Lawyers, Globalization, and Transnational Governance Regimes

Abstract

The global law firm has become a significant actor in the provision of legal services in multiple countries. Although this reflects a response to increasing demand for these services by transnational companies, lawyers in these firms also help further the process of globalization that fuels such demand. One arena in which this occurs is the construction of transnational governance regimes that harmonize standards and expectations with respect to a variety of business activities. These regimes may be based on two different visions of the globalization process. One vision is of markets increasingly unfettered by national regulation, while another is of widely accepted human rights that impose common constraints on business activities. This article surveys the literature on transnational governance regimes and the work of transnational corporate lawyers to illuminate these dynamics, and suggests that further research on this topic can provide insight into how lawyers contribute to the globalization process.