TY - JOUR
T1 - Global Law Firms in Real-World Contexts: Practical Limitations and Ethical Implications
AU - Darian-Smith, Eve
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - This article argues that despite the rise in the numbers of global law firms in recent years, the future of these firms should not be assumed given escalating levels of economic (and legal) uncertainty. These uncertainties are the result, in part, of growing global and regional conflicts, terrorism, environmental degradation, pandemics, forced migrations, trade embargoes and so on which are in turn linked to global inequalities and disparities of wealth between and within the global south and global north. It is argued that global law firms, as the “lubricators of global capitalismâ€, should pay attention to the localized real-world impacts of finance, development and trade that their legal work enables. This is important not only to ensure the future security and revenues of global law firms, but more importantly to ensure democratic aspirations and the stability of democratic institutions around the world.
AB - This article argues that despite the rise in the numbers of global law firms in recent years, the future of these firms should not be assumed given escalating levels of economic (and legal) uncertainty. These uncertainties are the result, in part, of growing global and regional conflicts, terrorism, environmental degradation, pandemics, forced migrations, trade embargoes and so on which are in turn linked to global inequalities and disparities of wealth between and within the global south and global north. It is argued that global law firms, as the “lubricators of global capitalismâ€, should pay attention to the localized real-world impacts of finance, development and trade that their legal work enables. This is important not only to ensure the future security and revenues of global law firms, but more importantly to ensure democratic aspirations and the stability of democratic institutions around the world.
U2 - 10.4236/blr.2015.61010
DO - 10.4236/blr.2015.61010
M3 - Article
VL - 6
SP - 92
EP - 101
JO - Beijing Law Review
JF - Beijing Law Review
ER -