POSITION PAPER FOR LEGAL SERVICES

Access to lawyers and law firms with relevant expertise greatly facilitates the growth of world

trade, related foreign direct investment in developed as well as developing nations, and

cooperative ventures that cross national borders.  Lawyers and law firms are also essential for

access to capital markets.  Individuals and business organizations participating in these trans 

national economic activities thus quite rationally prefer to obtain legal advice, consultation and

assistance from lawyers with relevant experience and expertise.  They often prefer to use lawyers

and firms with which they are familiar, and in general benefit from having a range of competitive

choices for legal assistance.

In short, relaxation of restrictions on foreign lawyers and firms would promote economic

development.

The agreement on legal services should ensure that individual lawyers and law firms are

permitted to create and maintain their professional establishments in host countries.  A lawyer or

law firm should be permitted to perform services regarding matters with respect to which the

lawyer or law firm is authorized to practice law and render advice in the lawyer's or law firm's

home country.  The host country should not restrict the manner in which a lawyer associates with

other lawyers or with host country lawyers.

Foreign lawyers should be permitted to organize their practice jointly as a branch of the firm or

in any business form which is used in the host country by host country lawyers.  A lawyer should

be permitted to practice law and to render advice under the lawyer's own name or other entity

with which the lawyer is associated.  A lawyer should also be permitted to use in the host

country the professional title used by the lawyer in the home country, with reference to the home

jurisdiction of admission.  Countries should ensure that their registration authorities process

applications for registration fairly and act in a reasonable period of time.

The CSI Legal Services Committee recommends the following Negotiation Proposal for any

agreement on trade in legal services.

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