“GATS” is the acronym for the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services, which applies to legal services. “ITILS” is the widely-used acronym for “International Trade in Legal Services.” See, e.g., the ABA ITILS Standing Committee, the IBA ITILS committee, and the CCBE International Legal Services Committee (previously ITILS).

This “GATS & ITILS Research Area” webpage includes presentation slides, e-resources, short articles, and longer law review articles on the ITILS-related issues listed below. (For other topics, return to the “Research Areas” webpage.)

1. the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services [GATS]
2. Other international trade in legal services initiatives (e.g., APEC, U.S. bilateral trade agreements, TTIP, and TPP)
3. U.S. rules regarding foreign lawyer practice (e.g. the 5 methods map; statistics)
4. “Association” issues (e.g. partnership or employment between foreign & local attorneys
5. Misc. other ITILS-related items (e.g. domestic regulation, legal services definitions)

For other topics, some of which may reference GATS and ITILS-related developments, return to the “Research Areas” webpage (which links to pages on international ethics codes, double deontology, global networks, proactive lawyer regulation).

1. The WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services [GATS]

Books and Book Chapters:

•  2023: Alison Hook, Laurel Terry, and Jonathan Goldsmith, An IBA Guide to International Trade Agreements for IBA Member Bars (2023) [As explained here, the 2023 IBA ITILS Guide replaced Prof. Terry’s 2013 Revised IBA GATS Handbook, as well as the original 2003 GATS Handbook]
• 2014: Erica Moeser and Laurel Terry, Legal Services in the United States in Aik Hoe Lim and Bart De Meester (editors), Domestic Regulation And Services Trade: Putting Principles Into Practice 129-141(Cambridge University Press 2014)

Slides:

• 2008; Laurel S. Terry, GATS, Legal Services and Skills Transfer in Developing Jurisdictions, International Bar Association, Third Annual Bar Leaders’ Conference, Amsterdam, May 14, 2008
• 2007: Laurel S. Terry, The Work of the IBA WTO Working Group, 2nd IBA Bar Leaders’ Conf. (Zagreb, May 18, 2007)
• 2005: Laurel S. Terry, GATS & Multijurisdictional Practice, General Counsel Committee, National Center for State Courts (Washington, D.C., May 10, 2005)

E-Resources and Short Articles

• 2007; Laurel S. Terry, The GATS and Legal Services in Limerick, 15 Michigan St. J. Int’l L. 635 (2007) [This may be my favorite piece of scholarship. Too bad the global consensus about the English pronunciation of Qatar has changed.)
• 2007: Laurel S. Terry, Table Showing Legal Services Commitments in the 1994 Uruguay Round [this table was part of the program materials for the a panel entitled “Barriers to International Legal Practice? The LeClerc, Wallace and Lacavera Cases,” ABA Sec. of Int’l Law Meeting, Washington D.C. May 4, 2007)
• 2002: Prof. Terry Oral and Written Testimony to the USTR about the GATS Negotiations, Oct. 2002 (linked from here)
• 2001: Laurel S. Terry, A Challenge to the ABA and the U.S. Legal Profession to Monitor the GATS 2000 Negotiations: Why You Should Care, Symposium Issue of The Professional Lawyer 63 (2001)

See also the older [2002-2007] NCBE Bar Examiner articles regarding GATS’ developments. The information in these is relevant only for historical purposes.

Law Review Articles

• 2010: Laurel S. Terry, From GATS to APEC: The Impact of Trade Agreements on Legal Services, 43 Akron L. Rev. 875 (2010)
• 2004: Laurel S. Terry, But What Will the WTO Disciplines Apply To? Distinguishing Among Market Access, National Treatment and Article VI:4 Measures When Applying the GATS to Legal Services, 2003 Symposium The Professional Lawyer 83 (2004)
• 2004: Laurel S. Terry, Lawyers, GATS, and the WTO Accountancy Disciplines: The History of the WTO’s Consultation, the IBA GATS Forum and the September 2003 IBA Resolutions, 22 Penn State Int’l L. Rev 695 (2004)
• 2001-02: Laurel S. Terry, GATS’ Applicability to Transnational Lawyering and its Potential Impact on U.S. State Regulation of Lawyers, 34 Vanderbilt J. Transnational Law 989 (2001) as revised 35 Vanderbilt J. Transnational Law 1387 (2002) there was an error in the original version; [view the corrected version here]

2. Other international trade in legal services initiatives (e.g., APEC, U.S. bilateral trade agreements, TTIP, and TPP)

Slides:

• 2022: Laurel S. Terry, An Introduction to Cross-Border Legal Services (Miami, Oct. 30, 2022), which was part of an IBA Seminar on Globalising Your Practice; see also the 2022 e-resources item below)
• 2018: Laurel S. Terry, Introduction to Legal Services Roundtable, US-UK Trade and Investment Working Group (Washington, D.C. Nov. 6, 2018) (See also ABA ITILS page re the U.S.-UK Legal Services Roundtable, including links to Jonathan Goldsmith’s presentations & relevant CCJ resolutions)
• 2016: Laurel S. Terry, TTIP & Free Mobility of Lawyers, ABA Section of International Law Spring Meeting (New York, April 13, 2016)
• 2015: Laurel S. Terry, What Can the World Expect from the U.S.?, International Conference of Legal Regulators (Toronto, July 28, 2015)
• 2015: Laurel S. Terry, T-TIP: Implications and Opportunities for Law Firms, Large Law Firm General Counsel Roundtable (Atlanta, Jan. 16, 2015).
• 2014: No slides, but see below for the Oct. 2014 agenda and resources materials prepared for the Boston US-EU TTIP Summit).
• 2014: Laurel S. Terry, Regulating Lawyers in a Global Arena, Southeastern Workshop on the EU/US Free Trade Agreement Sponsored by the State Bar of Georgia (Atlanta, May 16, 2014)
• 2011: Laurel S. Terry, International Initiatives Relevant to Transnational and Cross-Border Higher Education, AALS Annual Meeting, San Francisco, Jan. 6, 2011
• 2009: Laurel S. Terry, From GATS to APEC: The Impact of International Trade Agreements on Lawyer Regulation, Miller-Becker Institute Inaugural Symposium, Akron, Oct. 9, 2009 (This article summarizes the contents of the legal services portion of 15 U.S. international trade agreements, as well as APEC legal services initiatives)

E-Resources and Short Articles

• 2022: Prof. Emerita Laurel Terry Speaks in Miami at IBA Globalization Seminar (Oct. 2022) (short news article has links to an IBA seminar that reviewed international agreements and helped inform lawyers about how they can work with large international law firms from outside their country on big-ticket legal work. This news article has links to the IBA program and materials, which are available and the role of international agreements taking place in their country). [add slides]
• 2014: Laurel S. Terry, Status of U.S.-Eu TTIP Negotiations at 2014 EU-US Roundtable (Boston Aug. 2014) (no slides; see Agenda and Attendee Materials).

Law Review Articles

• Laurel S. Terry, From GATS to APEC: The Impact of Trade Agreements on Legal Services, 43 Akron L. Rev. 875 (2010)

3. U.S. rules regarding (inbound) foreign lawyer practice (e.g. the 5 methods map; statistics)

Slides:

• 2016: Laurel S. Terry, Admitting Foreign Lawyers, National Conference of Bar Examiners Admissions’ Conference (Washington, D.C., April 16, 2016) (See also similar 2014 and 2015 NCBE slides on the Presentation Slides page)
• 2014: Laurel S. Terry, Addressing the Challenges of Global Lawyering: [The GA/ITILS Toolkit], Nat’l Conf. Bar Presidents (Nov. 2014)
• 2009: Laurel S. Terry, Foreign Lawyer Recognition, at the the National Conference of Bar Examiners Annual Bar Admissions Conference, Plenary: Trends in International Practice/Testing and Regulation of U.S. Lawyers (Baltimore, April 24, 2009)

E-Resources and Materials:

• 2021: Laurel S. Terry, Rethinking Admissions Requirements: It’s A Global Phenomenon, JOTWELL (Aug. 4, 2021)
• 2020: Laurel S. Terry, Summary of Statistics of Bar Exam Applicants Educated Outside the US 1992-2018: It’s Not Just About New York and California (March 9, 2020) (replacing the 2013, 2014, & 2016 versions)
• 2018 MAP: Laurel S. Terry, MAP: U.S. Rules Regarding the Five Methods of Foreign Lawyer Practice (map originally prepared for the CCJ in Jan. 2015; most recent version is June 5, 2018 version; p. 2 was for 20/20 commission)
• 2016: Laurel S. Terry, 2016 NCBE Admitting Foreign Lawyers  Session Materials (2016) (See also similar 2014 and 2015 NCBE session materials on the Presentation Slides page)
• 2009: Testimony to the Minnesota State Board of Law Examiners Regarding Foreign Lawyer Admission Issues (Dec. 3, 2009)

Law Review and Print Articles

• 2014: Laurel S. Terry, Admitting Foreign-Trained Lawyers in States Other than New York: Why it Matters, 83(4) Bar Examiner 38 (Dec. 2014) (fix: Selected Works link)

4. “Association” issues (e.g. partnership or employment between foreign & local attorneys

Slides:

• 2016: Laurel S. Terry, Slides and Resources re the issue of “Association” [partnership and employment] Between Domestic and Foreign Lawyers for Going Global: Association between Local and Foreign Lawyers and Law Firms, ABA Annual Meeting (San Francisco, Aug. 6, 2016)

E-Resources and Short Articles

• 2016: See the resources listed on p. 1 of the 2016 Association slides
• 2015: Laurel S. Terry, Maps Showing US Jurisdictions With Law Firms That Have US and Foreign Offices (April 9, 2015)
• See also the Testimony webpage for the 12 documents that Prof. Laurel Terry provided in 2001 to the ABA Commission on Multijurisdictional Practice. These documents analyzed the lawyer mobility provisions in other jurisdictions, including their “association” provisions. These submissions included a written cover letter, an “Overall Summary” document, and 11 documents that analyzed global MJP rules and recommendations with respect to the issues of: 1) Forms of Association; 2) Scope of Practice; and 3) Ethics and Discipline).

Law Review Articles

5. Misc. other ITILS-related items

Slides:

• 2021: Panelist, Remote Border Crossing: Covid 19, Changes in Lawyer Mobility, and International Trade in Legal Services, (ABA Virtual CLE, March 2021). This short news article, includes related links)
• 2008: Laurel S. Terry, International Trade and Licensing Issues with Outsourcing, (UC Berkeley April 25, 2008)
• 2004: Laurel S. Terry, Presentation to the Technical Subgroup of the Expert Group on International Economic and Social Classifications, U.N. Statistics Division, Oct. 18, 2004 (see also the e-resources section which links to the classification materials submitted to this UN group)
• 2004: Laurel S. Terry, Presentation to the WTO Workshop on Domestic Regulation, March 29, 2004 – submitted on behalf of the International Bar Association regarding the application of the WTO Accountancy Disciplines to the legal profession and session outline

E-Resources and Short Articles

• 2015: Resource Materials for ABA, It’s a Small World After All: A Global Tour of Transnational Regulatory Changes Affecting You! (Chicago, July 31, 2015) (143 pg. pdf includes, inter alia, CCJ resolutions on inbound foreign lawyer practice and other materials)
• 2004: Materials Submitted to the Technical subgroup (TSG) of the Expert Group on International Economic and Social Classifications by Prof. Laurel S. Terry, representing the International Bar Association (191 page pdf file collecting classification information for legal services; see also slides above)
• 2001: Laurel Terry submissions to the the ABA Commission on Multijurisdictional Practice regarding lawyer mobility provisions in other jurisdictions

Law Review Articles

• 2023: Laurel S. Terry, The Role of the ABA’s “Summits” in Facilitating Global Networks and International Cross-Border Legal Practice, 28 Southwestern J. Int’l L. 315 (2023) (explaining how international trade agreements helped drive the ABA’s Summits and global interactions)
• 2002-2016: See also the Transnational Legal Practice Year-in-Review webpage for the (mostly) annual reports that include details about GATS and other ITILS-related developments
• 2008: Laurel Terry, The Future Regulation of the Legal Profession: The Impact of Treating the Legal Profession as “Service Providers,” 2008 J. Professional Lawyer 189 (2008) (noting, inter alia, how the GATS and other international trade agreements contributed to the development of the “service providers” paradigm)