Speaker: David Trubek

Emerging Economy Legal Professions in the Age of Globalization: The Rise of the Corporate Legal Complex in Brazil, India and China 1990-2015

David Trubek

CERLP welcomes David Trubek, Voss-Bascom Professor of Law and Dean of International Studies Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Law School, to discuss the Project on Globalization, Lawyers and Emerging Economies (GLEE), analyzing the growth of the corporate legal complex in Brazil, India, and China and its impact on lawyers and society in each country.

February 8, 2018
12:00–1:00 p.m. LAW 3500

Abstract

Starting in the early 1990s, Brazil, India and China opened their economies, privatized some state owned enterprises, and loosened restrictions on foreign investment. To accommodate a more open, market-oriented economy and harmonize domestic norms with international economic rules, all three engaged in a massive process of legal change. This created a demand for new legal knowledge and skills and for new forms of practice organization. As a result, a strong corporate legal complex has emerged in each country. Some foreign law firms entered the market. More importantly, small domestic firms expanded and added new capacities while new domestic firms were established and adapted global standards. Corporate legal offices grew and took on new duties and law schools and other training institutions responded to the need for new skills. The Project on Globalization, Lawyers and Emerging Economies (GLEE) has analyzed the growth of the complex and its impact on lawyers and society in each country. Two books are out: The Indian Legal Profession in the Age of Globalization (Cambridge 2017) and The Brazilian Legal Profession in the Age of Globalization (Cambridge 2018), and a volume on China is not far behind. Now GLEE has started to look at these developments comparatively, assessing similarities and differences in the elements of the complex in the three countries and in the ways the different parts interact. In this presentation, Professor Trubek, Co-Director of GLEE, will outline some of the preliminary findings from this comparative study.