ABA Policies Relevant to the GATS Legal Services Negotiations
Resolutions of the Conference of Chief Justices
- August 2009, Resolution 13: In Support of Cooperation Among United States and Australian Bar Admission and Lawyer Disciplinary Bodies and PROTOCOL FOR THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION BETWEEN [STATE ADMITTING AUTHORITY] AND THE LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA
- January 2009, Resolution 2: In Support of Cooperation Among United States and European Disciplinary Bodies
- February 2008 Resolution Regarding Adoption of Rules on Temporary Practice by Foreign Lawyers
- Feb. 2007 Resolution 7 Regarding Authorization for Australian Lawyers to Sit for State Bar Examinations
- Feb. 2007 Resolution 8 Regarding Accreditation of Legal Education in Common Law Countries by the ABA Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar
- August 2006 CCJ Resolution 4 Regarding Adoption of Rules on the Licensing and Practice of Foreign Legal Consultants
- August 2006 Resolution 5 Regarding the Proposed Recommendation Pending Before the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association [Regarding GATS Track 2 Disciplines]
- July 2004 Resolution 26 Regarding Provisions in International Trade Agreements Affecting the Sovereignty of State Judicial Systems and the Enforcement of State Court Judgments
Bar Association Resolutions
- International Bar Association (IBA) Resolution on Transfer of Skills and Liberalization of Trade in Legal Services (Adopted Buenos Aires 2008)
- IBA General Principles of the Legal Profession (Adopted September 2006)
- International Bar Association (IBA) Statement of General Principles for the Establishment and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers (Adopted Vienna, 1998)
- International Bar Association (IBA) Resolution on GATS and Deregulation of the Legal Profession (Adopted Vienna, 1998)
- International Bar Association (IBA) Standards and Criteria for Recognition of the Professional Qualifications of Lawyers (Adopted Istanbul, 2001)
- International Bar Association (IBA) Resolution Regarding the Terminology to Use in "Track 1" of the GATS (Adopted San Francisco, 2003)
- International Bar Association (IBA) Resolution Regarding Suitability of Using the Accountancy Disciplines in "Track 2" of the GATS (Adopted San Francisco, 2003)
- Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA) Standards for Lawyers Establishing a Legal Practice outside their Home Country (Adopted Sydney, 2002)
- Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA) Turin Principles of Professional Conduct for the Legal Profession in the 21st Century (Adopted Sydney, 2002)
Citation List to Key GATS-Legal Services Documents
- Citations to Key GATS-Legal Services Documents
These pages identify the key WTO documents relating to legal services through May 2000.
Information about Classification Systems for Legal Services
Statistics and Studies about Trade in Legal Services and Existing Barriers
U.S. Studies
- USITC, Recent Trends in U.S. Services Trade, 2009 Annual Report [focuses on professional servcies; legal services discussion is in Chapter 6, which begins on pdf. page 107)
- Excerpts related to Legal Services from National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers : 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Services (These tables, which are updated annually, include statistics about import and export of legal services)
Global and Foreign Studies
- OECD Project to Develop a "Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI)" [This OECD index will attempt to quantify barriers to trade in services by developing indices of restrictiveness. Professional Services are among those limited service sectors that have been discussed. The OECD methodology could prove influential in the legal servcies sector. ]
- Australia, Third Survey of International Legal Services (2008-09)
- Australia, Second Survey of International Legal Services (2006-07)
- Council for Trade in Services, Background Note by the Secretariat: Legal Services, S/C/W/ 318 (14 June 2010) (This 40-page paper is an updated version of the WTO Secretariat's analysis of the legal services sector)
- Council for Trade in Services, Background Note by the Secretariat: Legal Services, S/C/W/ 43 (July 6, 1998) (This 30-page analysis includes information on trade in legal services
- OECD Trade Policy Working Paper No. 2, MANAGING REQUEST-OFFER NEGOTIATIONS UNDER THE GATS: THE CASE OF LEGAL SERVICES, TD/TC/WP(2003)40/FINAL(June 14, 2004) (pages 6-12 include information on trade in legal services)
- Alison Hook, Sectoral Study on the Impact of Domestic Regulation on Trade in Legal Services, Prepared for the OECD-World Bank Sixth Services Experts Meeting Domestic Regulation and Trade in Professional Services Paris, 15-16 February 2007
- Legal Services Reports of TheCityUK (formerly International Financial Services London (IFSL))(includes links to the 2013, 2009, 2007, 2005, 2003 and 1999 Reports about the UK's trade in legal services)
Statistics and Studies about Services Trade in General
U.S. Studies
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, International Trade Statistics
- U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics
- U.S. Department of Commerce, Trade States Express
- U.S. State Exports
- U.S. Foreign Born Population Statistics
Global and Foreign Studies
- WTO’s Trade Statistics Portal
- Interagency Task Force on Statistics of International Trade in Services [a collaboration by the WTO-OECD-UNCTAD and others]
- WTO Trade Policy Reviews (The WTO conducts periodic trade policy reviews for all WTO Member States)
- OECD, OECD Statistics on International Trade in Services: Detailed Tables by Service Category, 1996-2005, 2007 Edition
- OECD, Modal Estimates of Trade Barriers, TD/TC/WP(2005)36/FINAL (13 April 2007)
- OECD, Services Trade and Domestic Regulation, TD/TC/WP(2006)20/FINAL (14 Feb. 2007)
- World Investment Report 2007 (UNCTAD reports that a large majority of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows continue to go into services)