LawFuel is running a report this morning suggesting that unnecessary regulation is holding back the export of Australian legal services…
LawFuel reports that in an address to Australian Services Roundtable Summit in Canberra recently, the Chief Executive Partner of one of Australia’s largest law firms said that unnecessary regulatory restrictions were standing in the way of domestic law firms boosting the value of earnings from the export of Australian legal services.
"To deliver efficient services in the new globalised environment, we need to promote competition amongst legal service providers, and deliver value and innovation," John Weber told delegates.
According to the Minter Ellison chief executive, restrictive international trade barriers and unnecessarily overlapping domestic regulation increase the cost of doing business and stifle competition and innovation – and this in turn impedes the ability of Australian law firms to compete effectively on a global stage.
The report goes on to say:
International trade barriers in the legal services sector include nationality requirements, movement restrictions, trading entity restrictions, foreign entity restrictions, trading name restrictions and licensing requirements that are applied differently according to nationality.
Commenting on the demand for Australian legal skills, Mr Weber said: "The skills of Australian lawyers are extremely well regarded around the world. On any cross-border matter where you’re dealing with a law firm in London or the US or continental Europe or the Middle East , you’re bound to come across a lawyer who started out in Australia. That says something about the quality of Australian legal skills. But it also signals that we have tended to export people, rather than services. One goal, therefore, has to be to promote a trade and investment environment around the world that helps us export the services as well."
"But the agenda is not just an international one. There is also a job to be done in cleaning up things in Australia," he added.
Nine jurisdictions in Australia each regulate aspects of practice by lawyers. There are eight superior courts and a Federal Court system. Lawyers operating Australia wide are subject to numerous regulators and often inconsistent requirements for the regulation of costs, ethics, professional conduct, continuing legal education, retainers, trust requirements, and even the giving away of legal services through pro bono work.
"The Federal Government is to be congratulated for the efforts it has made to harmonise and streamline this over-complicated system. But more needs to be done at the State and Territory level to meet the challenges of consistency in regulation to ensure efficiency in the delivery of legal services," Mr Weber said.
