The Gazette 1991

GAZETTE

OCTOBER 1991

Multi-National Practices - the Need for

Safeguards

The es t ab l i shment of Multi-

National Practices (MNPs) raises

important issues of principle re-

garding safeguards for clients and

disciplinary and regulatory arrange-

ments. In a recent address to the

ESSEBA

Group (English speaking

secretaries of law societies and bar

associations), Law Society Director

General,

Noel Ryan,

outlined the

key considerations that arise.

What is a MNP?

Several distinguishing features of

MNPs were worth stressing, he

said:

• "first, we are talking about

practices t hat exclusively

comprise lawyers;

• secondly, the concept relates to

lawyers from different juris-

dictions joining together in a

single practice;

• thirdly, such a practice provides

services of an international kind

on an international basis, and;

• fourthly, the practice can be

organised in a variety of forms."

While it seemed clear, he said, that

issues raised by the establishment

of MNPs did not give rise to the

same difficulties as were raised by

multi-disciplinary partnerships

(MDPs), nonetheless, law societies

would have to examine a number of

important questions.

Recognition arrangements

" I t is clear that the essence of the

relationship in a multi-disciplinary

practice is that there is a fee-

sharing arrangement between

lawyers who are fully qualified to

practise within the jurisdiction in

which the practice is established

and

foreign

lawyers, that is to say,

lawyers who are qualified in

another jurisdiction but who chose

to operate, under home title, in the

jurisdiction of the practice. This

means that rules, whether statu-

torily-based or otherwise, which

prohibit lawyers from sharing fees

with foreign lawyers would have to

be changed to enable MNPs to be

developed. Law societies will have

to decide, therefore, on how they

are to approach the question of

recognition

of foreign lawyers for

this purpose. The approach adopt-

ed by the Law Society of England

and Wales involves the establish-

ment of a

register of foreign

lawyers

which will be maintained

by that Society."

Safeguards and regulations

Noel Ryan said that the setting up

of such partnerships had implica-

tions in regard to safeguards for

clients and regulation of the pro-

fession, among them:

• "How is the question of regula-

tion and control by law societies

of foreign lawyers practising

within the jurisdiption, who will

not be members of the home

law society, to be exercised and

what arrangements are needed

to ensure that they will be

answerable in a disciplinary

sense;

• how can law societies ensure

that there is adequate pro-

tection of the public, especially

in relation to handling by foreign

lawyers of clients' money and,

in this connection, what is to be

the liability of locally maintained

compensation or guarantee

funds for acts of dishonesty by

foreign lawyers;

• is there to be participation by

foreign lawyers in indemnity

funds or professional indemnity

insurance arrangements;

• how is the issue of professional

conduct to be regulated, and in

particular, what codes of con-

duct and other disciplinary

codes are to apply?

MNPs are on the way

"As yet these issues have not

surfaced in a concrete way in

Ireland", said Noel Ryan, " t hat is to

say the Law Society has not had to

draw up rules relating to any

Noel C. Ryan

Irish based multi-national practice.

We have, however, considered the

issues involved at the

legal

level

and the forthcoming Solicitors Bill

is expected to contain provisions

that will facilitate the development

of MNPs in Ireland. The message

issuing from Government would

seem to be that whatever legal

obstacles exist to the creation of

MNPs should be removed.

"The international trend would also

seem to be clear. MNPs are already

happening. It is certainly true that

larger firms in the UK and Ireland

are already in a business relation-

ship of one kind or another with

foreign-based firms as a matter of

necessity. We hope that in Europe

the development of MNPs will

proceed in an orderly manner.

Meanwhile in Ireland, the Law

Society will in due course develop

a policy stance in relation to the

desirability or otherwise of per-

mitting such practices."

•

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