ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the changes in the role of business lawyers in a time of increasing globalization. It investigates what power Norwegian and German business lawyers have in large corporations. A comparative study of firms in Norway and Germany reveals strong growth in the number of law firms. This is due to changes in the needs of the large corporations that constitute the law firm's most important clients. The chapter examines the role business lawyers play in the process of globalization. Norway and Germany as examples of the specialization and growth in the globalized lawyer market. These processes give rise to something people may call 'transnational law'. Thus lawyers who participate as strategic planners in the large corporations gain considerable power through their influence on the strategic choices of the corporations. The five top firms in Oslo seems to have an almost magic meaning in this context, particularly if one reads articles from journalists who focus on the lawyer market.
