PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

-BY ARCHANA KUMARI

10 NOV 2023

IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON LEGAL PROFESSION

ARIZ ABU QAIS

7TH SEM
A46011120014
 IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON LEGAL
PROFESSION

ABSTRACT
According to the Law Commission of India, legal education is a kind of science
that imparts knowledge to the students about certain principles and provisions of
law enabling them to enter into the legal profession. By gaining knowledge in
legal education the student becomes the future judge, lawyer, counsellor,
administrator, and advisor and they come to know how the legislative, executive,
and judicial organs of government actually operate. Legal education helps to
rationally handle conflicts and settle non-violently disputes. Globalization has
gained attention in the last two decades.
India is a developing nation. Globalization has increased the legal service demand
with changes in socio-economic conditions.
One has to understand the functioning of the international institutions as there is
increasing trade and investment across borders. The law students, judges,
lawyers, etc. have a lot of opportunities to collaborate, interact and also learn a
lot from each other's experiences. Globalization and the advancement in internet
services have brought about a tremendous change in our lives and Constitutional
Court's decision can be freely accessible through their websites. Globalization
has also brought an impact on the noble profession of law by permitting law
professionals from every corner of the world to contact each other and to increase
the horizon of their knowledge. India is the second-largest country in the world
which has approximately 6 lakh lawyers.
This research paper deals with the Indian scenario consisting of global changes
required in the legal profession, the impact of globalization on the justice system,
challenges faced in the legal system in India, challenges faced globally, impact
of the World Trade Organization and Globalization.

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 INTRODUCTION
A profound revolution is taking place in the legal profession due to globalization.
Globalization involves a lot of participation, and many countries are involved in
the legal profession and also there is excess to the domestic economies.
Globalization has brought about a lot of changes in the teaching of law students,
training of the advocates, the professional skills of the advocates are honed to
meet the challenges which have been put forward by globalization and the
universalization of law. The standard of the legal industry has increased and it
requires the lawyers to be capable of handling all kinds of cases.
There are three prime movers which cause globalization, they are political
globalization, economic globalization and technological globalization.
Globalization brings together the people in the world to come closer and give rise
to a new system of global governance and also a global civil society.
Globalization has an effect on the legal profession which has increased the pace
and complexity of law practice.
Globalization has increased the mobility of lawyers with proper legal skills and
experience. In major financial centres of the world, lawyers are practicing in
offshore law firms. Within India, domestic lawyers can practice in the law firms
here and litigation lawyers can work in arbitration or non-litigation work.
There is the establishment of joint law ventures and law alliances which has given
a lot of scope for the young lawyers to take advantage of the benefits of the
onshore law practice and integrated offshore law practice, in remuneration and
acquisition of legal skills and experience and cutting-edge legal works. They are
flocking towards these firms. Nowadays the law firms are much more efficient
which is due to an inevitable product of new technology and new approaches to
office management. India is trying to liberalize its services in the legal sector
creating a positive impact on the judicial service.

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 GLOBAL CHANGES IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION
It is not very rational to cling to the old. It is necessary to intensify interest in law
schools in the teaching of legal ethics. It is not just training in the provision of the
professional statute, rules of etiquette, book-keeping and trust account
requirements which are been offered at the end of the law course in few lectures.
It is basically incusing all the law teaching by considering ethical quandaries
which can be presented to lawyers during the course of their professional life. In
this manner, the law schools will provide students with guidance on ethical issues
and professional responsibility which they face as they enter the profession.
Teaching ethics can not be avoided by law teachers just by teaching the law
teachers to incorporate lawyering and also the conduct of the legal profession.
The images of law and lawyering are created by teaching doctrine through cases
and hypotheticals. As per Professor Ross Cranston1, technical rules can be left to
the practical course and it is the responsibility of all law teachers to pay attention
to the ethical underpinning of legal practice. The students must be sensitized to
the ethical problems which practitioners face by resolving the issues and exposing
them to wider issues like the unmet need for legal services.
Huge changes have taken place in international trade due to globalization.
Different countries take part in international trade and as a result, they access
domestic services. Our environment has changed a lot over the past few years, as
a result, law students must be more proficient in their work. The training given to
them should meet the requirements of the changing environment.
The Court of Law supervises the legal professional conduct and must also uphold
high standards of faithfulness, honesty, competence, diligence and dispassionate
legal advice and legal representation. When a large number of fundamental are

1
In the book legal ethics and professor responsiblity

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doubted, questioned or rejected, the ethics of the legal profession must not be
doubted by some of its members and attacked by the critics.
New subjects with international dimensions have been introduced in legal
education. There is a lot of investment in the growing economies and the business
activities have increased internationally. Leading to the creation of more
opportunities for lawyers. In this scenario the additional roles are required in
policy planning, business advisor, negotiator among groups of people, mediator,
law reformers, etc. which demands specialized knowledge and skills which are
not generally available in the existing profession. These challenges were
perceived before the end of the Cold War and the most modest response was the
five-year integrated program of education in law.
The NLSUs establishment was to improve the quality of the bar and also the
subordinate judiciary but it is seen that the merit students from the law schools
are opting for law firms and corporate houses than opting for bar and subordinate
judiciary. The quality of legal services cannot be improved unless the students are
opting for bar, subordinate judiciary and academics.
There is a lot of competition among the international firms due to which a lot of
legal issues are emerging in the corporate environment. Legal education for the
companies which are involved in international business is a must so that they are
not on the wrong side of the dynamic international legal structure. The markets
which are emerging requires standardize legal services as many partnerships,
mergers and also ventures feel that they require parties involved to have some
legal structures to carry out their agreements in their business. The structure of
one's country has to be adjusted so that it gives way for internationally accepted
legal practices.

GLOBALIZATION ON THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

The delivery of justice to nations around the world has been affected by
globalization. It spreads the legal developments going on in the world for example

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the development of laws, concepts relating to human rights, intellectual property
rights, competition laws, media laws, etc. the economies of the nation are linked
due to globalization which has neither geographical nor territorial connections.
India has opened up its economy by removing the controls during the Economic
Liberalization due to which the Indian market faces competition from within and
outside the country. So, there was the need to have strong legislation which could
dispense justice in commercial matters and led to the Competition Act, 2002. The
Competition Commission of India is a quasi-judicial body that was established
for enforcing provisions of the competition act.
The laws developed relating to Human Rights around the world provides an
insight as to how globalization has made its impact on delivering the justice-
related to Human Right laws. There are various conventions and conferences
taking place internationally to deal with human rights violations and also to
improve the conditions of human beings and their dignity around the world.

CHALLENGES FACED GLOBALLY

The advent of multinationals in India has made the task of lawyers highly
technical and imperative. There is a need to have competent lawyers trained in
the right legal education as many multinational companies have established
themselves in India.
So, they must work as per the international requirements as per the demand of the
companies as the scenario is unstable. Legal education must prepare the
upcoming lawyers to meet the new challenges of working in the globalized
knowledge economy.
The faculty of law must support the students in the subject in a manner that the
students of the new era have a broad and should adapt to the challenging situation
provided or faced by them. The need for legal education should be the center of
the focus and the curriculum should be reformed. The globalization of the legal
profession has changed the entire method of law teaching and the legal profession

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in India. According to the need of the hour, there are some changes that have to
be made. There is a need to develop an Independent Rating System based on
certain agreed criteria to access the standard of all the law teaching institutions so
as to ensure uniformity in the quality of academics throughout the country. The
recognition given to the law colleges can either be granted or withdrawn on the
basis of these ratings. The ratings of the law schools must be annually revised,
updated regularly and must be available for the public to be aware of it.
The curriculum of law must give an integrated knowledge of information and
technology, public health, biodiversity, environmental sciences, biotechnology,
ocean and marine sciences and also it should be related to other subjects. The law
should be related to the issues of the contemporary world and the student should
be given free hand choice to choose the subject to conduct research work.
The present examination system must be received and the method of evaluation
should be developed. The test must be encouraging communication, analytical
and writing skills. It should be more application based than rote learning. For
improving the quality of the exam more project work, research work should be
given, the presentation must be encouraged, subject viva should be taken.
For a lawyer dealing with the global economy, the knowledge of a foreign
language is a must. Law students should be given the opportunity to learn a
foreign language. They develop skills in such a manner that they are able to apply
the knowledge of the law to the given situation. They should be able to deal with
long hours of working. If an individual's academic or professional credentials are
excellent then there should be flexibility to appoint them as law teachers without
having an LLM degree.
The legal education system of India must run according to the global needs like
to have improved infrastructure consisting of various facilities like revised
curriculum, national-international training programs, research-based studies, etc.
This new era demands committed and dedicated law teachers who can create

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skilful, hardworking and innovative legal minds whether they are judges, lawyers,
advocates, jurists, etc.

INDIAN SCENARIO
India permitted foreigners to compete in Indian markets very late as they were
ruled by foreigners for a long period. If at that time India had not restricted the
entry of foreigners there would be a lot of risk of colonization again. In 1991, the
Government of India welcomed foreign manufactures and also foreign
professionals in the country. Globalization slowly and steadily took the Indian
markets by storm and it entered into the different sectors of the market. It has
increased the complexity of the legal profession. During this time the Indian
lawyers had no option but had to adapt themselves to the situations in a swift
manner so as to take full advantage of this opportunity. Legal professionals who
were unaware of the changes and were not able to cope up with the pressure were
much behind in the competition. Globalization brought new work for the
fraternity of law when new economic policies and regulations were needed to be
accommodated from the earlier 'closed economy'2. The last decade can be
considered as a 'miniature revolution' for the corporate sector of the Indian legal
fraternity as there was an increase in the work of the lawyers in the different fields
like finance division, patent protection, tax department of corporate firms, etc.
Globalization permitted foreign companies and inventors to export their
technology to India. It allowed the domestic law firms to be a partner with foreign
firms in some cases. It provided an opportunity for individual practitioners to
work with firms outside India. The young graduates of law are benefited a lot
from the beginning of their career as they are having a lot of opportunities opened
for training themselves to work on projects onshore and offshore around the
world3. Lawyers are seeking jobs more in the corporate sector than entering into

2
David B. Wilkins, The Indian Legal Profession in the Age of GlobalizaAon, The PracAce (2017).
3
ShruA Garg and Aviral Saxen, GlobalisaAon and Legal Profession, Legal Service India

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the litigation field as they feel that there is more opportunity to professionally
grow in the corporate sector in comparison to a career in litigation. The Indian
courts are not permitting foreign litigators to work fully.
A lot of effort is been put by India into the services of the legal profession to
permit foreign lawyers and also the firms to find their place in India. Many Indian
firms have opened their branches in a foregin country. This benefits the lawyer
bby giving them a large scope and coverage of the different aspects of the law.
The legal research skills of the lawyers must be such that they meet the goals and
the amis of the constitution of India.
Lawyers are also providing services to consumers in the legal sector. If any
consumer has any issues then they can hold the lawyer accountable for it.
According to the Srinath V. Union of India4 case, the Madras High Court held that
to deal with claims of advocates, Consumer Redressal Forum will have
jurisdiction according to Section 3 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The
laws related to trade are a matter of subject where a lot of concern should be given
to the consumers.
Globalization has boosted international trade and commerce by facilitating the
movement of labour, product, capital and services across national borders.
Thereby increasing the economic process which would require trained legal
professionals. It demands a very good legal practitioner. The present lawyer must
be very much skilled in the trade and should have authority on the law as a
specialized domain whether he is a criminal defence attorney or corporate
professional. The legal professionals working in world purchasers should be able
to work themselves during foreign language and should be well versed in
international norms. Legal corporations are attuning themselves to global
practices to fulfil the needs of clients all over the world.

4
Srinath V. Union of India, AIR 1996 MAD 427

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The legal firms are taking the globalization route by merging with their larger
counterparts, creating acquisitions and stepping into strategic alliances.
Globalization is reshaping the demand for legal services as the economies of
India, Brazil and China is increasing. Nowadays virtual law firms are increasing.
Virtual law firms help a lawyer to work in versatile hours and can foster work-
life balance among the legal professionals. This facility helps the purchasers to
avail highly skilled legal services from any part of the world. The legal method
outsourcing sector (LPO) has also developed in the legal arena. Here the legal
corporations which are established offshore operate in locations that are
affordable to cost, increase the flexibility and also expands the capabilities.
Today new corporate legal elite lawyers working in law firms serving as clientele
of foreign and domestic corporations, also lawyers working in the internal legal
department of the multinational companies have increased in size and is having a
lot of importance in the global world. In India, there are countless languages,
different religions and also there is regional diversity which is making the reform
in the legal sector more difficult and critical.

CONSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE
The matters pertaining to education is in the State list that is in the seventh
schedule of the Constitution of India. But now it gives concurrent legislative
powers to the Union and the States in List III, legal profession also comes in List
III. In respect of the legal profession, Parliament enacted the Advocates Act,
1961. So as to have uniformity in the system of legal practitioners as advocates
and provided for setting up the bar council of India and in States, State Bar
Councils. As per Section 7(1)(h)5 of the Advocates Act, 1961 India's Bar council
has the power to fix the minimum academic standard as a precondition for
commencement of studies in law.

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FuncAons of the Bar Council of India.

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Under Section 7(1)(i) of the Advocates Act, 1961, the Bar Council of India also
has the power to recognize the law Universities whose degree in law should be
considered as the qualification for enrollment as an advocate and for this purpose
they must regularly inspect the University.
The provisions of the Advocates Act, 1961 and BCI Regulation are very strict.
Section 246 of Advocates Act, 1961 states that only those advocates can practice
law who are recognized under the Act and the person should be qualified as an
advocate on State roll. If the person is an Indian citizen and has got the law decree
from BCI recognized University. A National of another country according to this
act may be permitted to practice law in that country. Section 337 of Advocates
Act, 1961 states that no person shall on or after the appointed date, be entitled to
practice law unless he is enrolled as an advocate under this act.
Since 1995 the foreign law firms were subject to controversy. When firms like
White and Case and Chadbourne and Parke of Us and Ashurst of UK were
allowed to set up liaison offices in India, they were granted to start liaison activity
under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 and they were not allowed to
actively participate in the legal practices. In 1955 the Lawyers Collective, which
is a public interest set up by advocates move to the Bombay High Court
challenging the right of foreign law firms to practice law in India that is practicing
law should include not only appearing as a pleader before the Court but also
drafting legal documents and advising the client. The Central Government said
that Advocates Act prevents foreign lawyers from practicing law in the Court and
from giving advice to clients.
In 2009 Bombay High Court held that foreign law firms and lawyers could
establish their offices in India only on condition that they have been enrolled as
advocates under the Advocates Act, 1961. In February 2012 the Madras High
Court held that unless the foreign law firms and foreign lawyers fulfil the

6
Specifies the qualificaAons of a person enAtled to be enrolled into the Bar
7
Advocates alone enAtle to pracAce

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requirements of the Bar Council of India Rules and The Advocates Act they can
not practice law in India, neither on litigation nor on non-litigation. They could
on a fly-in and fly-out basis visit India to advise clients on foreign law. No
restriction was there against their visiting India for conducting arbitration
proceedings in disputes involving international commercial arbitration.
The Hon'ble Supreme Court recently held that foreign law firms can neither open
offices nor practice in the country but the foreign lawyers were permitted to come
to India on a fly-in and fly-out basis for giving legal advice to the client on
Foreign Law.

CHALLENGES FACED IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN INDIA

Though globalization has caused a drastic change in the legal profession there are
certain difficulties faced in the legal sector due to globalization in India.
Universities of India must widen their connections internationally by organizing
programs. There should be student exchange programs with foreign countries and
the education provided should be having the norms and the standards equal to the
Universities abroad. The span of education of law should be organized in such a
manner that if a student after studying in India wants to study abroad must not
face any problem in losing time for admission.
For the legal profession, the infrastructure should be at par with the international
law universities. Proper infrastructure helps the student to gain knowledge of law
without any hindrance. For the law students to acquire proper skills the University
must have a very good library and teaching faculty. In comparison to the
international Universities, law schools of India have to be structured in such a
manner that good training must be given to law students and the resources should
be available to the faculty as well as law students so that they can develop new
analytical skills. The facilities like moot courtrooms, legal aids, excess to e-
resources library and legal language program must be upgraded. There is a big
challenge for our legal practitioners and lawyers to compete with the legal

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practitioners and lawyers of the globe. They have to be groomed under learned
expert lawyers.
The education of law should be a continuous one with practical skills and research
work in process. The law schools apart from providing theoretical knowledge
must also give exposure to the practical knowledge so that after completing the
course they can fit well in any law firm, corporate sector, NGO, individual
advocacy and consultancy, etc. In international Universities, a lot of emphasis is
given to research skills and in India, there is a lack of emphasis on research in the
law field. In our Indian legal education system, the observation and active
participation of law learners in lacking. The theoretical knowledge can help us to
some extent but to reach on top one must have research analytical skills. On
looking onto the worlds top law schools faculty profile, it is observed that a lot of
emphasis is laid on the research and publications among the academic, but in
India, a lot of improvement has to be done in this field. The Indian legal education
system must incorporate clinically teaching.
The International Globalization of trade and business has caused a dramatic
change in the legal profession. In the Indian law education system foreign direct
investment is nearly 100%. It has given the Indian legal profession to improve its
standard. It has created competition among the institution the Indian laws in the
Indian law schools are centralized in their teaching and also in their research
work. The students of law are participating in National as well as international
webinars, moot courts, conferences, research paper presentations, etc. The law
institutions are focusing on teaching and research in the Indian and International
laws. The law students of India are participating in seminars, conferences, moot
courts, etc.
Article 246 of our Indian Constitution deals with the Central, State and
Concurrent List which has the power to make laws. The entry numbers 66, 67 and
78 of the Central list describes the power to make law with respect to legal
professional legal education. In order to regulate the law profession, the

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Parliament has set up two bodies that are Bar Council of India (BCI) and the
University Grant Commission (UGC)
Apex Court held that BCI is the highest body that has the power to regulate the
standards for legal education8. With the help of the State Bar Council, BCI deals
with the issues concerning the professional ethics of the advocates, their practice,
admission and enrollment9.
IMPACT OF WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION AND GLOBALISATION
From January 1, 1999, World Trade Organization came into effect, India signed
the agreement as to the founder member. The General Agreement of Trade in
Services (GATS) imposes general obligations on signatory countries. All the
signatory countries are bound to abide by the rules of WTO. As per GATS, a
member country must provide both national treatment and market access to other
member countries so India can not prevent the entry of foreign lawyers in India.
If they are prevented it would lead to infringement of the provisions of GATS and
WTO. Due to globalization tough competition is being faced from within and
outside the country. Globalization and internationalization of the legal profession,
the entry of foreign lawyers in India will become a very serious threat to the legal
professionals in India as Indian lawyers will have to compete with the knowledge
of foreign lawyers. Hence, the entire legal system in India has to be changed as
per the need of the hour. The lawyers at present are required to represent as clients
within and outside the national frontiers.
The establishment of WTO has made India get actively involved in Trade
Liberalization and equal treatment to law persons from other jurisdictions must
be allowed. Hence, the legal profession has to rethink its method of management
and delivery of services10

8
U.P. V. State of U.P. (1973)
9
SecAon 7 of Advocates Act, 1961
10
Pradip Kumar Das, ‘Curriculum of Legal EducaAon to meet Challenges of GlobalizaAon’

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 CONCLUSION
Most of the people are not aware of the laws of their country. They have to take
the help of the advice of an expert lawyer who is having good proficiency in the
case. Our legal education must have a multidisciplinary approach and should be
multipurpose in order to resolve any problem a person faces globally. The law
education system must be in such a manner that a law student while dealing with
a case considers political, technological, sociological, psychological, etc. aspects.
If we have to have some position in the global world of law the lawyers produced
should be honest, hardworking, skilled, devoted and committed to their work and
they should adapt to the changes taking place in the global world.
The Indian Courts must allow the foreign firms to file 'vakalatnama' in courts
which will permit them to work in full capacity in Indian Courts. For this, the
Advocates Act, 1961 must be modified and words like 'have to be Indian citizen'
must be looked upon. The quality of legal education gives a direct impact on the
prestige of the legal profession. The legal education which is provided in law
schools must be on the contemporary needs of the legal profession. The areas
where there are faults have to be identified and should be corrected to meet the
changes of the time. If legal education is considered an investment then it will
give more beneficial results to the nation.
There is a need for harmonizing the legal systems prevailing in many countries
which are operating globally so that it arrives in an acceptable legal structure for
all the countries participating. This has resulted in a continuous transformation in
the legal world which has to affect lawyers life in the profession. The
transformation in the legal profession is required continuously as it has a direct
impact on the social, political and business environment of the world. The law
generally regulates and guides the activities of human beings to make sure that
there is justice to the entire humanity.

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