated that in the European Community the number of professional
                                                                                                                                                                    
8613 86130 Legal documentation and certification services
Preparation, drawing up and certification services of legal documents.  The services
generally comprise the provision of a number of related legal services including the
provision of advice and the execution of various tasks necessary for the drawing up or
certification of documents.  Included are the drawing up of wills, marriage contracts,commercial contracts, business charters, etc.
8619 86190 Other Legal advisory and information services
Advisory services to clients related to their legal rights and obligations and providing
information on legal matters not elsewhere cl assified. Services such as escrow services
and estate settlement services are included.
4 See, “Detailed analysis of the modifications brought about by the revision of the central product
classification,” Note by the Secretariat – Addendum, S/CSC/W6/Add.10, 27 March 1998.
5 Disaggregated data on legal services are availabl e from the OECD for Iceland and the United States.S/C/W/43
Page 6
providers of legal services has grown on average by over 20% in the period 1989-1993, while in the
United States it has tripled between 1973 and 1993.6
20. The number of lawyers and law firms varies among countries according to the size of the
economy, the level of economic development and the structure of the legal profession.  In the mid
1990s the number of lawyers reached 800.000 in the United States (925.000, including non-
professional staff), 500.000 in the European Community and 19.000 in Japan.  The relatively lowfigure for Japan is explained by the fact that most of the counselling work is performed by non-
qualified law graduates working as in-house lawyers for companies.  It has been estimated that
together there were in 1992 125.000 suppliers of legal services in Japan.
7  In the early 1990s the
output of legal services represented 14% of all professional services and 1.1% of the economy in a
“representative” industrialised country.8  In 1992 the output of legal services in the United States was
$US 95 billion, while in the European Community it reached $US 52 billion.9
21. In the vast majority of countries the legal profession is practiced by individual professionals
or by small firms, while the large law firms are still a phenomenon limited to a small number of
Anglo-Saxon, Common Law countries.  In 1988 the first 91 law firms by number of partners were
from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.  The top twenty firms included 17
from the United States (including the top three), two from Canada (4 and 15) and one from the United
Kingdom (8).  The first non Anglo-Saxon large law firm was from France (92), followed by Korea(116), the Netherlands (121), Hong Kong (132), Germany (133) and Brazil (135).  In the past few
years, however, more large firms have emerged in Civil Law jurisdictions such as France Germany
and the Netherlands.
•Can liberalisation, and in particular mode four commitments and rules on qualification
requirements, favour the internationalization of small practices?
•Is there a separation in the fields of practice of small firms and large firms, where the former
dominate in the field of domestic law and the latter in the fields of business law and international
law?
•Does the prohibition of certain legal forms (partnership, incorporation) prevent the emergence of
large firms?
E. Trade in legal services
22. The demand for legal services comes from business and organizations as well as from
individual citizens.  The former have a need for a constant flow of legal assistance, while the latter
need it only occasionally and often in situations of crucial importance to their lives (divorce,
succession, purchase of real estate and criminal matters).  It also appears that in the large majority of
cases individual citizens resort to legal services in fields of domestic law, where the offer would
normally come from local providers. Less frequently, individual citizens seek legal advice in foreign
                                                     
6 Commission of the European Communities, “Panorama of EU industry”, 1997.
7 The Economist, 18 July 1992.
8 UNCTAD/ World Bank, “Liberalizing international transactions in services: a handbook,” United
Nations, New York and Geneva, 1994.  The data reflect averages for Canada, France and the United States.
9 OECD, “International Trade in Professional services: advancing liberalisation through regulatory
reform,” OECD Proceedings, 1997.S/C/W/43
Page 7
and international law, although this is a field in which in recent times demand has grown due to the
increase in the mobility of labour.10
23. Most of the demand for legal services in the fields of business law and international law
comes from businesses and organizations involved in international transactions.  These institutional
actors will look for the legal services provider who gives them guarantees as to its knowledge of the
firm’s activities and of the place of business as well as of the quality of the service it can deliver,regardless of its place of origin.  It is clear that a legal services supplier from the firm’s country of
origin (the firm’s habitual lawyer) would have a comparative advantage with respect to the knowledge
of the client’s business, while a local service supplier would have a comparative advantage with
respect to the knowledge of the local business and regulatory environment.  Business law and
international law are therefore the sectors most affected by international trade in legal services,
although the possibility of entry of foreign service suppliers in more traditional sectors of domestic
law should not be completely discounted as the sector becomes increasingly more integrated and
competitive.
24. Foreign lawyers supplying legal services cross-border or by means of establishment act in the
vast majority of cases as foreign legal consultants, that is to say, they provide advisory legal services
in international law, in the law of their home country or in the law of any third country for which they
possess a qualification.  Domestic law (host country law) still plays a marginal role in internationaltrade of legal services, due to the high barriers represented by qualification requirements, which, like
domestic law, are shaped along national lines.
25. Most of trade in legal services still takes place cross-border (mode one) or via the temporary
stay of natural persons travelling as individual professionals (mode four) or as employees/partners of
a foreign established law firm.  Affiliate trade of legal services is still limited as suppliers often findthe costs and the difficulties associated with establishing a commercial presence too high, especially if
compared to the relatively lower barr iers to cross-border transactions.
11  It has been estimated that the
number of lawyers who move abroad on a permanent ba sis (modes three and four) is very small, a few
thousand, if compared to a total of over 300.000 lawyers travelling abroad occasionally.12  Due to the
high costs and risks involved, affiliate trade is still limited to the large law firms and is mostlydirected towards the world major financial and business centres (Brussels, Frankfurt, Hong Kong,
London, New York, Paris, Singapore, Tokyo) where the demand for legal work in the fields of
business law and international law is highest.
26. Lawyers doing business at the international level are often structured in networks of firms,
bringing together local practices from different countries under the same firm brand name, or in
integrated international partnerships.  Networks range from loose associations of independent local
practices to fully integrated multinational companies,  which control local practices, but maintain the
decentralised structure of the network.  It appears that integrated international partnerships tend to
specialise in business and international law, while networks, because of their decentralised structure,
often also engage in the practice of local law.
27. Cross-border trade in legal services consists in  the transmission of legal documents or advice
via the post or via telecommunications devices.  Technological developments in thetelecommunications sector are creating increasingly more efficient and accessible ways by which
cross-border trade in legal services can take place.  Trade in legal services is expected to benefit from
the growth of the internet and of electronic comm erce, as most of the activities involved in the
delivery of legal services - with the exception of court appearances - can be delivered electronically.
                                                     
10 OECD, “Liberalisation of trade in professional services,” OECD Documents, 1995.
11 US International Trade Commission, “Recent Trends in US Services Trade,” May 1997.
12 OECD, “Liberalisation of trade in professional services,” OECD Documents, 1995.S/C/W/43
Page 8
28. In the past decades trade in legal services appears to have grown at a rate even faster than the
overall economic performance of the sector.  This is probably a reflection of the constant growth of
international trade and of emergence of new fi elds of practice with important cross-border
implications (financial instruments, corporate re-str ucturing, privatizations, competition law, etc.).  In
Italy, for example, exports of legal services have grown from US$ 4 million in 1990 to US$ 115
millions in 1997, while in Australia they have grown from US$ 29 millions in 1991 to US$ 118millions in 1997.  The two major exporters of legal services are the United States and the
United Kingdom.  The US and the UK had a combined net trade balance of almost US$ 2 billion in
the early 1990s, where the UK alone counted for US$ 830 million, representing nearly 15% of the
entire UK net trade balance from services.  The figu re for the UK is remarkable, considering that the
size of the profession in the UK (72.000) is on ly about a tenth of that in the US (800.000).
13  The US
balance-of-payments data for private legal services, which only capture cross-border trade and
temporary establishment of natural persons, show that in 1990 the US had a surplus with respect to
the whole EC of US$ 188 million, but a deficit against the UK of US$ 60 million.14
29. There are two major factors which play a crucial role in the comparative advantage enjoyed
by US and UK suppliers in international trade in legal services: (a) the structure of the sector, which
in these countries relies on large and medium sized law firms, rather than on individual professionals;
and (b) the role of British and US law in international transactions.  (a) Large and medium sizedenterprises have a competitive advantage in terms of human and financial resources with respect to
individual professionals in dealing with complex business transactions which are often the object of
international legal services.  Individual professionals on the other hand tend to specialize in those
traditional fields of domestic law, which although they constitute the major part of a country’s legal
services sector, are still the least exposed to international trade, due to the high barrier represented byqualification requirements and to the local nature of domestic law.  (b) The Anglo-American
comparative advantage in legal services is also favoured by the adoption of English law and New
York law as the standards for international business transactions.  To ensure legal certainty in
international commercial transactions, especially major financial transactions, private parties often
choose to subject their agreements to the laws of countries other than those in which they are resident,and sometimes to the laws of countries having nothing to do with the transaction itself.
•So far liberalisation has been a phenomenon limited to business and international law.  Could it
also expand to more traditional fields of domestic law?
•Can liberalisation help to change the current comp arative advantage in international trade in legal
services?
•Can electronic commerce also favour the growth of trade in legal services by individuals and small
firms?
F. Regulatory barriers to trade
Market access
30. Nationality requirements in legal services are still quite common, although they affect some
sectors more than others.  As many as 11 OECD countries maintain nationality requirements,
                                                     
13 Peter Goldsmith, “Globalisation of laws - tearing down the walls,” in Harper, Ross (ed.), “Global law
in practice,” Kluver International and International Bar Association, London 1997.
14 EUROSTAT, “Legal services,” research paper, March 1993.S/C/W/43
Page 9
although often such requirements only affect some sectors of the legal profession.15  T h e  m o s t
common sectors subject to nationality requirements are notarial services, representation services (in
all fields of the law) and less frequently the practice of domestic law (including advice and
representation).  Nationality requirements in these sectors are often based on the “public function”
performed by the attorney in court or by the notary, who in some countries is also a public official.
Advisory services in international and home/third country law (foreign legal consultant services) arehardly ever the object of a nationality requiremen t, however, they might be inaccessible to foreign
service suppliers in presence of a overall nationality requirement for legal services.
31. An important market access barrier is represented by restrictions on the movement of
professional, managerial and technical personnel, which often constitute an integral part of a country’s
immigration policy.  Such restrictions can apply to natural persons seeking long term or permanent
establishment or to individuals travelling for business purposes for short periods of time.  Short term
business visitors often use tourist visa to circumvent restrictions and complications which might beinvolved in the obtaining of a business visas, w ith the consequence that their cross-border activity
escapes balance-of-payments statistics.  Also those countries who have scheduled mode four
horizontal commitments often limit entry to a selected and limited number of people and make it
conditional to a series of strict criteria.
32. Restrictions on legal form are still very common in this sector.  Several countries, including
8 OECD Members, prohibit incorporation.16  Some countries allow selected forms of incorporation,
especially those who do not afford a shield against pr ofessional liability.  In almost all cases, however,
this is not a discriminatory restriction in so far as it applies equally to domestic and foreign suppliers.
Countries justify such restriction on public policy grounds and in particular to ensure that
professionals do not limit their professional responsibilities and liabilities.
33. Restrictions on foreign equity specific to legal services are not very common.  More often the
restriction specified in the general investment legislation will apply to legal services.  As most law
firms still prefer partnership to incorporation as their legal form, restrictions on the number of foreign
partners can also be used to obtain the same result of foreign equity limitations, however, under the
GATS they would be regarded as national treatment limitations, not market access ones.
National treatment
34. Important national treatment limitations include: restrictions on partnership with local
professionals, restrictions on the hiring of local professionals, restrictions on the use of international
and foreign firm names, residency requirements and in general discrimination in the licensing process.
35. Restrictions on partnership with locally licensed professionals and restrictions on the hiring of
locally licensed professionals prevent law firms acting as foreign legal consultants - and therefore
limited to the practice of international and foreign law - from expanding into the fields of court
representation and host country law by associating with or employing locally qualified lawyers.  This
is regarded as being more efficient than having professionals qualified in the home country re-
qualifying in the host country and in this respect represents a good solution to the barrier presented bythe national character of legal qualification requirements.  In the OECD area 14 countries prohibit
partnerships between foreign and local lawyers, while 7 countries prohibit foreign firms from
engaging local lawyers.
17
                                                     
15 OECD, “International trade in professional services: assessing barriers and encouraging reform,”
OECD Documents 1996.
16 OECD, idem .
17 OECD, idem .S/C/W/43
Page 10
36. The restrictions are often based on the refusal of regulators to recognize foreign lawyers as
“lawyers” and are covered by the general prohibition of practising law in partnership with anyone
who is not a qualified lawyer, which is based on public policy grounds such as consumer protection
ensuring the quality of the service and ensuring the independence of professionals.  In this respect the
prohibition on multinational partnerships has the same foundation as the prohibition on
multidisciplinary partnerships, however, while the latter is clearly a non-discriminatory measure andis subject to the provisions of Article VI, the former alters the conditions of competition between
foreign and domestic service suppliers and might be considered as falling within the scope of
Article XVII.
37. Restrictions on international and foreign firm names represent national treatment limitations
as they disadvantage foreign service suppliers. Other restrictions on firm names, which do not affect
the conditions of competition between foreign service suppliers and those of national origin, however,
should be regarded as domestic regulatory measures.  In some countries foreign law firms are allowedto use their firm name as long as there is also mention of one of the partners’ names.  Eight OECD
countries have restrictions on the use of foreign or international firm names.
18
38. Residency requirements are in principle origin-neutral measures - in the sense that they do not
target directly foreigners - and impose the same legal obligation on domestic and foreign service
suppliers.  Several countries maintain residency requirements for suppliers of legal services in theform of prior residency, permanent residency and domicile.
39. Prior residency  requirements confer a competitive advantage on those services suppliers who
have already been residing in the host country for a number of years, where the vast majority of such
suppliers are nationals of that country.  Some countries, including 7 OECD Members, impose prior
residency requirements as a condition for obtaining a license.
19  The requirement of permanent
residency  (establishment for firms), albeit less restrictive, also imposes an additional burden on
foreign service suppliers, who, unlike already residing domestic ones, have to take up residency in the
host country.  This, in the case of natural persons, might often lead to the loss of the home country
residency.  Permanent residency is often required for representation services, as court lawyers must
reside within the jurisdiction of the court in order to be accessible to clients, other members of the
profession and the same court.  A similar result, however, can often be achieved by a requirement of
domicile.  In the OECD 11 countries impose residency or establishment requirements on suppliers of
legal services.20  Domicile  is the requirement to have an address where one can be reached in the
country or in the jurisdiction where the service is supplied.  It appears that this is not only an origin-
neutral measure (like the first two categories of resi dency), but it also does not alter the conditions of
competition between domestic and foreign service suppliers.  Domestic service suppliers are of course
much more likely to already have an address in the their home country; however, the extra effort
required of foreign service suppliers (to elect a domicile) - at least with respect to modes three and
four - appears as de minimis  and it should not alter the conditions of competition.
40. In all the cases above, where residency requirements represent formally identical treatment of
foreign and national service suppliers, a determination on whether they affect conditions of
competition within the meaning of Article XVII would have to be made on a case by case basis.  Inthis determination factors such as the nature of the legal service supplied (representation, advice,
notarial activities, etc.), the mode of supply and the type of residency required would have to be taken
into account.
                                                     
18 OECD, idem .
19 OECD, idem .
20 OECD, idem .S/C/W/43
Page 11
Domestic regulation41. Qualification requirements often represent an insurmountable barrier to trade in legal
services, especially for the practice of host country law.  Legal education differs from country to
country and in some cases within the same country.  In some instances these differences are so wide
that regulators require foreign qualified lawyers to re-qualify in order to be able to practice.
42. In most countries legal qualification requirements include a university degree of three to five
years and a period of practice followed by a pr ofessional examination.  In some countries the
university education is supplemented by a further period of postgraduate or vocational studies of one
to three years.  A few countries allow lawyers to practice on completion of their legal education
without going through a professional examination.  The period of practical experience normally
precedes the professional examination and is conducted under the supervision of a qualified lawyer.
In some countries the period of practice coincides with lawyers’ access to employment, that is to saythe firm/individual professional who takes on a practitioner is the same who will employ him as
qualified lawyer upon completion of the professional examination.  In other countries, however, there
is no necessary continuity between the period of practice and employment or self-employment as a
qualified lawyer, but lawyers access the job market following the successful completion of their
professional examination.
43. It is evident how qualification requirements constitute serious barriers for foreign lawyers
seeking to access a Member’s domestic law market.  Keeping in mind the regional nature of the
European Union and its high level of internal liberalisation and market integration, it is interesting to
see how in the EU the trade restrictive effects of qualification requirements have been virtually
eliminated in a legal environment which reproduces, albeit on a smaller scale, elements of diversity inqualification requirements similar to those existing at the multilateral level.  In fact, the Member
States of the EU not only have different national legal systems, but also belong to different families of
laws (Romano-Germanic, Common Law and Scandinavian).
44. Three EC Directives have dealt with qualification requirements within the EU.  The
Directives do not restrict the scope of practice and allow access to all fields of the law, includingrepresentation services and host country law.  Lawyers who are not European citizens and have
qualified outside the European Union (and EEA) cannot invoke the Directives. Their access to the EU
legal services market is regulated by the individual Member States.  The first Directive (77/249/EEC)
requires each Member State to recognise lawyers from another Member State for the purpose of
providing occasional services.  It allows the foreign lawyer to practice under the home title, but
requires submission to the deontology of both home and host state.  It also requires a foreign lawyer to
be assisted by a local lawyer for in-court services.  The second Directive (89/48/EEC), on the mutualrecognition of qualifications, provides for the full integration into the legal profession of a host
Member State upon that state’s recognition of home state legal qualifications.  Member States are
required to ensure that recognition takes place via two alternative routes: an aptitude test or a waiting
period of practice before a lawyer can become a fully qualified member of the host state legal
profession.21  The third and most recent Directive (95/5/EC) provides for an alternative to the
requirements of an aptitude test or a waiting period in the legal services sector.  It allows a foreign
lawyer from one EU Member State to practice host country law immediately, after simply proving
registration as a lawyer in another Member State, with no limitations on the scope of practice and
without supervision by locally qualified lawyers.  Initially foreign lawyers will only be allowed to
practice host country law under their home professional titles, however, after three years of host
                                                     
21 The Community system on the recognition of professional qualifications was presented by the
European Communities to the Working Party on Professional Services with respect to the Accountancy
profession.  See document S/WPPS/W3, Communication from the European Communities and their Member
States.S/C/W/43
Page 12
country law practice they will be entitled to gain  admission to the local profession and to the host
country professional titles.
45. The NAFTA (North American Free-trade Agreement) Agreement does not contain binding
provisions on the mutual recognition of qualifications among its Members.  However, it includes
disciplines on transparency, objectivity and licensing in professional services and a work programme
for the development of mutually acceptable professional standards and criteria for licensing andcertification in professional services (Annex 1210, Section A).  Standards and criteria may be
developed with respect to matters such as: education, examinations, experience, conduct and ethics,
professional development and re-certification, scope of practice, territory specific knowledge and
consumer protection.  NAFTA Members have also undertaken to eliminate any citizenship or
permanent residency requirement for the licensing and certification of professional services providers
(Article 1210(3))
22.
46. At the multilateral level qualification requirements come within the scope of Article VI of the
GATS.  Article VI:4 requires the Council for Trade in Services (or any appropriate bodies it might
establish) to develop multilateral disciplines on domestic regulation in services, including
qualification requirements, licensing requirements and technical standards. The work in the Working
Party on Professional Services, however, is curren tly focusing on the accountancy profession.  The
GATS also allows Members to discipline qualification requirements by means of bilateral orplurilateral mutual recognition agreements (Article VII).  Several countries facilitate access to their
legal profession for lawyers coming from jurisdictions within the same legal family, either by fully
recognising their qualifications or by providing for a short route to host country qualification, which
takes account of their home qualifications (aptitude test, adaptation period, integrative education).  A
good degree of recognition exists between Commonw ealth countries, which partly share the same
caselaw, and to a lesser extent between all Comm on Law countries.  Less recognition exists between
Civil Law countries, who share common legal principles, but whose national codes and legislation
constitute separate bodies of law.
47. In the fields of international law and home/third country law, qualification requirements
constitute lower barriers to trade than in the field of host country law.  Foreign legal consultants
(FLCs) face lower qualification barriers, as they normally seek access in fields of the law for which
they possess the right qualifications.  Considering the high market access, national treatment and
domestic regulatory barriers to trade in host country law services, foreign legal consultants are, at
least for the time being, in the forefront of liberali sation in the sector.  However, even in the absence
of serious qualification requirements barriers, foreign legal consultants still face important regulatory
barriers in particular with respect to licensing requirements.
48. Foreign legal consultants encounter few barriers when providing services cross-border.
However, their establishment is regulated by most Members.  Keeping in mind that Members have
different regimes on foreign legal consultants, these are some of the most common features of
domestic regulatory regimes in the sector:
- Foreign legal consultants are normally not required to qualify in the host country, but they are
often required to observe the host county rules of professional conduct and not to provideservices in fields of the law for which they do not possess a qualification, such as host country
and third country law.
                                                     
22 However, Article 1210(3) also provides that “where a Party does not comply with this provision with
respect to a particular sector, any other Party may maintain an equivalent requirement or re-instate any such
requirement eliminated pursuant to this Article, only in the affected sector, for such period as the non-complying
Party retains the requirement.”S/C/W/43
Page 13
- Some countries regard foreign legal consultants as lawyers, while others do not.  This may
have important consequences for the extension to foreign legal consultants of the rights and
privileges accorded to domestic lawyers.  It might also affect the regulation of multinational
practices ( supra ).
- More liberal regulatory regimes allow foreign legal consultants to provide advisory services
on host and third country law, as long as such advice is based on the advice of a fully
qualified local or third country lawyer.  This extension of the scope of practice favours
lawyers providing services in respect of transactions that may be affected by laws of countries
other than that of principal qualification.  A further extension of the scope of practice consists
in allowing foreign legal consultants to appear before arbitral tribunals in the host country.
- Most countries require foreign legal consultants not to present themselves as members of the
local profession, but to use a specific different title (in the local language) or in some
instances their home professional title.
- Some countries require foreign legal consultants to register with the local bar and/or to pass a
professional examination.  The professional examination is normally different in scope thanthe full local professional examination, reflecting the difference in scope of practice between
foreign legal consultants and domestic lawyers, however, it might constitute an important
obstacle to trade especially if it is held in the local language.
- Some countries require foreign legal consultants to have practiced for a certain number of
years in their home country following their qualifi cation in order to be licensed as FLCs in the
host country.  This requirement can be relaxed by taking account of years of practice in other
jurisdictions including the host country jurisdiction.
- Some countries do not regulate the provision of legal advice, making it particularly easy for
foreign legal consultants to establish and supply advisory services.
- Some countries regulate advice and have no foreign legal consultant regimes.  In such cases
access to legal services market is conditional on qualification as host country lawyer.  The
harshness of similar regimes is often countered by more relaxed access for foreign qualified
professionals to the local profession, falling short of a full re-qualification requirement.
23
49. In the United States, 18 states and the District of Columbia have adopted rules for the
licensing of foreign legal consultants without examination.  In 1993 the ABA (American Bar
Association) issued guidelines on foreign legal consultants (“model rule”) which have been adopted in
their most liberal form by the state of New York.  The guidelines have also been substantially
followed in Arizona, the District of Columbia, Ha waii, New Jersey and Ohio.  The ABA “model rule”
includes liberal provisions on partnership and employment of local lawyers, scope of practice and
previous practical experience.
50. The NAFTA Agreement includes rules on foreign legal consultants.  According to
Annex 1210 (Chapter 12) Section B, in implemen ting its commitments regarding foreign legal
consultants, each Member shall ensure that foreign legal consultants from other Members are allowedto practice or advise on the law of the country in which such consultant is authorised to practice as a
lawyer.  The same section also includes provisions on future liberalisation and provisions mandating
consultations with professional bodies on matters such as associations and partnerships between
                                                     
23 France and Denmark require foreign legal consultants to pass the local bar examination prior to
drafting legal documents or providing legal advice.  However, this allows foreign lawyers to become full
members of the local profession with no limitations on their scope of practice.S/C/W/43
Page 14
locally licensed lawyers and foreign legal consultants and standards and criteria for the licensing of
foreign legal consultants.
51. A controversial issue of domestic regulation is the treatment of multidisciplinary practices.
Many countries prohibit them on public policy grounds, while other countries do not regulate the
association between lawyers and non-lawyers.  Those countries who do not regard foreign qualified
lawyers as “lawyers” under national law might prohibit multinational partnerships on the samegrounds of multidisciplinary partnerships.
52. Countries and professional organizations justify prohibitions on multidisciplinary partnerships
on grounds of consumer protection and ensuring the quality of the service.  In particular it is often
argued that multidisciplinary partnerships endanger the lawyer-client privilege and the professional
independence of the lawyer.  In the first case confidential information could be passed within the
partnership to non-lawyer professionals who are no t protected under national law by the lawyer-client
privilege.  Also, the independence of the lawyer could be compromised in associations bringingtogether professionals subject to different ethical standards.  For example, accountants and consultants
are not subject to the same rules on conflicts of interest as lawyers are.
24  It appears that
multidisciplinary practices sometimes exist de facto  in countries where they are prohibited or not
regulated.  This creates even greater public policy concerns as the lack of regulation or its
circumvention might lead more easily to the unauthorised practice of law by non-qualifiedprofessionals or to the violation of ethical standards specific to the legal profession.
53. Multidisciplinary partnerships are also resisted because of differences in economic structure
between the various professions.  For example the accountancy profession is characterised by the
presence of very large multinational firms bringing together as many as 5.000 partners world-wide
and tens of thousands of employees.  In contrast, the legal profession is dominated by individualprofessionals and small firms in most countries.  Large law firms are still limited to the Anglo-Saxon
world, and only recently have they begun to emerge in some other OECD countries.  However, the
largest Anglo-Saxon firms do not exceed 500 partners world-wide and a total of 2.000 employees.  A
concern expressed by the legal profession is that large accountancy firms might use their dominant
position in the accountancy sector to engage in anti- competitive practices in the legal services sector,
by “tying” clients for which they perform accountancy services.  Arguments in favour of
multidisciplinary practices include economies of scale and considerable savings for clients, who can
rely on a single firm for different professional services (“one stop shopping”), increase in trade due to
deregulation and better and cheaper services as a consequence of enhanced competition.
54. Ethical standards.  In general a condition for the establishment of foreign legal consultants is
the submission of the professional to the local code of ethics, and this is not regarded as a major
obstacle by the profession.  Although differences exist between countries, national codes of conductfor lawyers appear to be based on a certain number  of overriding common principles, including strict
rules on conflicts of interest, loyalty to the client and confidentiality.  Points of difference are
represented by restrictions on advertisement, protection of confidentiality of lawyers’ correspondence
- especially with respect to in-house lawyers - and contingency fees.
55. Commonalties between countries’ ethical standards in legal services have allowed the Council
of the Bars and Law Societies of the European Community (CCBE) to adopt a European Common
Code of Conduct, which applies to 17 European countries.  Five other countries have observer status.
This code is binding on any lawyers undertaking cross-border activities in Europe.  In contacts
between the ABA, the Nichibenren and the CCBE - respectively the US, the Japanese and the
                                                     
24 In Germany partnerships between court attorneys, patent attorneys, tax consultants/auditors and
notaries have been allowed in some regions, in pres ence of a common code of ethics protecting the secrets of
clients with their lawyers and accountants.  Commission of the European Communities, “Panorama of EU
industry”, 1997.S/C/W/43
Page 15
European lawyers professional associations - the respective codes of conduct for lawyers have been
compared, with the result that no serious differences were found.25  An international code of ethics has
been developed by the International Bar Association (IBA) ( infra ).
56. Professional associations are also involved in the bilateral negotiation of market access for
foreign lawyers26 and mutual recognition agreements on matters such as qualification requirements,
licensing requirements and ethical standards.  Bilateral agreements exist between the American BarAssociation (ABA) and the Law Society of England and Wales.  It is evident that any such agreement
will have to comply with the MFN obligation of Article II and with the provisions of Article VII on
mutual recognition.
•What is the relevance of restrictions on the movement of natural persons for individual
professionals and law firms?
•In ensuring that professionals do not limit professional liabilities, should forms of incorporation
that do not limit liability be considered as an alternative to a prohibition on incorporation?
•Do prohibition on partnerships between locally qualified and foreign qualified lawyers or on the
employment of locally qualified lawyers by foreign firms constitute national treatment limitations
(XVII)?
•Do different categories of residency requirements fall within the scope of different GATS
provisions (e.g. Articles XVII and VI)?
•Do policy grounds justifying residency requirement differ for court lawyers and counselling
lawyers?
•Do regional mutual recognition arrangements represent a useful example for multilateral rules,
considering that the high degree of diversity between national legal systems and legal educations
existing within some regional areas (EC) reproduces multilateral diversity?
•Should foreign legal consultants be exempted from host country qualification requirements if their
scope of practice is restricted to advice in foreign and international law?
•Can public policy objectives be satisfied by imposing on foreign legal consultants only home
country (and third country if applicable) qualification requirements and host country licensingrequirements (examination and/or registration with the local bar) and ethical standards?
•Are the advantages of allowing multidisciplinary practices (economies of scale, one stop shopping
and economic efficiency) offset by risks for ethical standards and the competitive structure of the
legal services market?
•Can regulation, and in particular the development of common ethical rules among professions and
the effective enforcement of competition law, provide an answer to the concerns expressed by the
legal profession on multidisciplinary practices?
                                                     
25 OECD, “Liberalisation of trade in professional services,” OECD Documents, 1995.
26 It has been reported that the Law Society of England and Wales has been negotiating with the
relevant bar councils in India to discuss the creation of a foreign lawyer regime for the country, ideally
mirroring the rights that Indian advocates enjoy in the United Kingdom.S/C/W/43
Page 16
•Are national ethical standards in legal services close enough to warrant the development of
mandatory international ethical rules?
G. Specific commitments and MFN exemption lists
57. In the Uruguay Round 45 Members (counting the then 12 Member States of the EC as one)
made commitments in legal services.27  Two acceding Members also included legal services in their
schedules.28  Of these 47 Members 22 made commitments in advisory host country law (19 in
representation), 41 in advisory international law (20 in representation), 40 in advisory home country
law (20 in representation), 4 in advisory third country law and 6 in other legal services (includinglegal documentation and certification services and other advisory and information services).
58. Four Members have MFN exemptions in legal services
29, while four other Members have
exemptions in professional services.30  Three of the legal services sect or specific exemptions cover all
measures pertaining to the provision of legal services and apply to all countries on the basis of
reciprocity.  The fourth exemption extends full national treatment for mode three and four only tocompanies and citizens of countries with which preferential arrangements exist.  All the professional
services exemptions maintain reciprocity as a condition for authorizations to exercise professional
activities, including legal services.
59. It appears that in some countries which have undertaken specific commitments the actual
legal services regime is more liberal than the regime bound in the schedules and that some countries
who have not scheduled specific commitments a nd have listed MFN exemptions maintain rather
liberal legal services regimes.
31
Market access
60. The most common scheduled limitations on market access in legal services are restrictions on
the type of legal entity.  In most cases Members have limited the choice of legal form to naturalpersons (sole proprietorship) or partnership, excluding limited companies, while in a few instances
partnerships have also been excluded.  Some Members who have committed mode one have kept it
unbound for the drafting of legal documents.  Six Members have scheduled nationality and citizenship
limitations, although in some cases they are limited to geographic areas or to a particular sub-sector
such as representation services or notaries.  One Member has scheduled a nationality requirement onlywith respect to establishment (modes three and four).  Other market access restrictions are in one case
the discretionary consent of the bar association for establishment, which corresponds to an economic
needs test on the number of service suppliers (XVI(a)) and a sector specific foreign equity limitation
of 49%.
                                                     
27 Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia,
Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, European Communities, Finland, Gambia,Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Netherlands Antilles, NewZealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Slovak Republic, Slovenia,
Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Th ailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United States,
Venezuela.
28 Bulgaria and Panama.
29 Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Dominican Republic and Singapore.
30 Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Turkey.
31 US International Trade Commission, “General Agreement on Trade in Services: examination of the
schedules of commitments submitted by Asia/Pacific trading partners,” Investigation no. 332-374, Washington
DC, August 1997.S/C/W/43
Page 17
National treatment
61. The large majority of scheduled national treatment restrictions are residency requirements (9).
In some cases these requirements are linked to a nationality requirement, however, if both nationality
and residency are required for the same sub-sector and mode of supply only the former should be
scheduled under market access limitations, while the latter, which is a national treatment limitation in
its own right, would not need to be scheduled.  When on the other hand the requirement is of
citizenship or residency only the second should be scheduled as a national treatment limitation, as
foreign service suppliers can hurdle the market access restriction (citizenship) by taking up residency.
In one case a time-limited residency is required (for a minimum of 180 days per year), while in
another case only a legal domicile is required.
62. In two instances Members have rightly scheduled as national treatment restrictions measures
which requires all legal services suppliers (domestic and foreign) to be graduates of national
universities, since this measure, albeit apparently origin neutral, discriminates de facto  between
domestic and foreign service suppliers.  In fact the vast majority of the former would have attended
domestic universities, while the latter are highly unlikely to have attended a university of the host
country, although nothing prevented them from doing so.  In practice foreign service suppliers would
be faced with a requirement of full re-qualification in the host country, with no chance of seeing all or
part of their home qualification recognised as equivalent.
63. Other scheduled national treatment restrictions include: (i) language requirements, (ii)
recognition of foreign degrees only for nationals who have studied abroad, (iii) the requirement that
foreign ventures be competitive institutions in their country of origin and (iv) the requirement forforeign lawyers to take active part in the business in order to be able to maintain an interest in a local
law firm.  All these measures have been scheduled as national treatment restrictions as they
discriminate de jure  or de facto  against foreign service suppliers.
64. The number of scheduled market access and national treatment restrictions in legal services is
relatively modest, especially if compared to other services sectors, where substantial commitmentsexist.  It should be kept in mind, however, that aside from those Members who have made no
commitments - and can therefore deny market access and national treatment - those Members who
have undertaken commitments in legal services have maintained the most relevant market access
limitations by relying on the “positive list” approach to the sector column and on the distinctions
between modes of supply.
65. Thus for example only 22 Members out of 45 have made commitments in host country law,
while 6 Members do not commit commercial presence, 6 Members do not commit cross-bordersupply and the vast majority of mode four commitments are “unbound except as indicated in the
horizontal section.”  Moreover, even in those limited cases where there is a full commitment in legal
services, including advisory and representation services in host country, international and home
country law by all modes of supply (12 Members), foreign lawyers still face high domestic regulatory
barriers and in particular qualification requirements.
Domestic regulation
66. Legal services, like other professional services, are a sector where the number of Members
who have scheduled domestic regulatory measures is rather high (26).  Most of these measures arelicensing and qualification requirements, which may constitute important barriers to trade in legal
services.  However, scheduling domestic regulatory measures is not necessary and does not exempt
the scheduled measures from the disciplines in other provisions of the GATS.  Among scheduledS/C/W/43
Page 18
domestic regulatory measures in legal services, an important distinction concerns host country law
qualification requirements as opposed to home and third country law qualification requirements.
67. The first ones are normally required of those service suppliers who intend to practice
domestic law (advisory and representation) or appear before a domestic court, even if only in cases
concerning their home country law or international law.  The second ones are relevant where a
Member has made commitments only in home country,  third country or international law and wants to
ensure that the foreign professional is qualified and licensed for the field of the law he intends to
practice in the host country.  Home and third country licences and qualifications are normally
sufficient only for the supply of advisory services  in foreign and international law.  However, some
Members seem to imply in their schedules that they  would be willing also to allow foreign advocates
to appear before a domestic court on subjects covered by their qualifications on the basis of their
foreign licence and qualifications.32  Both host country law qualification requirements and home/third
country law qualification requirements are domestic regulatory measures according to the GATS andtherefore are not subject to scheduling under Articles XVI and XVII.
68. Some countries impose - whether they have scheduled them or not - domestic law
qualification and licensing requirements for advisory services in international and home law.  These
requirements also represent domestic regulatory measures according to the GATS, falling out of the
scope of Articles XVI and XVII.
H. International bodies
69. The two major international associations of lawyers are the International Bar Association
(IBA) and the International Union of Lawyers (UIA).  The IBA is closer to the Common Law/Anglo-Saxon legal tradition, while the UIA is closer to the Civil Law/Latin tradition.  The UIA claims to be
the most representative international association of lawyers in Europe, So uth America and Africa.
Both associations, however, have world-wide coverage and their membership include national
professional organizations and individual lawyers.
70. The International Bar Association (IBA) is a federation of national bar associations and law
societies, based in New York.  Its membership incl udes national professional organizations (173) and
individual lawyers (18.000) .  Among the aims stated in the IBA constitution three are of particular
relevance to trade in legal services: (a) to establ ish and maintain relations and exchanges between Bar
Association and Law Societies and their members throughout the world; (b) to assist members of the
legal profession throughout the world, whether in the field of legal education or otherwise, to develop
and improve their legal services to the public; and (c) by common study of practical problems to
promote uniformity and definition in appropriate fields of law.  Although the IBA membership hasoften been divided over liberalisation issues, these aims have allowed the IBA to undertake work in
the areas of ethical standards, foreign legal consultants and multidisciplinary practices.
71. The IBA International Code of Ethics was first adopted in 1956.  The latest edition dates back
to 1988.  The code is not binding on the members of the IBA and applies to any lawyer of one
jurisdiction in relation to his contracts with a lawyer of another jurisdiction or to his activities inanother jurisdiction.  The code includes rules on ethical standards which are common to most
countries on matters such as: honour and dignity, independence, courtesy and fairness to colleagues,
financial diligence, conflicts of interests, contingency fees, unauthorised practice of law, professional
liability, disclosure of confidential information, confidentiality of lawyer-client communications,
respect towards the courts, advertisement and solicitation, handling, refusal and withdrawal fromcases and out of court settlements.  It also includes a rule which binds lawyers who undertake work in
a jurisdiction where they are not full members of the local profession to the ethical rules of host
                                                     
32 This, however, would be normally subject to registration with the local bar.S/C/W/43
Page 19
country as well as to those of their home country.  The IBA may bring incidents of alleged violation
of the code to the attention of relevant organizations.
72. At its meeting of 6 June 1998, the IBA Council adopted General Principles for the
Establishment and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and encouraged their adoption by its institutional
members or, for those members who have no regulato ry powers, by the competent authorities in the
respective jurisdictions.  Recognising that, while certain principles should be common to allregulatory regimes, alternative approaches to the establishment and regulation of foreign lawyers
should be permissible, the IBA has identified two main approaches for the establishment of foreign
lawyers: (a) full licensing approach; and (b) limited licensing approach.
73. Under the full licensing approach foreign lawyers are integrated as full members of the local
profession, with no restrictions on their scope of practice, provided that they satisfy some basic
conditions including: (1) licensing in the home country; (2) minimum periods of practice; (3) good
character and repute; (4) submission to the local code of ethics and to all rules and regulationsapplicable to lawyers in the host country; and (5) reasonable qualification requirements in the host
country.  This last point is probably the most delicate given the high barrier represented by
qualification requirements for host country law.  With  respect to point (5) the IBA principles specify
that “reasonable qualification requirements in the host country by examination or otherwise” should
(a) give due consideration to the foreign lawyer’s earlier training and experience in the homejurisdiction or elsewhere and (b) be no more burdensome than necessary to satisfy a public policy
objective such as consumer protection or public confidence in the profession.
74. The limited licensing approach sets out principles applicable to foreign legal consultants.  The
principles limit the scope of practice to advice on home country law, and exclude all court work, host
country law and the law of any other jurisdiction where the foreign lawyer is not qualified andlicensed.  The conditions which a foreign lawyer must satisfy in order to be admitted to practice under
the limited licensing approach are the same illustrated above under the full licensing approach with
the exclusion of (5) and the limitation of (4) to ethical rules.  In addition to these conditions a foreign
legal consultant must also: (a) carry liability insurance or bond indemnity consistent with local law,
and (b) consent to local service of legal process.
75. At its meeting of 6 June 1998, the IBA Council also adopted a Report on Multidisciplinary
Partnerships, recommending that regulators and other bodies be made aware of the problems and risks
inherent in the integrated co-operation between lawyers and non-lawyers for matters such as lawyer
independence, conflict of interests and client privilege, and suggesting that they be encouraged to
provide and maintain rules on the matter.
76. The International Union of Lawyers (UIA) was founded in Charleroi (Belgium) in 1927 by
the bars of Charleroi, Luxembourg and Paris.  The UI A’s main object is “to promote in the interest of
the litigant, the basic principles of the lawyers’ profession in the world, with particular reference to
independence and freedom.”  Also the UIA has expressed interest in the work of the WTO in the field
of international trade in legal services, but, like th e IBA, its membership is divided over the issue of
liberalisation and it has not been actually involved in negotiations.  Although the UIA has not taken
yet a final position on the matter, it favours access by foreign lawyers on the basis of an aptitude test,with the exclusion from the scope of practice of host country law and court representation as in many
countries advocates constitute an integral part of the national judicial system.
77. Other international and regional organizations in the legal services sector include: the Young
Lawyers International Association (AIJA); the Intern ational Law Association (ILA); the International
Union of Civil Notaries (UINL); the Council of  the Bars and Law Societies of the European
Community (CCBE); The European Bars Federation (FBE); LawAsia; the Inter-Pacific Bar
Association (IPBA); the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association (CLA); the Inter-American BarS/C/W/43
Page 20
Association (IABA); the Union of European Lawyers (UAE); the European Company Lawyers
Association (AEJE); the European Association of Lawyers (AEA).33
•Can the WTO, in developing multilateral disciplines on domestic regulation under Article VI:4,
take advantage of the work done by international professional organization in the field of ethical
standards and establishment of foreign lawyers?
•Is the interest of the legal profession in liberalisation, expressed through national professional
organizations and international professional bodies, important for the negotiation of further
specific commitments and for the development of disciplines on domestic regulation in this sector?
                                                     
33 For descriptions of the roles of these associations and contact addresses, see the website of the Law
Society of England and Wales, http://194.130.107.20/lawsoc/home.html.S/C/W/43
Page 21
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Commission of the European Communities, “Panorama of EU industry”, 1997.
David, René,  “Major legal systems in the world today: an introduction to the comparative study of
law,” ( Les grands systemes de droit contemporains ) translated and adapted by John E.C. Brierley, 3rd
ed., London, Stevens, 1985.
EUROSTAT, “Legal services,” research paper, March 1993.Godfrey, Edwin (ed.), “Law without frontiers: a comp arative survey of the rules of professional ethics
applicable to the cross-border practice of law,” Kluver International and International Bar
Association, London 1995.
Harper, Ross (ed.), “Global law in practice,” Kluver International and International Bar Association,
London 1997.
International Bar Association (Section on business law), “Globalization of the legal profession,” in
International Business Lawyer , December 1995, vol. 23, no.11, pp. 501-548.
International Bar Association, “International code of ethics,” London, 1988 edition.International Bar Association, “Statement of general principles for the establishment and regulation of
foreign lawyers,” Vienna, 6 June 1998.
King, Ronald, “Foreign lawyers in foreign jurisdictions: rights of practice and establishment,”
Defence Counsel Journal , July 1996, pp. 363-367.
OECD, “International trade in professional services: assessing barriers and encouraging reform,”
OECD Documents 1996.
OECD, “International Trade in Professional services: advancing liberalisation through regulatory
reform,” OECD Proceedings, 1997.
OECD, “Liberalisation of trade in profes sional services,” OECD Documents, 1995.
OECD, “Report on regulatory reform,” 1997.
OECD, “Services: statistics on international transactions 1970-1993,” 1970-1993, Statistics
Directorate, 1996.
OECD, “Services: statistics on value added and em ployment,” Statistics Directorate, 1997 edition,
1998.
United Nations, Provisional Central Product Classification, United Nations statistical papers Series M
No. 77, ST/ESA/STAT/SER:M/77, United Nations, New York, 1991.
United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations, “Directory of the world’s largest services
companies,” Series I, New York, December 1990.
UNCTAD/ World Bank, “Liberalizing internationa l transactions in services: a handbook,” United
Nations, New York and Geneva, 1994.S/C/W/43
Page 22
US International Trade Commission, “General Agreement on Trade in Services: examination of major
trading partners’ schedules of commitments,” Investigation no. 332-358, Washington DC, December
1995.
US International Trade Commission, “General Agreement on Trade in Services: examination of South
American trading partners’ schedules of commitments,” Investigation no. 332-367, Washington DC,
December 1996.
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schedules of commitments submitted by Asia/Pacific trading partners,” Investigation no. 332-374,
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Page 23Trade in legal services (1990-1997)
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
CR DB CR DB CR DB CR DB CR DB CR DB CR DB CR DB
Australia 29 15 84 28 88 35 92 43 111 51 131 60 118 64
Italy 4 14 14 48 22 88 20 73 43 95 33 91 62 110 115 121
Lithuania 0.5 0.6
Norway 48 86 64 94 22 24 23 29
Portugal 19 11 21 10 26 15 27 18 26 25
UK 702 - 750 - 830 - 751 -
US 451 111 1309 244 1397 314 1453 326
Netherlands 219 229 259 260 316 292 305 296
Norway 25 - 25 - 37 68 37 66
Canada 186.7 157.3 193.3 152.9
Sources: IMF, balance-of-payments statistics; OECD, services statistics on international transactions; Canada’s international t ransactions in services, 1996.
Figures expressed in millions of US dollars.
Legal services: gross value added (current prices)
1: Millions of Kronurs;  2: Billions of US dollars
1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Iceland1854 1037 1291 1512 1970 1901 2106 2184
United States261.1 69.4 74.2 80.7 83.7 90.1 92.3 94.4
Source: OECD, services statistics on value added and employment
Legal services: employment
1: Thousands
1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Iceland 524 483 578 535 569 565 569 559
United States11059 1117 1153 1110 1148 1148 1163 1203
Source: OECD, services statistics on value added and employmentS/C/W/43
Page 24World’s 20 leading law firms by number of partners (1988)
COUNTRY PARTNERS OFFICES LAWYERS TOTAL STAFF
TOTAL FOREIGN TOTAL FOREIGN
1 Baker & McKenzie US 404 41 32 1179 771 1179
2 Jones Day US 306 13 5 903 26 1071
3 Sidley & Austin US 231 5 2 607 8 769
4 Blake Cassels Canada 227 … 1 … … …
5 Morgan Lewis US 216 8 1 645 5 764
6 Mayer Brown US 215 7 2 427 12 523
7 Mc Dermott US 214 6 … 414 … 501
8 Clifford Chance UK 193 12 11 … … 1649
.. ...
47 Malleson Stephen Australia 103 … 4 112 … …
.. ...
9 2 F r a n c i s  L e f e b r v e F r a n c e 7 0 …29 83…
.. ...
116 Kim & Chang Korea, Rep. of 47 … 1 59 1 …
.. ...
118 Loyens & Volkmaars Netherlands 45 … 10 186 … …
.. ...
132 Deacons Hong Kong 30 … 1 87 1 …
133 Boden Oppenhoff Germany 29 … 1 … 1 …
.. ...
135 Pinheiro Neto Brazil 26 … 1 52 2 …X: indicates a partial or full market access and national treatment commitment.
XF: indicates a partial or full commitment in home and third country law.
86130: legal documentation and certification services.
86190: other legal advisory and information services.MA: Market Access
NT: National Treatment
*: mode four unbound, except as indicated in the horizontal sectionS/C/W/43
Page 25Legal Services: Uruguay Round Commitments
COUNTRY HOST COUNTRY LAW INTERNATIONAL LAW HOME COUNTRY LAW OTHER MODES
ADVISORY REPRESENTATION ADVISORY REPRESENTATION ADVISORY REPRESENTATION
Antigua and
BarbudaXX A l l *
Argentina XXXXXX A l l *
Aruba X X All, NT 4:
unbound
Australia XXXX A l l *
Austria X X 1,2,4*
Barbados 86130 3, 4
Bulgaria XX A l l *
Canada XX F A l l *
Chile X 3, 4*
Colombia X XF All* modes of
supply for legal
advisory services
relating to mining1, 2
Cuba XXXXXX 8 6 1 9 0 2 ,  3 ,  4 *
Czech Re public XXXXXX A l l *
Dominican
Republic86190 MA: 1, 2, 3;
NT: 3
Ecuador XX A l l *
El Salvador 86190 All*
European
Communities(France and
Luxembourg)(France and
Luxembourg)XX A l l *
Finland XX A l l *
Gambia XXXXXX A l l *
Guyana XXXXXX A l l *
Hungary XA l l *
Iceland XX F A l l *
Israel XXXXXX A l l *
Jamaica XX A l l *
Japan XXXXXX S e r v i c e s  s u p p l i e d  b y
qualified patent
attorneys and
maritime procedure
agentsAll*X: indicates a partial or full market access and national treatment commitment.
XF: indicates a partial or full commitment in home and third country law.
86130: legal documentation and certification services.86190: other legal advisory and information services.
MA: Market Access
NT: National Treatment*: mode four unbound, except as indicated in the horizontal sectionS/C/W/43
Page 26COUNTRY HOST COUNTRY LAW INTERNATIONAL LAW HOME COUNTRY LAW OTHER MODES
ADVISORY REPRESENTATION ADVISORY REPRESENTATION ADVISORY REPRESENTATION
Lesotho XX X X F 3 ,  4 *
Liechtenstein X X 1, 2,4*
Malaysia (Domestic Offshore
corporation laws)X X 1, 2, 4*; mode 3
limited to Federal
territory of Labuan
Netherlands
AntillesXX A l l
New Zealand XX X X X X A l l *
Norway XA l l *
Panama XX A l l *
Papua New Guinea XX X X X X A l l *
Poland XX X X X X 1 ,  2
Romania XX X X X X 1 ,  2
Rwanda XX X X X X A l l
Sierra Leone XX X X X X A l l *
Slovak Republic XX X X X X A l l *
Slovenia XX X X X X A l l *
Solomon Islands XXX X A l l *
South Africa X X X X X X 3, 4*
Sweden XX A l l *
Switzerland XX A l l *
Thailand XX X X X X 2 ,  3
Trinidadand Tobago X All
Turkey XX F A l l
United States XX X X X X A l l *
Venezuela XX X 2 ,  4 *
TOTAL 22 20 42 20 42 20 6S/C/W/43
Page 27
Level of commitments in legal services by mode of supply
(Percentages of full, partial and no commitments)
Mode of supply Market Access National treatment
Full Partial No Full Partial No
Cross-border supply 22
18*62
67*16
16*22 60 18
Consumption abroad 31
24*60
67*9
9*31 58 11
Commercial
presence13
4*78
87*9
9*16 76 9
Natural persons 2
2*91
91*7
7*29 1 7
* Percentage taking account of horizontal commitments applicable to all sectors.
Types of measures scheduled in legal services
(Taking account of horizontal measures applicable to all sectors)
Market Access Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 Mode 4
Value of transaction
or assets8
Number of natural
persons42 6
Types of legal entity 4 2 18 2
Participation of
foreign capital82
Other market access
measure13 1 2
Total 5 5 50 30
National Treatment Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3 Mode 4
Financial measures 1
Nationality  and
residencyrequirements6 2 16 11
Licensing, standards,
qualifications7 2 12 11
Registration
requirements4174
Authorization
requirements11
Local content, training
requirements1
Other national
treatment measure2165
T o t a l 1 964 3 3 3
__________