Between Diffusion and Distinctiveness in Globalization: U.S. Law Firms Go Glocal

There is widespread agreement that law firms have embraced globalization, but what this means and why it matters are subjects still cloaked with uncertainty. In this article, the researchers consider some questions as they apply to US law firms, and offer a new lens to interpret the role of globaliz...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Georgetown journal of legal ethics 2009-10, Vol.22 (4), p.1431
Main Authors: Silver, Carole, Phelan, Nicole De Bruin, Rabinowitz, Mikaela
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agreements
Attorneys
Globalization
Law firms
Studies
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:There is widespread agreement that law firms have embraced globalization, but what this means and why it matters are subjects still cloaked with uncertainty. In this article, the researchers consider some questions as they apply to US law firms, and offer a new lens to interpret the role of globalization in the activities of law firms and their lawyers. They begin with a review of the way globalization affects businesses generally before turning to law firms. Early research on globalization, apart from a specific consideration of law firms, has tended to fall into one of two competing camps: the diffusion or cross-national convergence paradigm, or the national distinctiveness paradigm. The national distinctiveness paradigm takes the opposite view of globalization. An opposite approach to diffusion with regard to law firms and globalization -- one that would be characteristic of a national distinctiveness paradigm -- would be a model that exclusively emphasizes the local.
ISSN:1041-5548