In this article, we combine two sources of data to shed light on the nature of transactional legal work. The first consists of stories about contracts that circulate widely among elite transactional lawyers. Surprisingly, the stories portray lawyers as ineffective market actors who are...

Are the challenges of globalization, technology and competition exercising a dramatic impact on professional practice while, in the process, compromising traditional notions of professionalism, autonomy and discretion? This article engages with these debates and uses original, qualitative...

In this paper we provide a cross-country comparison of occupational regulation in the European legal market. Although EU growth and assimilation has resulted in some degree of unity in regulation, significant differences remain in licensing restrictions and in the characteristics of the labor...

Organized legal professions are typically viewed by economists as rent-seeking interest groups. Starting from the observation that the legal professions have been central in institutional development in countries with the highest quality institutions, we add a different perspective, developing a...

The American legal profession finds itself in the midst of dizzying changes. What was once viewed as a brief downturn now looks like a much more substantial restructuring and downsizing. The main commentators on these trends have been those most likely to be affected: law professors and...