RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  S/C/W/318 
14 June 2010 
 (10-3212) 
Council for Trade in Services  
  
 
LEGAL SERVICES 
 
Background Note by the Secretariat
1 
  
1. This Note has been prepared at the request of  the Council for Trade in Services, with a view 
to stimulating discussions in the Council on the se ctor of legal services.  It provides background 
information and updates a previous Note on Trade in  Legal Services (S/C/W/43, dated 6 July 1998).  
This Note focuses on developments and issues considered  to be most relevant to the GATS.  It is not 
intended to provide a comprehensive account of the sector.   
I. OVERVIEW 
2. The background Note seeks to provide an approx imation of the size of the market for legal 
services (chapter II) and highlight trends from a business perspective (chapter III).  Chapter IV 
addresses the definition of legal services both in li ght of the Central Product Classification (CPC) and 
various alternative approaches to classification.  Chapter V provides a detailed overview of the state 
of specific commitments and MFN exemptions;  and chapter VI explores liberalization trends in the 
context of Economic Integration Agreements (EIAs).  In closing, chapter VII reports on developments 
in international professional bodies.   
II. SIZE OF THE LEGAL SERVICES MARKET 
3. The 1998 Secretariat background Note on lega l services observed that the legal services 
sector had experienced continuous growth as a conse quence of the rise in international trade and of 
the emergence of new fields of practice, in partic ular in the area of business law.  This trend has 
further continued over the last decade, and brought a bout sizable growth to the legal services sector.  
The widening and deepening of international tr ade and investment links, combined with strong 
economic growth in many developing countries ha ve increased worldwide demand for legal services, 
and encouraged the establishment of foreign affili ates in China, Russia, and other fast growing 
emerging markets.  In addition to the expandi ng business activities in areas such as corporate 
restructuring, cross-border mergers and acquisitio ns, intellectual property rights, new financial 
instruments and competition law, two elements are impor tant to note:  the increasing use of alternative 
business-to-business dispute resolution, and outsourcing.   
4. The global market for trade in services is estim ated to have generated total revenues of 
US$581 billion in 2008, representing an annual growth  rate of 5 per cent for the period from 2004-
2008.
2  This figure is calculated on the basis of globall y received revenue by law firms.  It should be 
noted that in principle, all legal services are tradable through the four modes of supply, as defined in 
the GATS.   
                                                      
1 This document has been prepared under the Secret ariat's own responsibility and without prejudice to 
the positions of Members and to their rights and obligations under the WTO.   
2 Datamonitor;  Global Legal Services, December 2009.   S/C/W/318 
Page 2  
 
   
Chart 1:  Global Legal Services Market Value:  2004-2008 
   US$ billion 
 
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 
2004  2005  2006 2007 2008  US$ billion  
0.00%1.00%2.00%3.00%4.00%5.00%6.00%7.00%8.00%US$ billion % Growth
 
 
Source :  Datamonitor, December 2009 
 
 
5. A segmentation of the legal services market by geographic region shows that the Americas 
account for 54 per cent of services, followed by Eur ope (36.5 per cent), and Asia-Pacific (9.4 per 
cent)3 
 Chart 2:  Global Legal Services Market Segmentation:  2008 
    Percentage share by value 
Americas, 54.10% Europe, 36.50% Asia-Pacific, 9.40% 
 
Source :  Datamonitor, December 2009  
                                                      
3 Datamonitor;  Global Legal Services, December 20 09;  note that the calculations are made on the 
basis of proxies from the largest regional markets, and do not contain figures for the Middle-East and Africa.    S/C/W/318 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
 
6. An accurate assessment of the size of trade in le gal services is difficult, since trade statistics 
do not reflect the modal approach of the GATS, and most jurisdictions do not collect data at a sufficiently disaggregated level to separate legal from other business services.   
7. Nevertheless, all available indicators point to sustained growth of the legal services market 
over the last decades.  BOP data from the two larges t legal services markets, the US and the UK show 
strong growth, particularly of exports, over the last  six years.   Due to the relevant statistical 
conventions, trade data mostly reflect trade under modes 1 and 2 of the GATS. 
 
Chart 3:  United States and United  Kingdom - Exports and Imports of Legal Services (BOP basis), 1998- 
   2008 
   US$ million 
-1,0002,0003,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,000
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Exports United States Exports United Kingdom
Imports United States Imports United Kingdom
 
 
Source :  U.  S.  Bureau of Economic Analysis;  UK National Statistics.   
 
 8. There is similarly little comparable data for Mode 3 trade in legal services, for which the 
United States is estimated to be the largest supplie r.  Legal services by foreign affiliates of US law 
firms amounted in 2006 to US$2.6 billion, with 80  per cent of sales occurring in Europe (UK 36 per 
cent, France and Germany (14 per cent each), an d Japan, with 6 per cent being the largest non-
European market.
4  Annex II shows that the top 100 interna tional law firms are in large part of US 
origin and that the vast majority of them have offices in a variety of jurisdictions.   
9. The legal services sector has experienced signifi cant growth in revenues and consolidation 
over the past decade, resulting in the creation of a growing number of multinational law firms with 
vastly increased numbers of lawyers.  An overview of the largest law firms, ranked by number of 
lawyers shows a clear nexus between size of compa ny and internationalization of practice (Annex II).  
                                                      
4 USITC, Recent trends in US Services Trade;  chapter 6;  2009. S/C/W/318 
Page 4  
 
  The top ten firms have offices in more than ten countries, and seven of them have more than 60 per 
cent of their lawyers outside the home office.  Also  the overall number of lawyers employed by the 
top ranking firms has risen sharply.  Between 1998 and 2008, the head count of the top 50 firms grew by some 40 per cent (see chart 4).  While the 1998 background Note reported that in 1988, only one 
law firm employed more than 1000 lawyers, and only three others more than 500 lawyers, today more 
than 30 law firms employ in excess of 1000 lawyers, see Annex II.  Chart 4 shows that over the period 
of 1998-2008, profits by the top 50 law firms increased by over 290 per cent and productivity by 
170 per cent.
5  Some 39 per cent of earnings came from corporate and finance related services, 28 per 
cent from dispute resolution, and 7  per cent from real estate.   
10. Ranked by revenue, 74 of the top 100 law firms were from the United States, followed by the 
UK (14) and Australia (5), see Annex II.   
 
Chart 4:  Growth of legal services 
    Percentage growth of top 50 firms, 1998/99 - 2007/08 
40293
170
050100150200250300350
Employm ent Profit Productivity*
 
*  Profit/Revenue 
 
Source :  IFSL calculations base d on Legal Business data 
 
11. The size of services trade through consumption abroad (Mode 2) is similarly difficult to 
assess.  A 2003 survey of law firms suggests that roughly one quarter of firms without international offices received fee income from international clients.
6  Mode 2 appears further to be of particular 
significance in dispute resolution centr es for international parties.  Trade in arbitration services, which 
has significantly grown in numerous jurisdictions, is an example (Table 1).   
                                                      
5 Productivity is expressed as profit by lawyer.   
6 Alison Hook; Sectoral Study on the Impact of Domestic Regulation on Trade in Legal Services,  
OECD 2006  S/C/W/318 
 Page 5 
 
 
   
Table 1:  International arbitration services - Nu mber of cases in major ar bitration centres, 1995-2008 
 HKIAC AAA CIETAC ICC JCAA KCAB KLRCA LCIA SIAC SCC  BCICAC AFEC 
2008 602 703* 1,230 663* 12 47* 47 213* 71* 176 N/A 51 
2007 448 621* 1,118 599* 15 59* 40 137* 70* 84 82* 40 
2005 281 580* 979 521* 11 53* 30 118 45* 56 77* 55 
2000 298 510 543 541 10 40 11 81 55 73 88 100 
1995 184 180 902 427 7 18 7 49 37 70 40 100 
 
Note :  AAA - American Arbitration Association;  CIETAC - China International Economic and Trade Arbitration 
Commission;  HKIAC - Hong Kong International Arbitration Ce ntre;  ICC - International Chamber of Commerce;  JCAA - 
Japan Commercial Arbitration Association ;  KCAB - The Kor ean Commercial Arbitration Board;  KLRCA - Kuala Lumpur 
Regional Centre for Arbitration LCIA* - London Court of In ternational Arbitra tion;  SIAC - Singapore International 
Arbitration centre;  SCC - Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce;  BCICAC* - British Columbia 
International Commercial Arbitration Centre;  AFEC - Intern ational Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic 
Chamber.   
 
Source: HKIAC7, and websites of other Arbitration Centres.   
 
III. DEVELOPMENTS AT THE FIRM LEVEL 
12. An initial look at the spread of internationa l law firms suggests two principal patterns of 
expansion:  one could be termed  the "follow your client" model, whereby law firms expand into 
foreign markets in unison with the expansion of thei r main client companies.  Such client-focussed 
expansion, which is undertaken with a view to providing comprehensive a nd often exclusive legal 
advise to client companies had taken place in the 1980s and 90s within deve loped country markets, 
but has now spread to most developing countries in which large multilateral enterprises are operating.  
The law firms concerned usually deal with corporat e law matters and do not engage in work in the 
purely domestic legal services market.   
13. A variant of the model can be seen in emerging markets like Hong Kong, China; Singapore; 
or the United Arab Emirat es where international law firms have created hubs from which they serve 
the wider regional  markets.8  
14. A different pattern of expansion can be obser ved within developed economies, where foreign 
owned law firms expand with a view to servicing a broa der range of clients, and areas of practice.  In 
the UK, over 50% of the revenue of the largest 100 la w firms is generated by international firms based 
in London.9  Half of these firms are from the US, with the remainder mainly from Europe, Australia, 
and Canada, and many of these firms have deve loped almost full-service English law capability.10   
15. Over time, and depending on the development of  a market and its regulatory structure, a 
firm's focus may broaden from the "follow your c lient" model to increasingly serving also the local 
legal services market.  A study of the Brussels Ba r has shown that foreign law firms initially opened 
                                                      
7 http://www.hkiac.org/show_c ontent.php?article_id=310  . 
8 ILSAC's Second International Legal Services Statistics Survey (2006-2007).   
9 IFSL Research, Legal Services 2009.   
10 Ibid.   S/C/W/318 
Page 6  
 
  offices in Brussels with a view to practicing EU law,  but that they have gr adually diversified into 
Belgian commercial law.
11 
16. The way law firms operate in foreign markets also depends critically on their size.  While 
larger firms tend to establish overseas offices, sma ller ones tend to rely on network relationships in 
which the individual suppliers reta in separate outlooks and approaches.12  
17. A good measurement of what types of services international law firms are providing has been 
developed by Silver et al., who examined 64 US law firms with overseas offices.13  In the late 1980s, 
these firms had established their overseas offices by sending US-trained lawyers abroad, in large part 
due to regulatory barriers limiting multi-jurisdictional firms.  As regulatory barriers fell in Europe in 
the 1990s, and law firms acquired more local knowledge , they diversified their staff with local and 
third-country lawyers, or through take-over of local  law firms.  In the latter case in particular, the 
foreign law firms continued to offer the portfolio of services of the previously local firms.   
18. Silver et al. trace the number of non-US lawyers working for the 64 US firms in various 
markets.  Generally, offices in Europe employ th e lowest number of US lawyers (from 4 per cent in 
Germany, 11 per cent in France and 17 per cent in  England) and in only four jurisdictions do US 
lawyers account for more than 20 per cent of all lawyers employed (Singapore 32 per cent;  UAE 
40 per cent;  Japan 41 per cent;  Hong Kong, China 45 per cent;  and China 46  per cent).  It is 
interesting to note that in some jurisdictions, the remainder of the lawyers are not necessarily locally 
trained.  In several of the larger markets (UK;  Hong Kong, China;  Singapore) a majority of non-US 
trained lawyers have acquired their qualifications in  third countries rather than the host country.   
19. Certain developments have also influenced the relationship between accounting and law firms 
in the United States.  Collectively, in 2001, the Big Five accounting firms had more lawyers than the 
largest five law firms in the world.  However,  two events have frustrated efforts to create 
multidisciplinary firms within the United States.  Fi rst, the American Bar Association issued a report 
in 2000 in which it declined to amend its Model Rules that preclude lawyers from sharing fees with 
non-lawyers (including other professional service provi ders).  Secondly, the collapse of Enron and 
WorldCom highlighted the potential for conflicts of  interest and fuelled the passage of restrictive 
legislation, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which precludes accounting firms that provide 
auditing services to corporate clients from providing several other professional services, including services of a legal nature.
14 A somewhat dissimilar approach has been followed in the United 
Kingdom which adopted in 2007 a "Legal Services Act" containing provisions enabling lawyers to share management and control of law firms with  non-lawyers, including accountants and others.  
These "Alternative Business Structures" are open to outside investment, subject to a "fitness-to-own" 
test.   
20. Outsourcing is another phenomenon that has infl uenced the legal services landscape and has 
contributed to further internationalization.
15  Much like other companies, law firms outsource parts of 
                                                      
11 Mathieu Van Criekingen et al., Local Geographies of Global Payers:  International Law Firms in 
Brussels , 13 J. CONTEMP. EUR. STUD. 173 (2005). (quoted in Silver).   
12 Silver, Carole, Phelan, Nicole De Bruin an d Rabinowitz, Mikaela, Between Diffusion and 
Distinctiveness in Globalization:  US Law Firms Go Gl ocal. Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, Vol. 22, 
2009;  Georgetown Law and Economics Research Paper No. 1406123.  Available at SSRN:  
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1406123   
13 Ibid.   
14 Williams, Sean and Nersessian, David, Overview of the Professional Se rvices Industry and the Legal 
Profession , A report provided to the Alfred P.  Sloan Foundation by the Harvard Law School Center on Lawyers 
and the Professional Services Industry, (2007).  
15 K. William Gibson;  Outsourcing Legal services ab road;  Law Practice, July/august 2008, Vol.  34 
No 5.    S/C/W/318 
 Page 7 
 
 
  their administrative business processes to reduce their operating costs.  At the same time, it has been 
reported that many firms are increasingly outsourcing pa rt of their core business related to legal work.  
Outsourcing in legal services, although not an entir ely new phenomenon, with first forays already 
reported in the mid-1990s, continues to be a growing trend, increasingly in the form of offshoring to 
other jurisdictions.   
21. There is no consolidated data on outsourcing des tinations, but it is believed that India, which 
graduates some 80,000 lawyers per year, is the ma in destination for legal services outsourcing.  
According to ValueNotes, an Indian research comp any, revenue in India from legal outsourcing is 
expected to grow from US$ 146 million in 2006 to US$640 million by the end of 2010, with employment growing from 7'500 to 32'000 over the same period.
16  The main clients for outsourced 
legal work to India are law firms, contributing so me 45 per cent to offsho re revenue in India.  
Corporate law departments account for another 36 per cent of revenue.   
22. Outsourcing of high value work from the US and United Kingdom to jurisdictions with 
similar legal systems and education, such as Austra lia, Canada, New Zealand, or South Africa, has 
been reported to be a growing trend, allowing highly trained professionals to deliver work to a high 
standard, but on the back of a lower cost-base.17 
23. Two main business models are reported in the o ffshoring of legal services.  Some larger law 
firms, such as Clifford Chance in India, have established their own facilities abroad, with their own 
staff, controlling thereby recruitment and training of  the employees.  The more common model is to 
subcontract certain services to an independe nt provider in another jurisdiction.   
24. Typically outsourced are routine tasks such as document review, legal transcription, litigation 
support and legal publishing services.  It is reported that with growing confidence in the execution of 
lower-value tasks, increasingly also higher value tasks are being considered for offshoring.  However, 
some authors have expressed scepticism as to whether high-end legal advice is suitable for outsourcing, suggesting that the in-house execution of  routine tasks provides a valuable opportunity to 
train new lawyers to develop the judgment which provides the basis for the reputation of the top law 
firms.
18 
25. Offshore companies are reported to charge up to US$25 per hour for lower-end work, and up 
to US$90 per hour for more advanced tasks.  A juni or Indian lawyer is estimated to earn just over 
US$8'000 per year, compared to some US$160'000 for an associate in a major US city.   
26. Outsourcing of legal services poses several ethi cal challenges, related to confidentiality, 
disclosure, and billing for the outsourced work.  A formal opinion by the New York City Bar 
considered outsourcing to be et hically permitted, provided complia nce with several conditions and 
ethical considerations, including the supervision of  the person carrying out the work, information of 
and permission from the client that work is ou tsourced, and the operation of a conflict-checking 
system.  Absent a specific agreement with the cl ient to the contrary, the New York City Bar 
considered that the lawyer should charge the clie nt no more than the direct cost associated with 
                                                      
16 ValueNotes Outsourcing Weekly, Legal Outsourcing  hype:  can India deliver;  6 October 2006:  
Vol. III, No. 40.   
17 See:  Stephen Denyer, Legal Outsourcing remains high on the agenda, Times Online,  9 September 
2008.   
18 Mary C. Daly and Carole Silver;  Flattening the World of Legal Services? The Ethical and Liability 
Minefields of Offshoring Legal and Law-related Services;  Georgetown Journal of International Law,  Spring 
2007, Vol 38, No 3.   S/C/W/318 
Page 8  
 
  outsourcing, plus a reasonable allocation of overhead  expenses directly associated with providing that 
service.
19 
IV. DEFINITION OF LEGAL SERVICES 
A. THE CENTRAL PRODUCT CLASSIFICATION  
27. A broad definition of legal services would in clude advisory and representation services as 
well as all the activities relating to the administ ration 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 cons idered a "service supplied in the exercise of 
governmental authority" according to Article I:3(c)  of the Agreement.  The GATS covers advisory 
and representation services in the various fields of the law and in statutory procedures.   
28. In the WTO "Services Sectoral Classification List" (document MTN.GNS/W/120), "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 th e United Nations Provisional Central Product 
Classification of 1991.  In the UN CPC, the entry "legal  services" is sub-divided into "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) a nd "other legal and advisory information" 
(8619).
20  The Services Sectoral Classification List and the CPC cover legal services of any 
                                                      
19 K. William Gibson;  Outsourcing Legal services abroad;  Law Practice, July/august 2008, Vol. 34, 
No 5.   
20  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 the defence 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 pleading of a case in court and out-of-court legal wo rk.  The latter comprises research and other 
work for the preparation of a criminal case (e.g. researching legal documentation, 
interviewing witnesses, reviewing police a nd other reports), and the execution of post-
litigation work, in relation to criminal law.   
 
   86119 Legal advisory and representation se rvices 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 a case in court, and out-of-court legal work.  The latter comprises research and other work 
for the preparation of a case (e.g. rese arching 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  S/C/W/318 
 Page 9 
 
 
  jurisdiction, regardless of whether such foreign ser vices are considered to be legal services under the 
laws of various jurisdictions. 
29. The CPC has been revised three times since the provisional version was launched.  The latest 
revision, CPC Version 2, of December 2008, leaves mo st elements of the legal services classification 
substantially unchanged.21  However, CPC Version 2 contains  a number of changes and further 
specifications.  It explicitly identifies in its e xplanatory notes for the first time advisory and 
representation services in international law, as "Leg al advisory and representation services concerning 
other fields of law" (8212).  In addition, this CP C code merges CPC Prov. 86119 "Legal advisory and 
representation services in judicial procedures con cerning other fields of law", and CPC Prov. 86120 
"Legal advisory and representation services in statutory procedures of quasi-judicial tribunals, boards, 
etc.".   
30. More importantly, since its first revision in Ve rsion 1.0, the CPC includes as a subclass of 
legal services "Arbitration and conciliation services, " which is contained in CPC Prov. as part of 
management consultancy services, CPC 86602: 
Assistance services through arbitration or mediation for the settlement of a dispute 
between labour and management, between businesses or between individuals.   
Exclusions :  Representation services on behalf of one of the parties in the dispute and 
consulting services in the field of labour relations are classified in subclass 86190 
(Other legal advisory and information services), 95110 (Services furnished by business and employers organizations) a nd 95200 (Services furnished by trade 
unions), respectively.   
31. The description of CPC 86602 raises the question of whether only the arbitrator's activity is 
covered by this code, or also other assistance to one of the parties to the dispute.  The description 
suggests the former ("assistance services through  arbitration ...").  However, as the explicit exclusion 
with reference to CPC 86190 relates only to represen tation services in the field of labour relations, it 
might be assumed that representation services on behalf of clients in business to business arbitration  
are covered by CPC 86602.  CPC Versions 1.1 a nd 2.0 more broadly exclude all "representation 
services on behalf of one of the parties in th e dispute" which would encompass disputes between 
labour and management, between businesses or between individuals.   
                                                                                                                                                                    
 
tribunal).  Included are both the pleading of a case in front of authorized bodies other 
than judicial courts, and the related legal wo rk.  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.   
 
  8613 86130 Legal documentation and certification services  
 
Preparation, drawing up and certification serv ices 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 th e 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 cla ssified.  Services such as escrow services 
and estate settlement services are included.   
 
21 For a detailed overview of the CPC concerning legal services, see Annex 1.   S/C/W/318 
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  32. A second question relates to the assertion by the CPC that representation services on behalf of 
one of the parties in the dispute and consulting services in the field of labour relations are classified in 
subclass 86190 (Other legal advisory and informatio n services).  The definition of these services does 
not. however, extend to representation services.  Late r versions of the CPC consistently classify 
representation services under the heading of "legal advisory and representation services in statutory 
procedures of quasi-judicial tribunals, boards, etc.",  which corresponds to CPC Prov. 86120.  It would 
appear that both these inconsistencies have b een resolved in subsequent classifications.
22   
33. Another change worth noting is that CPC provi sional does not contain any explicit reference 
to patent and copyright law.  However, as of CPC Version 1, there is menti on of patent and copyright 
law as activities falling under "Legal documentatio n and certification services " (CPC Version 1 
8213), which is indicated as directly correspondi ng to CPC Provisional 8613, "Legal documentation 
and certification services".  CPC Version 1.1 streamlines the text further, and Version 2.0 does not contain any changes. 
34. The services explicitly mentioned in CPC Version 2.0 are described as follows: 
- drafting and certification of documents and other related legal services concerning 
patents, copyrights and other intellectual property rights 
- drafting and certification of documents and other related legal services concerning 
other legal documents, such as wills, marri age contracts, commercial contracts, 
business charters, etc.   
B. A
LTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO CLASSIFICATION  
35. It appear that the UN CPC distinction between advice and representation in criminal law, 
other fields of the law and statutory proce dures was not as relevant to Members scheduling 
commitments as the distinction between advice a nd representation in host country, home country and 
international law.  Only 13 Members have used the classification contained in W/120, referring to 
CPC 861, without any modifications.  Some 60 Members have instead preferred to adopt the following distinctions in scheduling GATS commitme nts, 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.   
36. A Member may allow foreign professionals to pr actice 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 re presentation 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 th ird country law are often referred to as Foreign 
Legal Consultants (FLCs).  This definition has also been adopted in some GATS schedules.   
                                                     
 
22 Neither classification provides cl ear guidance on the classification of  advisory services in investor-
to-state arbitration, as is typically prov ided for in bilateral investment treaties.  S/C/W/318 
 Page 11 
 
 
  37. Whereas there is wide agreement that the disaggregation contained in CPC Prov. does not 
accommodate the practical nature of international tr ade in legal services, Members have held different 
views on preferable approaches to classification.  Au stralia, in particular, has advocated the use of a 
differentiated classification to "include subcategories that reflect the reality of trade in transnational 
legal services".23  Australia proposes the use of twelve subcategories, eight of which allow for a 
distinction on the basis of the jurisdiction in whic h a qualification as been obtained (i.e. home, host, 
third-country) and the type of legal activity (i.e. a dvisory or representation services).  In addition, the 
proposal contains the following four categories of le gal services:  International commercial arbitration 
services;  Other alternative dispute resolution ser vices;  Preparation and certification of legal 
documents;  Other legal advi sory or consultancy services.24  In making specific commitments,  
subcategories for which no differences in terms of  market access or national treatment restriction 
exist, may be combined, while those, for which no commitments are undertak en, can be omitted from 
a schedule of specific commitments. 
38. In contrast, a proposal by the European Comm unities advocates the use of the integrated CPC 
861 category on legal services, supplemented with "arbitration and conciliation services".25  T h e  
                                                      
23 Communication from Australia, Negotiating Proposal:  Legal Services Classification Supplement." 
Document S/CSS/W/67/Suppl.2;  11 March 2002. 
24 The proposal divides legal services into the following subcategories:   
(a) Home-country law (advisory services)  – limited to providing advice or consultancy services in 
the law of the legal practitioner’s home country or jurisdiction in which the practitioner has a legal right to practise law; 
(b) Home-country law (representation services)
 – extends to representing clients before a court or 
judicial body in the law of the practitioner’s home-country or jurisdiction; 
(c) Third-country law (advisory services)  – limited to providing advice or consultancy services in 
the law of a third-country or jurisdiction where the practitioner has competency in the law of 
that country or jurisdiction; 
(d) Third-country law (representation services)  – extends to representing clients before a court or 
judicial body in the law of a third-country or jurisdiction where the practitioner has 
competency in the law of that country or jurisdiction; 
(e) Host-country law (advisory services)  – limited to providing advice or consultancy services in 
the law of the host country or jurisdiction; 
(f) Host-country law (representation services)  – extends to representing clients before a court or 
judicial body in the law of the host-country; 
(g) International law (advisory services)  – limited to providing advice or consultancy services in 
international law; 
(h) International law (representation services)  – extends to representing clients before a court or 
judicial body in international law; 
(i) International commercial arbitration services  – extends to the right to  prepare and appear in 
international commercial arbitra tion on behalf of clients; 
(j) Other alternative dispute resolution services  - extends to advice or consultancy and 
participation in mediation and similar non court-based dispute resolution services; 
(k) Preparation and certification of legal documents  – including providing advice and the 
execution of various tasks necessary for the drawing up or certification of documents;  and 
(l) Other legal advisory or consultancy services  – extends to advisory or consultation services to 
clients on their legal rights and obligations and providing information of legal or law-related 
matters not elsewhere classified.   
25 Communication from the European Communities:  Classification of Legal Services.  Document 
S/CSC/W/39, 24 March 2003.  The Classification is supplemented by a footnote:  "Provision of legal services is 
only authorised in respect of public international law and the law of any jurisdiction where the service supplier or its personnel is qualified to practice as a lawyer, and, like the provision of other services, is subject to 
licensing requirements and procedures  applicable in [COUNTRY].  For lawyers providing legal services in 
respect of public international law and foreign law, these may take inter alia  the form of compliance with local 
codes of ethics, use of home title (unless recognition with the host title has been obtained), insurance 
requirements, simple registration with the host countr y Bar or a simplified admission to the host country Bar S/C/W/318 
Page 12  
 
  proposal considers that commitments should cover all legal services without further specification of 
the scope of activities. There was no need to reflect different fields of law in the schedules, but it was 
seen to be useful that Members indicated whether co mmitments were limited to the laws in which the 
service supplier or its personnel are qualified lawyers or cover also laws in which the service supplier 
or its personnel are not qualified.  The proposal notes that a distinction by qualification is unknown to 
other services sub-sectors, and unnecessary in so far as, through licensing requirements imposed on 
legal services providers, a Member is able to ensu re that a lawyer can only provide legal services in 
fields of law for which he/she is qualified to practi ce.  The proposal further notes that the distinction 
by "qualification of the lawyer" is irrelevant fo r supply through commercial presence, where it is not 
the law firm but its personnel w ho is qualified to practice.   
39. Both approaches to classification are suitable for different circumstances.  It would appear 
that a Member that wants to make commitments on both foreign and host country law, including 
representation, and does not impose different limitations  on either market access or national treatment 
for either activity, could well use the classificati on proposed by the European Communities.  Such a 
combined classification would not presuppose that a la wyer who is qualified in one jurisdiction would 
be permitted also to supply services beyond the scope of his qualification, nor would it imply that a 
lawyer who only wanted to supply home country law would need to be qualified also in host country 
law.   
40. In contrast, following a more disaggregated cl assification would be suitable where a Member 
wishes to commit only on certain of the sub-sectors, or maintains different types of measures subject 
to scheduling as either market access or national treatment limitations.   
41. In 2005, a group of Members which have u sed different approaches to classification 
circulated a "Joint Statement on Legal Services" which emphasizes that the lack of uniformity in 
classification should not undermine the value of GATS commitments in legal services.
26  The Joint 
Statement suggests the use of specific terminol ogy for "Legal advisory services";  "Legal 
representational services";  and "Legal arbitr ation and conciliation/mediation services".  The 
definitions specifically exclude services performed by service suppliers entrusted with public 
functions.  The Joint Statement also suggests defi nitions for "Domestic law (host country law)",  
"Foreign law", and "International law".   
C. SPECIFIC CLASSIFICATION ISSUES  
42. Several Members have specifically excluded certain activities performed by suppliers 
entrusted with public functions  from the scope of their commitments, in particular notaries and 
bailiffs.  It should be noted that these activities w ould not fall outside the scope of the GATS in line 
with Article I:3 of GATS, as this Article does not exclude services on the basis of their public 
function, but only where they are supplied neither on a commercial basis nor in competition with one 
or more service suppliers.  Members making commi tments in host country law, and maintaining 
restrictions on the supply of such services by fo reign suppliers should hence either exclude the 
services from the scope of their commitments, or en ter the relevant limitations in their schedules of 
commitments.  The Joint Statement, by specifically  excluding services carried out by suppliers with a 
                                                                                                                                                                     
through an aptitude test.  Legal services in respect of  [COUNTRY] law shall in principle be carried out by or 
through a fully qualified lawyer admitted to the [COUNTRY] Bar acting personally.  Full admission to the Bar in [COUNTRY] might therefore be necessary for representati on before courts and other competent authorities in  
[COUNTRY] since it involves practice of national procedural law." 
26 "Joint Statement on Legal Services";  Communication from Australia, Canada, Chile, the European 
Communities, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Sw itzerland, the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, 
Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, and the United States;  TN/S/W/37;  S/CSC/W/46 dated 22 February 2005.    S/C/W/318 
 Page 13 
 
 
  public function, suggests specific exclusion throug h incorporation of its proposed definitions on 
advisory and representational services.   
43. As noted above, the CPC Prov. does not specifical ly classify legal services in international 
law.  Subsequent versions of the CPC place services  relating to international law under the subsector 
"Legal advisory and representation services conc erning other fields of law", and establish 
concordance with CPC Prov. 86119.  While the CPC Version 2 lists several areas of law to which the 
subsectors apply (i.e. civil law, administrative law,  constitutional law, international law, military law 
and other fields of law, except criminal law), it doe s not define the concept of international law, nor 
whether the meaning of the term should be confined  to public international law.  Absent a common 
definition, international law could be considered as international by its sources, by its content (more 
than one country is involved) and by the jurisdiction charged with its  application and/or interpretation 
(an international court or tribunal).27  In the "Joint Statement", Members suggest to define 
"international law" to "include th e law established by international treaties and conventions, as well as 
customary law". 
44. Several schedules and proposals refer to the concept of "third country law " in addition to 
"home country law".  The border-line between these tw o categories is not self-evident.  Third country 
law could either refer to the law of a jurisdiction in which the practitioner is qualified, but which is 
not his home country, or as the law of a jurisdiction other than the home and host country, in which 
the supplier is not qualified.  Neither explanation is  satisfactory:  in the former case, there would not 
be a need for the distinction of the law of two juri sdictions in which a supplier is qualified;  in the 
latter case, it would be unlikely that a Member wo uld specifically liberalize an activity for which the 
respective supplier is not qualified.  It might be that the concept of third country law was intended to 
draw a semantic distinction with "home country la w", to account for situations where a national of 
one country is qualified in the law of another count ry, other than the host country.  However, for 
regulatory and scheduling purposes, such a distinctio n would be redundant.  This also appears to be 
the conclusion arrived at by Members in the Joint Statement, which uses the term "foreign law" to 
combine both home country and third country law and is  defined to encompass "the law of territories 
of WTO Members and other countries other than th e law of the territory of the specific Member 
scheduling those commitments", and contrasting only with domestic or host-country law.   
D. IMPLICATIONS OF CLASSIFICATION ON SCHEDULING OF COMMITMENTS  
45. Law firms wishing to operate in foreign market s are typically interested in supplying legal 
services in domestic, foreign and international law.  To this end, they are interested either to employ 
lawyers qualified in domestic law or to establis h partnerships and othe r forms of commercial 
association with domestic lawyers/law firms.   
46. Restrictions on employment of, or cooperation with lawyers from other jurisdictions are of 
paramount economic importance.  It should be noted nonetheless that such restrictions do not need to 
be scheduled as national treatment limitations, where a Member's commitment only extends to the 
supply of services on foreign and international law, which accounts for the majority of commitments.  
In such cases, a Member undertak es no commitment to permit suppl y of legal services in domestic 
law, and hence any restriction on such services would be permissible.  Where a Member wishes to commit on cooperation with domestic lawyers/law firm s, it could do so by inscribing an additional 
commitment pursuant to Article XVIII of the GATS.   
                                                     
 
27 See Communication from the European Communities; footnote 25.  For a discussion of the issue see 
also:  Anne-Marie Slaughter "International Law in a World of Liberal States",  European Journal of 
International Law, 1995, pages 503-538.   S/C/W/318 
Page 14  
 
  47. In contrast, where a Member liberalizes both the supply of foreign and domestic law, 
restrictions on cooperation between  foreign and domestic suppliers should be scheduled as limitations 
on the type legal entity (Art XVI:2 (e)), where such  measures would restrict or require any specific  
legal entity, or restrict any type of joint venture between suppliers.  It should be noted that the GATS 
does not contain a definition on the term "joint ventur e", and that interpretations of the term vary  
greatly between jurisdictions, ranging from a lim ited cooperation of two legally separate entities to 
achieve a shared  objective, to the joint establishm ent of a affiliate company without limitation in 
terms of duration or objectives.   
V. SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS AND MFN EXEMPTION LISTS 
A. O
VERVIEW OF SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS  
48. A total of 76 Members have take n commitments in Legal Services.28  Only 13 Members have 
used the classification contained in W/120, referring  to CPC 861, without any modifications.  Three 
Members have made commitments on "Legal Services" without any reference to the CPC.   
49. The most common departure from the classification in W/120 and the CPC is the limitation of 
the commitments to advisory/consultancy services on home country (i.e. foreign) law, and 
international law, to the exclusion of services in host country (i.e. domestic) law.  Some 60 schedules 
contain variants of such scheduling.   
50. The largest number of commitments exists in  advisory services in home country law, where 
69 Members made at least partial commitments for cross-border supply, and 68 for commercial 
presence (see Chart 5).   
51. There are considerably fewer commitments on the practice of the law of the host jurisdiction.  
Twenty-eight Members scheduled commitments on advisory services in host country law for cross-
border supply, and 29 for commercial presence.  Sligh tly fewer commitments still have been made for 
representation services in host country-law, with 25 co mmitments for Mode 1 and 27 for Mode 3.   
52. Commitments in international law typically follow those for foreign law.  Sixty-eight 
Members have made commitments on Mode 1, and 67 for Mode 3.   
53. Specific commitments for the movement of na tural persons are governed, with very few 
exceptions, by referral to the horizontal  section of Members' schedules.   
                                                      
28 Separate schedules exist for Aruba and the Neth erlands Antilles, bringing the number of schedules 
with commitments to 78.    S/C/W/318 
 Page 15 
 
 
   
Chart 5:  Overview of  GATS commitments  
01020304050607080
Domestic
advisory
services
Domestic
Representation
Domestic
advisory
services
Domestic
Representation
Foreign
advisory
services
International
Law
Foreign
advisory
services
International
law
Mode 1 Mode 3 Mode 1 Mode 3
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat 
 
 
54. About one-third of legal services commitments (24 schedules) come from countries that 
acceded to the WTO since 1995 under Article XII of the WTO Agreement (See Chart 6).  While 
43 per cent  (54 of 127) of original WTO Members made commitments in Legal Services29, all but 
one Member (96 per cent) that acceded to th e WTO since 1995 made such commitments.  Broken 
down by type of legal services committed, 13 acceded  Members (52 per cent) made commitments in 
host country law, whereas the incidence of such commitments for original WTO Members stands at 
only 16 per cent (20 of 127).  Ninety-six per cen t of accession countries made commitments in foreign 
advisory services, compared to 41 per cent (52 of 127) of other Members, and 92 per cent of accessions (23 of 25) committed on International Law,  compared to 40 per cent (51 of 127) of other 
Members.
30  This indicates that commitments on lega l services, at least for home country and 
international law, are for all practical purposes part  of the expected entry package in accession cases.   
 
                                                      
29 For the purpose of categorization, the count of or iginal WTO Members includes also five countries 
(Grenada, Qatar, Papua New Guinea, St Kitts and Ne vis, and the United Arab Emirates), who became WTO 
Members through a special procedure not in volving the typical accession process.   
30 The only accession countr y without commitments on legal servi ces is Mongolia, an early accession 
to the WTO which was completed in 1996. Mongolia became a WTO Member in January 1997.   S/C/W/318 
Page 16  
 
  Chart 6:   Share of specific commitments in  Legal Services by recently acceded Members 
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 
Host Country Law Home Country Law International LawAccession Countries (25) 
All Members without 
 accessions (128) 
 
 
Source: WTO Secretariat 
 
 
B. MAIN RESTRICTIONS IN SPECIFIC COMMITMENTS  
55. The number of scheduled market access and national treatment restrictions in legal services is 
relatively modest.  It should be kept in mind, however, that aside from those Members which have 
made no commitments - and can therefore deny mark et access and national treatment – a majority of 
Members which have undertaken commitments in legal services have restricted access to their 
domestic legal services market by excluding such ser vices from the scope of their commitments in the 
sector column.  Thus, for example, commitments in  host country law have been taken by less than 
half of the 76 Members which made commitments in  legal services generally, and roughly a quarter of 
the overall membership.   
56. Other important limitations exist with regard to the low number of Mode 4 commitments on 
contract service suppliers (31 entries) and indepe ndent professionals (7 entries), which may severely 
impede fly-in-fly-out services.  As these latter limitations are governed by horizontal Mode 4 
limitations, they are not further discussed in this context.  An overview of the access conditions under 
Mode 4 can be obtained from the Secretariat b ackground Note on Presence of Natural Persons (Mode 
4), document S/C/W/ 301.   
57. Moreover, even in those limited cases where th ere is a full commitment in legal services, 
including advisory and representation services in hos t country, international and home country law for 
all modes of supply (12 Members), foreign lawyer s may still face high domestic regulatory barriers, 
and in particular qualification requirements.    S/C/W/318 
 Page 17 
 
 
  1. Market Access Restrictions 
58. The most commonly scheduled limitations on market access are restrictions on the type of 
legal entity, with 17 incidences.  In most of th ese cases, Members have limited the choice of legal 
form to natural persons (sole proprietorship) or pa rtnerships, thus excluding limited companies. In a 
few instances, partnerships have also been excluded.   
59. Four Members which have committed in Mode  1 have kept it unbound for the drafting of 
legal documents.  Thirteen Members have scheduled  nationality and citizenship limitations; in some 
cases, these are limited to geographic areas (Queb ec) or to a particular sub-sector such as 
representation services or notary services.  One Memb er has scheduled a nationality requirement only 
with respect to establishment (under modes 3 and 4) .  Other market access restrictions are in two 
cases sector-specific foreign equity limitations of 49 per cent and 75 per cent, respectively.  In one 
case, the discretionary consent of the Bar Associa tion is required for establishment of a commercial 
presence, which corresponds to an economic needs test  on the number of service suppliers in the sense 
of GATS Article XVI:2 (a).   
60. Four Members  have scheduled a requirement to be a member of the local Bar in order to 
supply services in host country law, while two others  require both citizenship and Bar membership in 
order to supply domestic legal services.  It would ap pear that in the former case, membership in the 
local Bar would not constitute a market access li mitation, unless a numerical limitation on entry into 
the Bar existed.   
2. National Treatment Restrictions 
61. The majority of scheduled national treatment restrictions are residency requirements , with 
eight incidences.  In some cases, these requirement s are linked to a nationality requirement:  where 
both nationality and residency are required for the same s ub-sector and mode of supply only the 
former should be scheduled under market access lim itations, 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 citizenship or residency, only the second should be scheduled as a national treatment 
limitation, as foreign service suppliers can bypass the market access restriction (citizenship) by taking 
up residency.  In one case a specific time-limited residency is required (for a minimum of 180 days per year), while in two cases only a legal domicile is  required.  In two cases, residency requirements 
have been specifically scheduled under modes 1 and 2, i.e. for Modes of supply in which the service 
supplier is by definition outside the territory of the importing country.  In one of these cases, the right 
to supply the service through modes 1 and 2 depends on whether the service supplier otherwise stays 
in the country for less than 180 days per annum.   
62. Local education requirements :  In six instances, Members require graduation from local 
universities.  In four of these cases, this limitation a pplies specifically to the practice of domestic law.  
Albeit apparently origin-neutral, such requirements discriminate de facto  between domestic and 
foreign practitioners.  In fact, the vast major ity of the former would have attended domestic 
universities, while the latter are far less likely to have done so.  In practice, foreign service suppliers 
would be faced with a requirement of full re-qualification in the hos t country, irrespective of whether 
all or part of their home qualification was equivale nt to that obtained at a local university.   
63. 
Other scheduled national treatment restrictions include:  (i) recognition of foreign degrees 
only for own nationals who have studied abroad;  (ii) the requirement that foreign ventures be 
competitive institutions in their country of origin; and  (iii) the requirement for foreign lawyers to take 
active part in the business in order to be able to maintain an inter est in a local law firm.  All these 
measures constitute national treatment restrictions in the sense of Article VII if they discriminate de 
jure or de facto  against foreign service suppliers.   S/C/W/318 
Page 18  
 
  64. Several other entries have been scheduled as national treatment limitations, such as the 
requirement to be a member of the home country Bar to supply services in home country law through 
Mode 1, and to use the home title.  Two Member s have scheduled language requirements for the 
practice of domestic law.  It is not obvious how these measures would modify the conditions of 
competition between local and foreign services or supp liers, taking into account, in particular footnote 
10 to Article XVII which clarifies that national tr eatment commitments "shall  not be construed to 
require any Member to compensate for any inhe rent competitive disadvantages which result from the 
foreign character of the relevant services or service suppliers".    
3. Domestic Regulation 
65. Legal services, like other professional services, is a sector where the number of Members 
which have scheduled domestic regulatory measure s is rather high (26 instances).  Most of these 
measures are licensing and qualifica tion requirements, which may cons titute important barriers to 
trade in legal services.  However, scheduling domestic regulatory measures is not necessary and does not exempt the scheduled measures from the discip lines under other provisions of the GATS.  Among 
scheduled domestic regulatory meas ures in legal services, an im portant distinction concerns 
qualification requirements for host country law as opposed to those for home and third country law.   
66. Qualifications in host country law 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 internati onal law.  Qualifications in the law of other 
jurisdictions, on the other hand, are relevant wh ere a Member has made commitments only in home 
country, third country or international law and wa nts to ensure that the foreign professional is 
qualified and licensed for the field of the law he in tends 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.
31  Both 
host country law qualification requirements and home /third country law qualification requirements are 
domestic regulatory measures according to the GATS and, therefore, are not subject to scheduling 
under Articles XVI and XVII.   
67. Some countries impose - whether they have scheduled them or not - domestic law 
qualification and licensing requirements in domes tic law for professionals wishing to provide 
advisory services only in international and home co untry law.  These requirements also represent 
domestic regulatory measures according to the GATS, outside the scope of Articles XVI and XVII.   
C. MFN  EXEMPTIONS  
68. Five Members have MFN exemptions in legal services32, while five other Members maintain 
exemptions in professional services.33 
69. Two legal services-specific exemptions allow for MFN-inconsistent discretionary approval 
for the establishment of law firms.  One of the lega l services-specific exemptions covers all measures 
pertaining to the provision of legal services, and app lies to all countries on the basis of reciprocity.  
Another exemption allows attorneys from foreign c ountries to participate as advocates in court only in 
accordance with bilateral agreements on legal assist ance.  The fifth exemption extends full national 
                                                      
31 This, however, would be normally subject to registration with the local Bar.   
32 Brunei Darussalam, Bulgar ia, Dominican Republic, Lithuania, and Singapore.   
33 Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Turkey.    S/C/W/318 
 Page 19 
 
 
  treatment for Modes 3 and 4 to companies and citizens of countries with which preferential 
arrangements exist.   
70. All the professional services exemptions maintain  reciprocity as a condition for authorizations 
to exercise professional activities, including legal services.   
VI. LIBERALIZATION TRENDS FOR LEGAL SERVICES IN ECONOMIC 
INTEGRATION AGREEMENTS 
71. Numerous Economic Integration Agreements (EIAs)  partially liberalize trade in legal services 
between the parties.  However, an analysis of 33 selected EIAs covering some 50-plus WTO 
Members does not show clear trends or patterns in liberalization.  Broadly,  three scenarios might be 
distinguished.  First, several Members have not unde rtaken commitments on the liberalization of legal 
services in EIAs beyond their commitments in the GATS.   This is true in particular for a large number 
of those Members without or with only very limited GATS commitments, such as Brazil, India, or Malaysia. 
72. A second group of Members has committed in some of their EIAs to liberalization broadly in 
line with present DDA offers.  Fo r example, Chile's commitments unde rtaken in several EIAs expand 
on its GATS commitments on international law by allo wing practice of foreign law.  An equivalent 
commitment is contained in Chile's DDA offer.  New Zealand, which at present only has a commitment in international law, permits in its EIA with China the practice of domestic law, and 
offers this commitment in the c ontext of the DDA.  EIA commitments by Australia and the European 
Union reflect broadly their offers in the DDA.   
73. A third group of Members has made EIA commitments beyond their GATS commitments or 
DDA offers.  For instance, the EC - CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Ag reement contains new 
commitments on domestic law for Jamaica and Dominica, and on advisory services in foreign law for Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the 
Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.   
74. The China - Hong Kong, China Closer Ec onomic Partnership Ar rangement permits, inter 
alia, Hong Kong law firms that have set up represen tative offices in the Mainland to operate in 
association with mainland law firms, except in the form of partnership.  Mainland law firms are 
permitted to hire Hong Kong lawyers, provided th e latter do not handle mainland Chinese law.  In 
addition, Hong Kong residents with Chinese citizensh ip may sit the legal qualifying examination in 
the mainland and acquire mainland legal professional qualification, and subsequently to engage in 
non-litigation legal work in mainland law firms.   
75. Singapore, in its EIA with the United States, permits, under certain conditions, US firms to 
enter into Joint Law Ventures with domestic law fi rms to advise on Singaporean law, and commits to 
reducing the minimum number of US lawyers required to maintain a Joint Law Venture, as well as 
reducing minimum experience requirements for US lawy ers.  Similarly, in its EIA with Australia, 
Singapore permits Australian law firms to provide advisory services on foreign and international law, 
and to hire qualified foreign lawyers.  In both Ag reements, participation in  international commercial 
arbitration is permitted (jointly with a Singapore lawyer where the applicable law is the law of 
Singapore).  As an additional commitment, Singapo re further commits, under certain conditions, to 
recognize legal education obtained by Singaporean citizens and permanent residents for the purpose 
of admission as advocate or solicitor with the Singapore Supreme Court.   
76. As an additional feature, numerous EIAs contain specific provisions on regulatory 
cooperation in professional services, which comp rise legal services.  Such cooperative models, 
although phrased mostly in best endeavour format s, may over time contribute to increased recognition S/C/W/318 
Page 20  
 
  or regulatory harmonization in legal services.  Exam ples typical provisions include encouragement of 
relevant bodies to develop mutually acceptable standa rds and criteria for licensing and certification of 
professional service suppliers (e.g. several US EIAs,  Chile - Korea,  Singapore -Peru);  encouragement of relevant professional bodies to jointly develop and provide recommendations on 
mutual recognition (EC - CARIFORUM);  establishment of contact points to exchange information on 
professional qualification and registration/licensing, in cluding on recognition (e.g. Australia - Chile);  
support for profession-led mutual recognition initiativ es (e.g. Australia - Chile);  establishment of a 
working group to facilitate the granting of license and certificates to suppliers (e.g. Chile - Colombia).  
77. Only few Economic Integration Agreements in  services contain obligations on professional 
services which are similar to those under discussion in  the Working Party on Domestic Regulation.  
One of few examples can be found in the Chile - Ko rea Agreement, which contains an obligation to 
ensure that the competent authorities, within a reas onable time after the submission of an application 
for a license or certification make a determination on the application and inform the applicant of that 
determination;  in cases where the application is not complete, the competent authorities are obliged 
to inform the applicant, without undue delay, of  the status of the application and the additional 
information that is required under the Party's law.   
78. Specific regulatory provisions concerning foreign legal consultants are contained in the US - 
Chile EIA.  These mandate the parties, inter alia , to obtain recommendations from their relevant 
professional bodies on the form of association or part nership between lawyers authorized to practice 
in their territories and foreign legal consultants.  Further, recommendations are to be sought on the 
development of standards and criteria for the au thorization of foreign legal consultants, and 
consultations between the regulatory bodies of the pa rties are encouraged.  Th e parties also undertake 
to encourage their competent authorities to impl ement recommendations consistent with the EIA 
within one year.  Likewise, regular meetings ar e envisaged to assess the implementation of these 
measures, and to address, where appropriate, removal of non-conforming measures.   
VII. DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL BODIES 
A. I
NTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION  
79. Since 1998, the International Bar Association (IBA)  has adopted three resolutions relevant to 
trade in legal services.   
80. In 2003, the IBA Council adopted a Resolution in Support of a System of Terminology for 
Legal Services for the Purposes of International Trade Negotiations , which recommends the use of 
common terminology for the purpose of scheduli ng commitments.  The terminology suggested 
encompasses the terms "home country", "host country",  "third country", "international law", "advisory 
services", "representation services", and "international arbitration and mediation services".34 
81. In the same year, the Council also adopt ed, in the form of a Resolution, a " Communication to 
the World Trade Organization on the Suitability of Applying to the Legal Profession the WTO 
Disciplines for the Accountancy Sector ."  This Resolution was prompted by the WPDR process of 
consultations by the WTO Secretariat with interna tional professional associations.  It contains detailed 
annotations to the text of the Accountancy Disciplines to make these suitable for the Legal 
profession.35 
                                                      
34 The Resolution is attached in Annex IV.   
35 A detailed overview of the comments provided by the IBA is contained in document 
JOB(03)/126/Rev.6, 15 September 2005.    S/C/W/318 
 Page 21 
 
 
  82. In 2008, the IBA Council of the International Bar Association (IBA) adopted a Resolution on 
Transfer of Skills and Liberalization of Legal Services .  The resolution encourages WTO Members 
without or with limited legal services commitment s to undertake or improve upon, commitments, 
subject to the conditions that foreign lawyers might be  required to participate in the provision of legal 
education or training programmes by the host country authorities, or to provide such training to local 
lawyers with whom they are asso ciated.  Any such regime should be (i) transparent, (ii) not 
unreasonably burdensome, (iii) non-discriminatory as be tween foreign lawyers;  and (iv) not adopted 
or designed for the purpose of constituting an obstacl e to the establishment of foreign lawyers in the 
host jurisdiction.  Further, any such measures should not require disclosure of proprietary or confidential information.
36 
B. INTERNATIONAL UNION OF LAWYER (UIA) 
83. The Governing Board of the International Union of Lawyers (UIA) adopted in 2001 
"Standards for Lawyers Establishing a Legal Practice Outside Their Home Country " which contains, 
inter alia , definitions of the terms "international legal practice", "home country", "host country", and 
"foreign lawyer", and provides standards on the ro le of the lawyer, funda mental social values, 
compliance with host country ethical rules, registra tion, form of economic en terprise, and integration 
of foreign and host country lawyers.37 
_______________ 
                                                      
36 The Resolution is attached in Annex V. 
37 See:  
http://www.wisbar.org/AM/Templat e.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE= /CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTEN
TID=53452  S/C/W/318 
Page 22  
 
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 Datamonitor,  Global Legal Services, December 2009.   
Hook, Alison,  Sectoral Study on the Impact of Do mestic Regulation on Trade in Legal Services,  
OECD 2006. 
Daly, Mary C. and Silver, Carole,  Flattening the World of Legal Services?  The Ethical and Liability 
Minefields of Off shoring Legal a nd Law-related Services;  Georgetown  Journal of International Law,  
Spring 2007, Vol. 38, No. 3.   
Denyer, Stephen,  Legal Outsourcing remains high on  the agenda, Times Online, 9 September 2008.   
Gibson,  K.  William,  Outsourcing Legal Services Abroad;  Law Practice, July/August 2008, Vol. 34, 
No. 5.   
International Bar Association (IBA), Resolution in  Support of a System of Terminology for Legal 
Services For the Purposes of Intern ational Trade Negotiations,  2003. 
International Bar Association (IBA), Resolution of Tr ansfer of Skills and Liberalization of Trade in 
Legal Services, 2008. 
International Legal Services Advisory Council, ILSAC's Second International Legal Services 
Statistics Survey (2006-2007);  www.ilsac.gov.au
 . 
International Financial Servi ces London,  Legal Services,  IFSL Research, February 2009.   
International Union of Lawyers (UIA), UIA Sta ndards for Lawyers Establishing A Legal Practice 
outside their Home Country, 2001;  see:  
http://www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Secti on=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&
CONTENTID=53452  
Silver, Carole, Phelan, Nicole De Bruin and Rabinowitz, Mikaela, Between Diffusion and 
Distinctiveness in Globalization:  U.S. Law Firms Go Glocal.  Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, 
Vol. 22, 2009,  Georgetown Law and Economics R esearch Paper No. 1406123.  Available at SSRN:  
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1406123  
Slaughter, Anne-Marie, International Law in a Wo rld of Liberal States,  European Journal of 
International Law, 1995, pages 503-538.   
United States International Trade Commission,  Recent  trends in US Services Trade,  Annual Report, 
Publication 4084, July 2009.   
ValueNotes Outsourcing Weekly, Legal Outsourcing Hype:  Can India deliver;  October 2006:  
Vol. III, No. 40.   
Van Criekingen, Mathieu et al., Local Geographies of Global Payers:  International Law Firms in 
Brussels, 13 J. CONTEMP. EUR. STUD. 173 (2005).   
Williams, Sean and Nersessian, David, Overview of the Professional Services Industry and the Legal 
Profession , A report provided to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation by the Harvard Law School Center 
on Lawyers and the Professional Services Industry, (2007).   S/C/W/318 
 Page 23 
 
 
  WTO (1998), Legal Services;  Background Note by the Secretariat, Document S/C/W/43, 6 July.   
WTO (2002), Negotiating Proposal:  Legal Servi ces Classification Supplement;  Communication 
from Australia, Document S/CSS/W/67/Suppl.2, dated 11 March.   
WTO (2003), Classification of Legal Services, Communication from the European Communities, 
Document S/CSC/W/39, dated 24 March. 
WTO (2005),  Results of Secretariat Consultati ons with International Professional Services 
Associations, Informal Note by the Secretar iat, Revision, Document JOB(03)/126/Rev.6, 
15 September.   
WTO (2005a), Joint Statement on Legal Services;  Communication from Australia, Canada, Chile, the 
European Communities, Japan, Korea, New Zeala nd, Singapore, Switzerland, the Separate Customs 
Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, and the United States;  Document TN/S/W/37;  
S/CSC/W/46, dated 22 February.   
 
 
_______________ 
 
    
  S/C/W/318 
Page 24 ANNEX I 
 
Evolution of classification of Legal Services in the Central Product Classification  
 
CPC Provisional CPC 1.  0 CPC 1.  1 CPC Version 2 
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 the defence of a client in 
front of a judicial body in a case of criminal 
offence.  However, it can al so 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 pleading of 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.   
 82111  Legal advisory and representation services 
concerning criminal law 
 
This subclass includes: 
-advice, representation, drafti ng of documents and related 
services (defence, search for evidence, witnesses, experts, etc.  ) concerning criminal law.   
 
  82111  Legal advisory and 
representation services 
concerning criminal law 
 
This subclass includes: 
- advice, representation, drafting of documents and related 
services (defence, search for 
evidence, witnesses, experts, etc.  ) concerning criminal law.   
 8211  Legal advisory and 
representation services concerning 
criminal law 
 
This subclass includes: 
- advice, representation and related services (defence, search for evidence, 
witnesses, experts, etc.  ) concerning 
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 gene rally 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 a case 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, re viewing police and other 
reports), and the execution of post-litigation work, 
in relation to law other than criminal law.   82119  Legal advisory and representation services in 
judicial procedures concer ning other fields of law 
 
This subclass includes: 
-legal advisory and representation services during the 
litigation process -drafting services for legal documentation in relation to law 
other than criminal law.  Representation services generally 
consist of either acting as a prosecutor on behalf on the 
client, or defending the client from a prosecution 
-pleading of a case in court 
-out-of-court legal work: -research  
-other work for the preparation of a case (e.g. researching 
legal documentation, interviewing witnesses, reviewing police and other reports) 
-execution of post-litigation work in relation to law other 
than criminal law.   82119  Legal advisory and 
representation services in 
judicial procedures 
concerning other fields of law 
 
This subclass includes: - advice, representation, drafting 
and certification of documents 
and other related legal services in judicial procedures 
concerning other fields of law.   8212  Legal advisory and 
representation services concerning 
other fields of law 
 
This subclass includes: 
- advice, representation and other related legal services in judicial and 
quasi-judicial procedures concerning 
civil law, administrative law, constitutional law, international law, 
military law and other fields of law, 
except criminal law.     
   S/C/W/318
 Page 25CPC Provisional CPC 1.  0 CPC 1.  1 CPC Version 2 
86120 Legal advisory and representation 
services in statut ory 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 bodi es other than 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.   
 82120  Legal advisory and representation services in 
statutory procedures of quasi -judicial tribunals, boards, 
etc 
 
This subclass includes: 
-legal advisory and representation services during the litigation process, and drafting services for 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) 
-pleading of a case in front of authorised bodies other than 
judicial courts -related legal work: 
-research 
-other work for the preparati on of a non-judicial case (e.g. 
researching legal documentation, interviewing witnesses, 
reviewing reports) and executi on of post-litigation work 
 82120  Legal advisory and 
representation services in 
statutory procedures of quasi-judicial tribunals, boards, etc.  
 
This subclass includes: 
- advice, representation, drafting 
and certification of documents 
and other related legal services in statutory procedures of quasi-
judicial tribunals, boards, etc.    
86130 Legal documentation and certification 
services 
 
 Preparation, drawing up and certification 
services of legal docum ents.  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 certif ication of documents.  
Included are the drawing up of wills, marriage 
contracts, commercial contracts, business charters, etc.   
 82130  Legal documentation and certification services 
 
This subclass includes: 
-patent, trademark and copyright consultancy services 
-preparation, drafting and certi fication services concerning 
patents and copyrights 
-provision of a number of rela ted legal services, including 
the provision of advice and the execution of various tasks necessary for the drawing-up or certification of patents and 
copyrights 
-preparation, drafting and cert ification services for legal 
documents, other than for patents and copyrights 
-provision of a number of rela ted legal services, including 
provision of advice and the execution of various tasks necessary for the drawing-up or certification of such 
documents 
-drawing-up of wills, marriage contracts, commercial contracts, business charters, etc.   
 82130 - Legal documentation 
and certification services 
 
This subclass includes: 
- advice, representation, drafting and certification of documents 
and other related legal services 
concerning patents, copyrights and other intellectual property 
rights 
- advice, representation, drafting and certification of documents 
and other related legal services 
concerning other legal documents, such as wills, 
marriage contracts, commercial 
contracts, business charters, etc.   8213 Legal documentation and 
certification services 
 
This subclass includes: 
- drafting and certification of documents and other related legal services 
concerning patents, copyrights and 
other intellectual property rights  - drafting and certification of 
documents and other related legal 
services concerning other legal documents, such as wills, marriage 
contracts, commercial contracts, 
business charters, etc.     
  S/C/W/318 
Page 26 CPC Provisional CPC 1.  0 CPC 1.  1 CPC Version 2 
86602 Arbitration and conciliation services 
 
 Assistance services through arbitration or mediation for the settleme nt of a dispute between 
labour and management, between businesses or 
between individuals.    
 Exclusions:  Repres entation services on 
behalf of one of the parties in the dispute and consulting services in the field of labour relations 
are classified in subclass 86190 (Other legal 
advisory and information services), 95110 (Services furnished by business and employers 
organizations) and 95200 (Services furnished by 
trade unions), respectively.    8219:  Other legal advisory and information services 
 
82191  Arbitration and conciliation services 
 
This subclass includes: 
-assistance services involving arbitration or mediation for 
the settlement of a dis pute between labour and 
management, between businesse s or between individuals 
 This subclass does not include: 
-representation services on behalf of one of the parties in 
the dispute and consulting services in the field of labour relations, cf.  82120 
 8219 Other legal services 
82191   Arbitration and 
conciliation services  
This subclass includes: 
- assistance services involving arbitration or mediation for the 
settlement of a dispute between 
labour and management, between businesses or between 
individuals 
 This subclass does not include: 
- representation services on 
behalf of one of the parties in the dispute, cf.  82120 
 8219:  Other legal services 
 
82191  Arbitration and conciliation 
services 
 
This subclass includes: - arbitration or mediation services 
aimed at the settlement of disputes 
between labour and management, between businesses or between 
individuals  
This subclass does not include: - representation services on behalf of 
one of the parties in the dispute, cf.  
82120  
 
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 classified.  Services such as escrow services and 
estate settlement services are included.   
 82199  Other legal advisory and information services 
n.e.c.  
 82199  Other legal services 
n.e.c.  
This subclass also includes: 
- escrow services and estate 
settlement services 
 82199  Other legal services n.e.c.  
This subclass includes: 
- escrow services 
- other legal services n.e.c.  
   
   S/C/W/318
 Page 27ANNEX II 
 
Largest law firms by number of lawyers, gross revenue, o ffice spread;  and percentage of lawyers based abroad, 2009  
 
Firm Name  Location (a) Number of lawyers  Countries in which firm 
has offices Gross Revenue  
US$ million Percentage of lawyers 
outside home country 
1.  Baker & McKenzie(b) International (US) 3949 39 2112 82 
2.  Clifford Chance International (UK) 2837 21 2340 69 
3.  DLA Piper Intl.  (c) International (UK) 2459 28 1085 60 
4.  Linklaters International (UK) 2367 19 2407 68 
5.  Jones Day National (US) 2348 13 1540 27 
6.  Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer International (UK) 2263 15 2386 65 
7.  Latham & Watkins National (US) 2147 12 1923 25 
8.  Allen & Overy International (UK) 2122 22 2023 61 
9.  White & Case International (US) 2120 25 1467 66 
10.  Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meag her & Flom National (US) 1995 13 2200 16 
11.  Mayer Brown National (US) 1841 9 1294 43 
12.  Garrigues  International (Spain) 1835 9 457 11 
13.  Sidley Aus tin National (US)  1777 9 1489 16 
14.  Greenberg Traurig National (US) 1760 5 1204 5 
15.  K&L Gates(d) National (US) 1569 6 1569 15 
16.  Reed Smith National (US) 1482 7 979 30 
17.  Lovells International (UK) 1421 18 984 82 
18.  Fidal (France)  National (France)  1420 2 437 <1 
19.  DLA Piper US  National (US) 1386 1 1178 0 
20.  Kirkland and Ellis National (US) 1383 4 1400 8% 
      
30.  Minter Ellison National (Australia) 1027 4 421 17 
32.  Freehills National (Australia) 1017 2 421 1 
42.  Cuatrecasas Gonçalves Pereira National (Spain) 954 9 354 4 
47.  Mallesons Stephen Jaques National (Australia) 907 3 470 12 
50.  Allens Arthur Robinson National (Australia) 872 9 402 9 
51.  Loyens Loeff National (Netherlands) 871 13 439 8 
66.  Borden Ladner Gervais National (Canada) 757 1 n/a  0 
71.  Gowling Lafleur Henderson National (Canada) 710 3 n/a  1 
72.  Blake Dawson National (Australia) 701 5 n/a  6 
76.  Salans Nationa l (France) 690 16 345(1) n/a 
79.  Gide Loyrette Loel National (France) 679 19 380 51  
  S/C/W/318 
Page 28 Firm Name  Location (a) Number of lawyers  Countries in which firm 
has offices Gross Revenue  
US$ million Percentage of lawyers 
outside home country 
83.  Fasken Martineau DuMoulin National (Canada) 650 3 n/a 9 
85.  McCarthy Tetrault National (Canada) 636 2 445 3 
99.  Clayton Utz National (Australia) 612 1 419 0 
 
Note: The table depicts the top-20 firms, and lists all other non-US law firms in the top 100. 
 
(a) A law firm is defined as international if more than 40 pe r cent of their lawyers are work ing outside their home country 
(b) Baker & McKenzie's figures are as of June 30, 2009  
(c) DLA Piper International and DLA Piper US are treated as separate entities.   
(d) The firm changed its name to K&L Gates from Kirkpatrick Lockhart Preston Gates & Ellis in July 2008  
Source :  The American Lawyer 
  
   S/C/W/318
 Page 29ANNEX III 
 
Legal Services - Specific Commitments  
 
COUNTRY HOST COUNTRY LAW INTERNATIONAL LAW HOME COUNTRY LAW OTHER MODES 
 ADVISORY  REPRESENTATION  ADVISORY  REPRESENTATION  ADVISORY  REPRESENTATION    
Albania  X X X  X   2 for host 
country only 
Antigua and Barbuda   X  X   All 
Argentina X X X X X X  All 
Armenia X X X X X X 86130  
Aruba   X  X   All 
Australia   X X X X  All 
Austria   X  X   1,2,4 
Barbados       86130 3, 4 
Bulgaria   X  X   All 
Cambodia X  X  X   All 
Canada   X  X   All 
Cape Verde   X  X   All 
Chile   X     3, 4 
China   X  X   All 
Colombia   X  X  (1) 1, 2 
Croatia X X X X X X  All 
Cuba X X X X X X  2, 3, 4 
Czech Republic X X X X X X  All 
Dominican Republic       86190 All 
Ecuador   X  X   All 
El Salvador       86190 All 
European Communities (12) (France and 
Luxembourg) (France and 
Luxembourg) X  X   All 
Estonia X X X X X X  2 for host 
country law 
Finland   X  X   All 
FYR Macedonia   X  X   All 
Gambia X X X X X X  All 
Georgia X X X X X X  All 
Guyana X X X X X X  All  
  S/C/W/318 
Page 30 COUNTRY HOST COUNTRY LAW INTERNATIONAL LAW HOME COUNTRY LAW OTHER MODES 
 ADVISORY  REPRESENTATION  ADVISORY  REPRESENTATION  ADVISORY  REPRESENTATION    
Hungary     X   All 
Iceland X  X  X   All 
Israel X X X X X X  All 
Jamaica   X  X   All 
Japan X X X X X X (2) All 
Jordan     X   All 
Kyrgyz Republic X X X X X X  All 
Latvia X X X  X   All 
Lesotho X X X  X   3, 4 
Liechtenstein   X  X   1, 2,4 
Lithuania   X  X   All 
Malaysia (3)  X  X   1, 2, 4;  (4) 
Moldova X X X  X   All 
Nepal   X X X X  All 
Netherlands Antilles   X  X   All 
New Zealand X X X     All 
Norway     X   All 
Oman   X  X   All 
Panama   X  X   All 
Papua New Guinea X X X X X X  All 
Poland X X X X X X  1, 2 
Romania X X X X X X  1, 2 
Rwanda X X X X X X  All 
Saudi Arabia   X  X   All 
Sierra Leone X X X X X X  All 
Slovak Republic X X X X X X  All 
Slovenia X X X X X X  All 
Solomon Islands   X X X X  All 
South Africa X X X  X   3, 4 
Sweden   X  X   All 
Switzerland   X  X   All 
Chinese Taipei   X X X X  All 
Thailand X X X X X X  2, 3 
Tonga X X X X X X  All 
Trinidad and Tobago   X     All  
   S/C/W/318
 Page 31COUNTRY HOST COUNTRY LAW INTERNATIONAL LAW HOME COUNTRY LAW OTHER MODES 
 ADVISORY  REPRESENTATION  ADVISORY  REPRESENTATION  ADVISORY  REPRESENTATION    
Turkey   X  X   All 
Ukraine X X X  X   All 
United States X X X X X X  All 
Venezuela X  X  X   2, 4 
Viet Nam X  X X X X  All 
TOTAL 34 29 73 27 73 27 6  
 
"X" indicates a full or partial commitment "All" indicates that each Mode of supply is covered by at le ast part of the commitments  
"86130":  legal documentation and certification services 
"86190":  other legal advisory and information services 
 
(1) 
All modes for legal advisory services relating to mining 
(2) Services supplied by qualified patent attorneys and maritime procedure agents  
(3) Domestic Offshore corporation laws 
(4) Mode 3 limited to Federal territory of Labuan  
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat 
 S/C/W/318 
Page 32  
 
  ANNEX IV 
 
International Bar Association
 
Resolution in support of a System of terminology for legal services  
for the purposes of international trade negotiations  
 
 The International Bar Association:  seeking to uphold the Rule of Law; 
 
noting the resolution passed by the Council in 1998 on General Principles for the Establishment and 
Regulation of Foreign Lawyers ; 
 noting also that, within the framework of the Doha Round,  international trade negotiations are taking 
place on the subject of cross-border legal practice; 
 reaffirming its commitment to further liberalisation of  regulations affecting crossborder legal 
practice;  believing that there should be a neutral framework with in which such negotiations should take place; 
 
believing also that an appropriate system of terminology is one which: 
 
• is consistent with the core values of the legal profession; 
• provides a solid, neutral foundation for negotiations so that ambiguity and 
uncertainty are minimised; 
• facilitates those negotiations without pre- determining the negotiated outcome;  and 
• assists in minimising disputes over what has actually been agreed through 
negotiation; 
 
recognising that the elements of such a system may be used in formulating either commitments or 
reservations to commitments within the framework of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, 
and expressing no view as to which of the two a pproaches will more fully achieve the objectives 
described above; 
 
recognising as well the role of law firms in cross-border legal practice, and reserving for further 
consideration the question whether additional standa rd terminology may facilitate negotiations on this 
important issue;  noting finally that the WTO Secretariat has reported that:  "As the UN CPC classification in this 
sector did not reflect the reality of trade in le gal services, Members have preferred to adopt the 
following distinctions in scheduling GATS commitm ents, 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.  "
1 
                                                      
1 World Trade Organisation Council for Trade in Services Background Note by the Secretariat 
S/C/W/43, 6 July 1998.    S/C/W/318 
 Page 33 
 
 
   
RESOLVES to recommend that the following system of terminology be used for 
such purposes:  
(a) Home-country law 
 
(i) advisory services (ii) representation services 
 (b) Third-country law 
 
(i) advisory services (ii) representation services 
 (c) Host-country law 
 
(i) advisory services (ii) representation services 
 (d) International law  
(i) advisory services 
(ii) representation services 
 (e) International arbitration and mediation services.    
RESOLVES FURTHER that the forgoing terminology should  be understood in accordance with and 
qualified by the definitions set out in  the schedule to these resolutions, and 
 RESOLVES FINALLY to invite all members of the World Trade Organization to adopt this 
terminology for the purposes of negotia tions on trade in legal services.   S/C/W/318 
Page 34  
 
  SCHEDULE
 
 
(a) "Home country " means, with reference to a particular lawyer, any country in the territory of 
which such lawyer is fully qualified and author ized to engage in the provision of legal 
services involving application and interpretation of the domestic laws of such country, and 
"Home country law" means the domestic law of such Home country.   
 (b) "Host country " means, with reference to a particular  lawyer, any country, other than a Home 
country, in the territory of which such lawyer provides legal services, and "Host country law" 
means the domestic law of such Host country.   
 
(c) "Third country " means, with reference to a particular  lawyer providing legal services in the 
territory of a Host country, any other country which is not a Home country of such lawyer, and "Third country law" means the domestic law of such Third country.   
 
(d) "International law " means law established by internationa l treaties and conventions as well as 
customary law.   
 (e) "Advisory services " includes: 
 
(i) provision of advice to and consultation with clients in matters, including 
transactions, relationships and disputes, invol ving the application or interpretation of 
the specified body of law;  (ii) participation with or on be half of clients in negotia tions and other dealings 
with third parties in such matters;  and  
 
(iii) preparation of documents governed in w hole or in part by the specified body 
of law, and the verification of documents of any kind for purposes of and in accordance with the requirements of the specified body of law; 
 (f) " Representation services " includes: 
 
(i) preparation of documents intended to be  submitted to courts, administrative 
agencies, and other duly constituted official tribunals in matters involving the application and interpretation of the specified body of law;  and   
(ii) appearance before courts, administrative agencies, and other duly constituted 
official tribunals in matters involving the application and interpretation of the specified body of law.   
 (g) " International arbitration and mediation services " includes: 
 
(i) serving as an arbitrator in any dispute involving parties from two or more 
countries, without regard to the body or bodies of law that may ultimately be 
determined to have a bearing on the dispute;  (ii) serving as a mediator in attempts to resolve any such dispute;  and  
 
(iii) preparation of documents to be submitte d to, preparation for and appearance 
before, arbitrators, or mediators in any such dispute.    
_______________  S/C/W/318 
 Page 35 
 
 
  ANNEX V 
 
International Bar Association  
Resolution of Transfer of Skills and Liberalization of Trade in Legal Services  
 
 
WHEREAS the IBA Council in 1998 and in the year s thereafter has adopted several resolutions all 
aiming at providing guidance for, and facilitating, the liberalization of cross-border legal services, 
which are of ever growing importance for the global economy;  
WHEREAS among these is a resolution adopting a "Statement of General Principles for the 
Establishment and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers" in  which certain terms are defined, and such terms 
when used in capitalized form herein  have the meanings as so defined; 
 WHEREAS a number of countries, in particular Devel oping Countries as referred to in Article IV of 
the General Agreement on Trade in Services (the "GA TS"), so far have not been willing to open their 
legal services markets to Foreign Lawyers or have done  so only to a limited extent, in particular as 
regards scope of practice rights and scope of rights of association with Local Lawyers;  WHEREAS the IBA Council recognises that lawyers ha ve certain responsibilities to the legal system 
and to society regardless of where they practice; 
 
WHEREAS these responsibilities relate inter alia to the standards of skill and competence of lawyers 
required in order effectively to serve the needs of ju stice and the rule of law and thus may encompass, 
inter alia, the transfer of skills relating to substa ntive legal practice and law firm management ("Skills 
Transfer"); 
 
WHEREAS the extent and the modalities of Skills Tran sfer in cross-border legal services by Foreign 
Lawyers in a given Host Jurisdiction necessarily de pend, inter alia, on the extent to which Foreign 
Lawyers in such Host Jurisdiction are permitted to practice law and to associate with Local Lawyers; 
 WHEREAS a regime permitting the association of  Foreign Lawyers with Local Lawyers likely 
provides the most efficient and effective means of  Skills Transfer by permitting Local Lawyers to 
work with more experienced Foreign Lawyers with in the same firm, thus enabling them to gain 
practical experience and substantive knowledge in a way that would otherwise be impermissible due 
to the risk of breach of confidentiality;  
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by way of supplement to (and without modification or 
limitation of) the Resolutions by IBA Council referre d to in the first preambular paragraph above: 
 (1) Countries that so far have not been willing to  open their legal services market to Foreign 
Lawyers, or that have done so to a limited ex tent only as regards the scope of practice rights 
or rights of association with Local Lawyers, may wish to grant Foreign Lawyers access to 
their legal services market, or to reduce or rem ove any existing restrictions on such access, 
subject to one or both of the following conditions: 
  (A) A Foreign Lawyer who is permitted to practice through an establishment in a Host 
Jurisdiction may be required by the Host Authority to participate, directly or 
indirectly, in the provision of formal conti nuing legal education and training programs 
sponsored or approved by the Host Author ity or other bodies responsible for the 
development of the legal profession of the Host Jurisdiction and open to Local Lawyers generally.   
 S/C/W/318 
Page 36  
 
   (B) A Foreign Lawyer who is permitted to practice through an establishment in a Host 
Jurisdiction in association with Local Lawy ers may be required, in the course of 
his/her practice, to provide, directly or i ndirectly, individual training and mentoring in 
relevant legal skills and disciplines, as well as supervised work experience, to Local 
Lawyers with whom the Foreign Lawyer practices in such association.   
 
(2) In order to be consistent with the general principles of the GATS, any regime adopted by a 
Host Authority for the purpose of implementing Skills Transfer as contemplated by Paragraphs (1)(A) and (1)(B) of this resolution wo uld need to be:  (i) transparent;  (ii) not 
unreasonably burdensome;  (iii) non-discriminator y as between Foreign Lawyers and (iv) not 
adopted or designed for the purpose of cons tituting an obstacle to the establishment of 
Foreign Lawyers in the Host Jurisdiction.   
 (3) Any measures taken pursuant to Paragraph (1 )(A) of this resolution should not require a 
Foreign Lawyer to disclose information that is  proprietary or confidential to the Foreign 
Lawyer, his/her firm or any client.   
   
_______________ 
  
  S/C/W/318 
 Page 37 
 
 
  ANNEX VI 
 
Union Internationale des Avocats  
UIA Standards for Lawyers Establishing a Legal Practice outside their Home Country  
 
 
(As approved by the Governing Board of the Uni on Internationale des Avocats on August 29, 2001 
for circulation and comment) 
 
 Everywhere in the world, citizens and others subj ect to the rule of law must have available the 
possibility of recourse to the services of an indepe ndent lawyer. The lawyer undertakes representation 
of clients before the courts as we ll as legal consulting in the nationa l and international legal system. 
  Representation before the courts, and legal consultancy, require the existence of and 
compliance with rules of ethics and fundamental va lues. These rules and fundame ntal values, in their 
essence, know no legal boundaries – regional differences in substantive law being no obstacle to the 
universality of the role of the lawyer. The ethical ru les and fundamental values of the lawyer have as 
their foundation loyalty, independence and absolute  respect of the confidences and secrets of the 
client and of the rules prohibiting conflicts of inter est. The rules also carry with them an obligation of 
competence. The respect of these ethical rules and principles must be overseen and enforced by an 
independent authority. 
  The possibility of a transnational legal prac tice by the lawyer, or an international legal 
practice, must not be limited to the detriment of clients as long as the ethical rules and fundamental 
values of the legal profession are respected and assured. However, the obligation of competence and 
regional differences in the substance of local laws could justify some restri ctions on international 
legal practice.   Consequently, and in order to better inform  the public, international organizations and 
governments regarding the role of the lawyer an d the social values which must be preserved and 
respected in connection with international legal pr actice, the Union Internationale des Avocats adopts 
these Standards and encourages their circulation to all interested persons. 
 
STANDARDS 
 1. Definitions
 
(a) "International legal practice" means the provision of legal services on a continuing 
basis by a foreign lawyer participating in a law firm which has been established in a 
host country other than the foreign lawyer's home country. 
(b) "Home country" means the country or a subdivision thereof in which the foreign 
lawyer has met all legal requirements to practice law including membership in the 
bar, bar association or law society which re gulates the practice of law in that country 
or subdivision. 
(c) "Host country" means the country in whic h has been established a law firm which 
offers or intends to offer legal services from a foreign lawyer to persons in that 
country. 
(d) "Law firm" means a partnership, corpora tion or other economic enterprise including 
one or more lawyers who offer legal services to clients other than their employer in 
exchange for fees. The law firm must re gularly use a location in the host country S/C/W/318 
Page 38  
 
  from which it offers or provides its services to host country residents, or there must 
be substantial evidence that it actively s eeks persons in the host country as potential 
clients at such a location in order for the host country to regulate the activities of the 
law firm and its lawyers as envisaged under this statement. 
(e) "Foreign lawyer" means a lawyer, barrister, solicitor or its equivalent in any country 
who is authorized to render legal services by  the bar (or its equivalent) in his or her 
home country but who is not fully licensed to practice or otherwise authorized to render legal services in the host country in the same manner as host country lawyers who are fully licensed members of the bar, bar association or law society of the host 
country. 
(f) "Public international law" means the law governing relations between states, 
including the treaties, rules and regulations concerning the creation and operation of international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Trade 
Organization, but not dispute resolution in volving the interests of specific private 
parties conducted under rules and regulati ons of such multilateral organizations. 
 
2. Role of the Lawyer
.  Lawyers are by definition part of the legal system in very country. As 
direct participants in the system of justice, la wyers ensure and maintain the quality of the legal 
system. Lawyers also play a critical role as counsellor and assistant in accomplishing many 
commercial and civil transactions. However, client s of lawyers must be viewed not only as possible 
participants in a commercial transaction, but also  and more importantly as citizens who are to be 
informed, counseled, aided and defended by lawyer s who, in so doing, are ensuring the efficient 
operation of the justice system. 
3. Fundamental Social Values . The following social values are of primary importance and 
deserving of special recognition in order to preserve the quality and efficiency of the system of justice in host countries:  
(a) Free Choice of Lawyer
.  A person in a host country should be free to choose a lawyer 
of his, her or its choice for consultation on legal matters and/or for legal proceedings 
in its courts or administrative agencies . However, the host country may choose to 
require that foreign lawyers engaged in inte rnational legal practice who wish to offer 
services in areas other than their home country law and public international law demonstrate, by legal education or otherwise,  that they provide the same assurances to 
host country clients as do host country lawyers, without regard to nationality.  
Membership in the host country bar, bar association or law society, entitling the 
foreign lawyer to render legal services in the host country in the same manner, and subject to the same burdens, as host country lawyers, should be available to foreign 
lawyers who otherwise meet the requiremen ts for membership, without regard to 
nationality. 
(b) Loyalty and independence
.  Persons in a host country should be confident of the 
loyalty and independent judgment of any lawy er engaged to serve in the host country, 
since the combination of these characteristi cs in the lawyer is commonly considered 
to be the necessary foundation of the lawy er-client relationship. Therefore, a host 
country should require that any foreign la wyer desiring to engage in international 
legal practice in the host country avoid conflic ts of interest in order not to call into 
question the foreign lawyer's loyalty to the client in the host country.  S/C/W/318 
 Page 39 
 
 
  (c) Professional Secret/Privilege .  Since the justice system ope rates efficiently only when 
clients can communicate their private matters without fear of disclosure, a host country client of a foreign lawyer should be  entitled to the protection of the attorney-
client privilege and/or the professional secret  to the same extent and for the same 
purposes as govern the attorney-client pr ivilege and/or professional secret in 
connection with legal services provided by a host country lawyer. A foreign lawyer 
desiring to provide legal services in the host country must commit to take all necessary steps in order to ensu re the host country client of the full application of the 
attorney-client privilege and/or professiona l secret, as the case may be, to no lesser 
degree than would be the case if the matte r were handled by a host country lawyer. 
Any derogation from this requirement should onl y be permitted if the client, after full 
communication of the consequences, consents  to the derogation and then only if the 
client is fully capable of understanding the nature and extent of the derogation and the 
derogation is not contrary to the public policy of the host country. 
(d) Confidentiality
.  To the extent that confidentiality is required of host country lawyers, 
foreign lawyers should be obligated to abide by the same rules in order to meet the 
expectations of host country clients. Accord ingly, foreign lawyers should be required 
to take all necessary steps to ensure that confidential information of a client in the 
host country is maintained as confidential to the same extent as with host country 
lawyers.   
(e) Competence.   A host country client should be entitled to presume that a foreign 
lawyer engaged in international legal prac tice is competent to provide the services 
offered. A foreign lawyer should not attempt to practice any law in which the lawyer is not properly qualified or trained, by ed ucation or otherwise. Any foreign lawyer 
who engages in international legal practice in the host country should be treated as 
having warranted to every client in the host country that the services he or she 
provides will be competent in connection with the matter for which the lawyer was 
engaged. 
(f) Advertising
. A person in the host country should be entitled to accurate information 
about the legal services to be provided by a foreign lawyer. Accordingly, if advertising of legal services is permitted in the host country, a host country should 
require that a foreign lawyer engaged in international legal practice undertake not to 
engage in any false or misleading advertis ing of legal services to persons in the host 
county. 
(g) Holding out as lawyer
.  Persons in a host country shoul d be able to easily determine 
the status and role of a foreign lawyer engaged in international legal practice. 
Therefore, the host country should require an y such foreign lawyer to use the same 
title as is used in the foreign lawyer's home country (without translation except as 
necessary to make the characters readable  in the host country language); and to 
identify and explain any restrictions on the ri ght of the foreign lawyer to render legal 
services in the host country. Any foreign lawyer who identifies, by the use of a business card, curriculum vitae or otherwise, hi s or her legal educa tion, or a university 
or higher degree in law or membership in a bar, bar association or law society as one 
of his or her qualifications to render servi ces should be automatically deemed to be 
engaged in offering legal services in the host country and required to comply with this 
standard. 
4. Compliance with host country ethical rules
.  Host country clients should be assured that those 
who provide legal services in the host country are subject to the same ethical rules as host country S/C/W/318 
Page 40  
 
  lawyers, in order to avoid confusion and potential loss of rights. Therefore, foreign lawyers engaged 
in international legal practice must be subjected to and undertake to comply with all relevant ethical 
rules applicable to host country lawyers. 
5. Registration
.  In order to adequately audit and control the services provided by foreign 
lawyers in a host country, and in order to assure ho st country clients of compliance with applicable 
standards, the host country should require that any foreign lawyer who engages in international legal 
practice in the host country register with the bar, bar association, law society or other institution under 
host country law having primary responsibility for the regulation of legal servic es in the host country. 
Such registration should require that all necessary information about the foreign lawyer and any 
economic enterprise with which the foreign lawyer is  affiliated be filed with the regulatory authority 
in order that the necessary actions can be taken to  determine and enforce compliance with applicable 
standards. 
6. Form of Economic Enterprise .  The host country should pe rmit foreign lawyers who are 
otherwise lawfully engaged in international lega l practice in the host country to establish or be 
employed by any form of economic enterprise for the practice of law which is permitted to a host 
country lawyer. In order to protect persons in th e host country from confusion or unintended loss of 
rights, the host country should condition the re ndering of legal services by lawyers in a 
multidisciplinary practice upon compliance by its lawyers with the Resolution on UIA-Recommended 
Minimum Standards for Multidisciplinary Practice as adopted by the Union Internationale des 
Avocats on November 3, 1999. 
7. Integration of Foreign and Host Country Lawyers .  The increasing integration of economies 
across the globe means that lawyers, in order to best perform their services, should take into account 
both the laws, practices and methods of the host count ry and the laws, practices and methods of other 
countries which may be relevant to a legal matter in  the host country. Therefore, a law firm with 
foreign lawyers engaged in international legal pr actice should incorporate host country lawyers into 
its practice, directly or indirectly, in order that  its clients receive the full benefit of host country 
lawyer expertise. Host country law firms should e ndeavor to ensure that the services of foreign 
lawyers are available in the host country in appropria te cases in order that their clients receive the full 
benefit of foreign lawyer expertise. 
 
 
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