ABA Commission to Study Globalization of Legal Services and Impact of Techonology on Law Practice

ABA President Carolyn B. Lamm created the Commission on Ethics 20/20. The Commission will perform a thorough review of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the U.S. system of lawyer regulation, and will ultimately propose policy recommendations that will allow lawyers and law firms to better serve their clients, the courts, and the public now and well into the future. The Commission members represent a broad spectrum of expertise in U.S. and global ethics rules, lawyer regulation, globalization, and technology. They come from the judiciary (state and federal), law firms (large and small), corporate counsel, government, and academia. You can learn more about them and the Commission’s work at www.abanet.org/ethics2020

Due to globalization and technology's impact on how lawyer's practice--enabling lawyers and law firms to have a virtual presence in other countries--questions have arisen regarding how the practice of law may be regulated in the future, including choice of law issues. Overseas, in the U.K and Austrailia, for example, there are significant changes being made in how legal services are delivered that are currently prohibited by bar regulators in the U.S.

The Commission will engage ABA and affiliated entities, the judiciary, the bar (including international, state, local, and specialty bar associations), and the public in framing and discussing the issues, and enlist their support in fashioning policy recommendations. The Commission will hold public hearings, roundtables, and present educational programs live and via the web. It will conduct e-surveys and provide broad opportunities for written submissions and comments. At the conclusion of its three-year term, the Commission will issue a report with its recommendations.