Ethical Codes and Cultural Context: Ensuring Legal Ethics in the Global Law Firm

There are doubtless many practical and professional problems that arise in the global legal practice, but this paper suggests that not least of these are issues of legal ethics, in part generated by the global context and not easily amenable to resolution by reference to any single code within the “home” or “host” jurisdiction. For example, there may be difficulties in isolating precisely what those ethical obligations might comprise. These obligations might be rooted in the requirements of local law, but they might arise equally from the values and expectations of the client, or from other lawyers whether inside or outside of the firm in question. The common expectation of regulatory control exercised by a professional bar may be replaced by a fluidity in which clearly defined rules and duties are not easily discernible. The questions that this paper seeks to answer are: How might lawyers best be provided with and follow ethical approaches appropriate to the delivery of global legal services, and what is the role that firms might play in achieving this?