Description
Book SynopsisMost people understand that regulations have a direct bearing on their access to things such as clean air and water and safe working environments. However, in the United States, few people make the connection between how legal services are regulated and how difficult it is for them to access legal services. Indeed, on the question of affordable and accessible civil justice, the World Justice Project ranks the US 94th out of 113 countries, behind Albania, Belarus, Myanmar, and Russia.For decades academics and others have debated whether the legal profession is self-regulated and, if it is, whether it should be. But is it the right debate? Self-regulationor notdoes not obviate the need for effective regulation.Independent, accountable, and transparent regulatory bodies, effective oversight of those bodies, the genuine engagement of citizens in the regulatory process, evidence-based research to fully assess the impact of regulation, and an approach to regulation that is proportionate and
Trade ReviewLaura Snyder’s Modernizing Legal Services in Common Law Countries is a major step forward for legal services regulation scholarship. Snyder offers a sophisticated, comprehensive comparison of regulatory structures and reform in England & Wales, Australia, Canada, and the United States. The book draws on an enormous wealth of primary and secondary research. It also offers a compelling vision for fostering access to justice and professionalism through regulatory reform. This highly recommended book will prove a valuable resource for all scholars and practitioners of legal services regulation, as well as anyone who wants to improve the practice of law. -- Noel Semple, University of Windsor
Laura Snyder takes the OECD's six principles of effective regulatory policy and forensically applies them to legal services. She compares them across the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada. Each country (and states within) has its own approach to legal regulation. Some like the US are conservative while others like the UK are liberal. Using deep analysis and interviews with key players in legal services, Snyder refreshingly opens a dark, convoluted world to our gaze, which is long overdue. -- John Flood, Griffith University Law School
This careful, comprehensive and thoughtful study throws down the gauntlet to the American legal profession...now the question is whether there is anyone brave enough to pick it up? -- Richard Devlin, Dalhousie University
Table of Contents1 Good Regulation: What it Takes 2 The Regulation of Legal Services 3 A Great Big Mess 4 The Seismic Shift (with Survivors) 5 Aftershocks on their Way? 6 Assessment 7 It’s Easy to Forget Australia was First 8 In this Corner: Queensland et. al. 9 And in this Corner: New South Wales and Victoria 10A Complex Regulatory Environment…where ILPs are just Part of the Landscape 11Assessment 12 Nova Scotia: The Road is Made by Walking 13 Manitoba (and the Other Prairie Provinces): An Intimate Connection 14 British Columbia: ABS? Who Said ABS? 15 Ontario: A False Start but on its Way 16 Canadian Bar Association: Creating the Future 17 The Continuing Path of Revolution 18 Assessment 19 There was a Time before Model Rule 5.4 20 Indestructible Model Rule 5.4 21 The Two Commissions: Different or the Same? 22 The Outliers: Washington DC, Colorado and Illinois 23 Effect of Model Rule 5.4 and the Current Regulatory Framework 24 Assessment 25 Final Assessment 26 How to Modernize a Regulatory Environment 27 Rules for a Flat World (or Regulatory Dystopia) Appendix The Modern (or Modernizing) Regulator: First-Hand Insight
